Kooweerup’s Daniel Crowley takes possession of a loose ball in Saturday’s clash with Longwarry.By Ken Moore
CATANI will start its quest for a third consecutive premiership on Saturday when it plays Kooweerup in the elimination final at Bunyip.
If the clash is half as good as their last meeting it should be a beauty.
The Blues and the Demons only met once this season, in round nine, but produced a heartstopper when the reigning premier, after a John Enwistle goal, won with the last kick of the game.
The Blues are biggame specialists and will go in favourites but Kooweerup cannot be dismissed without serious thought.
Catani talls Owen Fitzpatrick, Glen Hall and Chris Maclean were all prominent against Kooweerup in round nine and the Demons, short on big men, will rely heavily on Adam Biszko and Matthew Cameron to be at their best.
The form of defender Glen Robinson was encouraging last week and he is likely to be pitted against Fitzpatrick in one of the key duels.
On present form, the Blues’ midfield of Josh Tymensen, Paul and Aaron Alger, Troy Wilson and Luke McFarlane should narrowly shade their Demon counterparts Peter Doll, Josh Winter, Gavin Marusic and the Stanley brothers, Chris and John.
Catani will be hoping Entwisle scores his first goal and his 100th for the season early to get this distraction out of the way and focus on the game.
There must be a question mark over the fitness of Catani full back Shane Fitzpatrick, who missed last week’s clash with Warragul Industrials.
The importance of Fitzpatrick is that he is likely to match up on Kooweerup playmaker Scott Morrison, a potential matchwinner who will probably need to kick a bag of goals if the Demons are to be alive in week two of the finals.
Kooweerup will need to work harder than last week, otherwise the Blues will win comfortably.
I’ll tip Catani to continue its finals campaign with a hardfought 25point victory.
Bunyip will take on Cora Lynn in the second elimination final at Cora Lynn on Sunday.
The Bulldogs will be spurred on by the disappointment of its performances in big games this season.
The match looks too close to call and a solid case can be made for either side.
Both possess potent forwards, Bunyip Ryan Ablett, Aaron Jones and Clint Meyer, Cora Lynn Cameron Haynes, Jason Hall and Shannon Toner.
The midfield battle will be a ripper with Aaron Henwood, Peter Davenport, Troy Holmes and, if fit, Ray Ablett and John Perry taking on Chad Ingram, Ben and Dave Collins, Wayne Robertson and Abe Roder.
Cora Lynn has problems in the bigman department after Ty Esler left the field last week with a back injury after only five minutes.
Ben McKay was sidelined with a broken finger from round 17 and utility Jeremy Duiker left the field last week in the third quarter with a groin injury.
If all three miss, Bunyip will assume favouritism but, in a close match, the Cobras on their home ground should win.
Cora Lynn beat Bunyip in rounds one and 11, finished the stronger and looked the hungrier.
The Cobras appeared to have better midfield leg speed, more options in attack and a superior defence.
Bunyip has faltered on big occasions this season and there must be a big concern over its key defender Daniel Hagen, who is expected to line up but has hardly played over the past two months.
