By DAVID NAGEL
CASEY CARDINIA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
PREVIEW – ROUND 18
PAKENHAM v BEACONSFIELD
“CONTESTANT – Are you ready to play?”
“This week’s $64,000 question is – Which team will take the remaining double chance into this year’s Casey Cardinia league final series with victory at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday?”
“Is it (A) – Third placed Pakenham, or (B) – Fourth placed Beaconsfield?”
“We’ll play our stupid dramatic music for a minute while your thoughts swirl around in your head.”
Mmmmmmmm … now that’s a tough one, what’s the million dollar question going to be like?
OK, that’s for a few weeks down the track; let’s focus for a minute on this one first.
If we go for the Eagles, we’re locking in the same top five, in the exactly the same order as last year, but do they really deserve it.
Sure, they’ve won six in a row, and they smashed Cranbourne in round 15, but it’s hard to get the way they were dismantled by both Pakenham and Narre Warren, in rounds nine and 11, out of your head.
Let’s forgive them for the 114-point belting by the Magpies, they’re clearly the best team in the comp, but the Lions were just too good for them in round nine … if we tip the Eagles, something has to change.
Pakenham smashed them with its intensity that day.
Troy Toussaint, Jake Barclay and Cory ‘Nugget’ Lenders tackled like mad-men, causing defensive turnovers and allowing Daniel Fry to kick six goals on the Eagles’ best defender, Daniel Battaglin.
Jack Brown, Jayden Gee and Cleyton Bertoncello are giving Battaglin much better support these days but, if the Eagles aren’t accountable all over the ground, the Lions could slice and dice them all over again.
The Eagles have great attacking flair through the middle of the ground with the premier ruckman in the competition Scott Meyer feeding class acts such as Daniel Mislicki, Tyson Mitchem and Damien Johnston, but it’s running the other way that is now the biggest concern against the new and improved Lions.
“Contestant, can we have your answer please.”
Not yet mate … if you and your music shut up for a minute we might have time to think!
Pakenham has the perfect balance at the moment with youngsters such as Brad and Jarrad Cavalot, Jack Melbourne and Michael Puts learning the ropes from some great leaders such as Steve O’Bryan, Dean Blake and Nathan Brown.
These are young blokes who aren’t afraid to go in and win their own footy and when they get it, they run, they run and share the ball, pinging it around with mesmerising pace and skill.
The Lions brand of footy is top-shelf, but last week against Cranbourne they went from playing the ultimate team game to looking like 22 lonely lost rabbits, staring into the headlights, as Cranbourne came in a hurry.
It all stemmed from the Lions inability to stop Cranbourne from winning centre clearance after clearance.
How Kym Jones and Cavalot, of the Jarrad variety, can limit the influence of Meyer in the ruck will have a huge bearing on who takes on Cranbourne in the following week’s qualifying final.
“Sir, your answer please.”
Yeah, righto mate, lock in A, third placed Pakenham.
NARRE WARREN v CRANBOURNE
NARRE Warren has the most to lose when its most fierce modern-day rival, Cranbourne, pays a visit to Fox Road on Saturday.
The Magpies sit three games clear of the Eagles at the top of the table – and have double their percentage – but somehow that counts for little when these two sides collide.
Sure, the Magpies towelled up the Eagles by 88 points in last year’s second semi-final, but their last two contests have been outstanding and decided by a kick.
There was the well-documented one-point victory to the Magpies in last year’s grand final but then Cranbourne pulled one out of the box, breaking the Magpies’ 44-game winning streak with a six-point win at Casey Fields in round nine.
The Eagles have looked terrible at times this year but when they play their best footy – which is usually saved for this week’s opponent – they can match it with anyone.
The problem for Narre is that the attitude of the Eagles just flies in the face of what usually breeds success.
The Eagles might roll over and get smashed if Narre get on top on the weekend but it won’t affect their confidence one bit heading into this year’s finals series.
They’re an unpredictable lot the Eagles … but if they do turn up to play and roll the Magpies this week … well then we’ve got a completely different ball game on our hands heading into September.
The highlight of this clash will come early when Narre Warren’s full forward Kerem Baskaya slots his first major to kick his third consecutive century of goals.
Bas has been in dominant form of late – and that has to be enjoyable – but you get the feeling he will relish this week’s challenge against the best defence he faces each season.
It will be interesting to see if both teams really knuckle down this week, employ win at all costs tactics, or will they enjoy the freedom of a game that really does have nothing but pride riding on it.
The Magpies are a proud club and will win and join the Eagles as the only two sides to have beaten every other team this season.
KEYSBOROUGH v HAMPTON PARK
KEYSBOROUGH’s 57-year association with clubs in the Casey Cardinia league will come to an end on Saturday when the Burra hosts Hampton Park at Rowley Allen Reserve.
The Burra, which played its first game in the South West Gippsland Football League against Cranbourne on 19 April 1958, will next year move to the Southern Football League … and we all wish the club well.
But before it goes there’s the important business of avoiding this year’s wooden-spoon against a Redbacks outfit that will be looking to avoid three bottom place finishes in a row.
The Burra haven’t tasted success since its round one triumph over Doveton while Hampton Park sang its song for the only time this season when it rolled the Burra in round nine.
Both sides fade away quick, but at the top end possess talent that is all class.
The Redbacks have relied heavily on CCFL squad member Nathan Allen this year, while Nathan Dawes, Luke Nunan, Peter Bastin and Brodie Yapp have never given up the cause.
The Redbacks have first-hand knowledge of what confronts them this week – they were the home side in round 18 last year when they scored an emotional victory over ROC.
It’s sure to be an emotional experience for the Burra on Saturday and how players such as Ryan Goodes, Geoff Humphreys, Corey Wilkinson, Danny Morland and Michael Downie harness that feeling will go a long way to deciding the outcome.
It’s bon voyage Keysborough … which will set sail on its new adventure with a one-point victory under its belt.
TOORADIN v ROC
SO, who would start favourite if we had a finals series beginning next week between the bottom five sides on the ladder?
With Doveton dying on its run, premiership favouritism would probably go to the winner of this week’s clash between Tooradin and ROC at Westernport Oval.
The Seagulls need a win to be judged as improved from last year, they’ll finish eighth again but six wins – 24 points – will better their 22-point output from last season.
ROC has already shown significant signs of improvement and a win here would double its four-win season from 2013.
This one should go down to the wire, just as it did in round nine when the Kangaroos triumphed by just two-points at Starling Road.
The Kangaroos have been settled this year, with eight players running out for every game this season – only Narre Warren can match that figure – while the Seagulls have had just three with Agape Patolo, Phil Burns and Jimmy Cottrell just four quarters away from a well-earned rest.
The key to this clash will be how ROC coach Brad Jones intends to stop his former Nar Nar Goon team mate Matt Wade who will be keen to get the four points, but at the same time rack up three votes in what’s sure to be a serious challenge for this year’s Norm Walker Medal.
Wade will run riot and the Seagulls will win by 10 points.
BERWICK v DOVETON
IS IT possible – or just a pipe dream – that Berwick can recapture its early season form against Doveton this week and then make some real inroads in the CCFL finals series?
The Wickers certainly did set the bar high with seven wins in their first eight games, but have since won just three from nine.
It would be ironic if this week did signal a turnaround in form because their one-point loss to Shannon Henwood’s boys in round nine was the game that sucked all the wind from their sails.
The three constants for the Wickers this season have been skipper Madi Andrews, young ruckman Jake Gains and Luke Sheppard running off half back.
All three have rarely dropped their level, particularly impressive for Gains, who is still a kid and banging bodies with the biggest going around.
Daniel Harrison is another who is showing signs of getting back to his best, while Jake Yields, Jordy Andrews and Paul Vanschilt, who has played every game this year, are others who will be looking for a big day at the office.
Doveton need to show some fight, not the fisticuff type stuff but grit and determination that Henwood has shown in spades but hasn’t been matched by his team mates in recent times.
Taylor Rainey, Frank D’Agostino and Simon Black are three players who will keen to round out solid seasons in style but the Wickers will emerge with a 56-point victory.
But then can they make inroads?
