JACANA v BURNSIDE HEIGHTS - Streaming Game
Friday 7:15pm at Jacana Reserve
THE EDFL season officially commences with a mouth-watering Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 clash under Friday night lights at Jacana Reserve.
At one end we’ll have Cameron Cloke running amok inside Jacana’s forward 50 while at the other end, Josh Covelli will be terrorising the Jags’ back line.
Both have claimed the two most recent goal-kicking titles for Division 2 and are proven stars of the competition, so with good weather forecast, lets hope for some fireworks in this one.
Given the potency both sides have up forward, the midfield battle is where this game needs to be won.
Jacana’s engine room will potentially have a very new look about it, with Billy Morrison no longer holding up the ruck and both Justin Colliss and Josh Young also gone from the main midfield brigade.
That puts the onus on new recruits Liam Lucas and Bailey Dalgleish, who if selected, need to have an immediate impact in their new colours.
The Bears need to make their move for a maiden finals berth this year, and this is where starts.
Burnside Heights, for the most part, enters 2019 with the same list that earned seven wins last year.
There’s every reason to believe that number should rise again this year, and this is the first test to see if they’ll be able to do it.
Flip a coin.
EAST SUNBURY v COBURG DISTRICTS
Saturday 2:15pm at John McMahon Reserve
East Sunbury won two of the three head-to-head meetings between these two last season, but that counts for little, if anything here.
The Thunder have waved goodbye to ruckman Jorden Braddy and midfielder Brad Bernacki over the summer but more significantly, they now have a target on their backs after almost going all the way in surprise fashion last year.
Those few departures aside, Glenn Hopkins has assembled a list that will look very similar to that of last year’s and so it probably is fair to expect his side to be up and about early in the season.
At home in good conditions, the advantage here is with the hosts.
But they will be running into a Coburg Districts outfit desperate to make amends on a disappointing 2018 campaign that only yielded seven wins.
Chris Tankard boosted his midfield stocks significantly with the arrivals of Tom Gleeson and the Grampsas brothers over the summer, among others.
The end result should be a faster, more efficient engine room in the middle, which will blend well with East Sunbury’s attacking flare, making for a good spectacle of Division 2 footy.
The Thunder is the favourite, but not by much.
SUNBURY KANGAROOS v NORTHERN SAINTS
Saturday 2:15pm at Eric Boardman Reserve
We’ve been waiting six months to get a real look at the Sunbury Kangaroos and finally, we’ll get it here against quality opposition.
The Roos have had a solid summer of recruiting since crossing over from the Riddell league and some believe they’re already the best team in Division 2.
But how can we know?
The fact is, we won’t know for sure until about mid-June, once they have faced the other eight clubs in the division.
The forward line was the main beneficiary of the recruiting haul, with Michael Kilty, Michael Spooner, Matt Quigley, Lachie Baddeley and David House all expected to have decent impacts in 2019.
Against the Northern Saints, that forward line will need to be potent.
New Northern coach Brett Kennerley recently told essendondfl.com.au that he is willing to preserve the attacking, high-scoring game style the Saints are famous for, and Eric Boardman Reserve is a large ground where that style of footy could flourish.
Given both are expected to be fielding numerous new players, EDFL Teams will be an interesting read when these two clubs release their selected squads on Friday morning.
KEILOR PARK v HADFIELD
Saturday 2:15pm at Keilor Park Reserve
It’s simply great for the EDFL community to have the Devils back on the park at senior level.
Keilor Park is a proud EDFL club with rich history and we, the EDFL Family, sorely missed them in 2018.
New coach John Mangos has done a great job assembling players and there are some good ones among them, including skipper and key forward Luke Furci and midfielders Jake Gatto, Ricky Bertolini, Mark Caruana and Kane Trotter.
But the overall side is going to be made up of many inexperienced and young players, so expectations are virtually non-existent.
We’re happy to be pleasantly surprised, but we all know Keilor Park is probably not going to be overly competitive for fair chunks of the season.
For Hadfield, this is a chance to build some early season momentum after a very positive summer.
Brad Murphy is the headline act among the Hawks’ recruiting haul we’ll have to wait until EDFL Teams to see if the former Western Bulldog will be unveiled here.
Regardless, Hadfield wins, and probably does so well.
