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Strathmore Community Bank Division Two Preview - Round 12

By Adem Saricaoglu


NORTHERN SAINTS v BURNSIDE HEIGHTS
Saturday 2:15pm at Charles Mutton Reserve

IT has been a dramatic fall from grace for the Northern Saints.

Back-to-back losses to the Sunbury Kangaroos and Hadfield have cast major doubts over the Saints’ premiership credentials, but they have been lacking some key personnel.

Four changes were made after the 116-point loss to Sunbury in Round 10 and prior to that, the Saints also had Mo Taleb, Kole Judd, Daheg Abdul-Wahed and Mousty Hammoud on the sidelines.

There’s no doubt those outs have impacted the Saints, but the fall-off should not have been this dramatic.

The Saints have lost their attacking edge and could only muster a dismal 6.7-43 at Hadfield last week.

In total, Northern has only kicked 13 goals in its last eight quarters of footy.

That won’t cut it in this improved Division 2 competition, but the fixture gods may have done the Saints a huge favour, because this week’s opponent has not been much better of late.

Burnside Heights somehow managed an even lower score than the Saints last week, only booting 5.8-38 in an 11-point loss to Moonee Valley.

Josh Covelli was held goalless for just the second time this year and has struggled to produce consistent footy since his blistering start to the season.

The Bears need him to lift, otherwise they’re at risk of going down for the fourth time in five starts.


SUNBURY KANGAROOS v HADFIELD
Saturday 2:15pm at Eric Boardman Reserve

There are two stories to tell here.

One is of a brilliant Division 2 outfit that is producing a season unlike anything we’ve ever seen at this level before.

The other is of a gutsy, young team that will embrace any challenge with exuberance and energy.

That’s what makes this game a tricky one for the ladder leading, undefeated Kangaroos.

Sunbury’s closest win of the year came at Hadfield back in Round 4, where the Hawks recovered from a slow start to lead by a goal at three-quarter time, before running out of gas in the last by conceding six goals to four.

For Hadfield, it was the second of back-to-back close losses.

Their strong showing in Round 4 should give the Hawks plenty of confidence coming into this game but the dimensions of Eric Boardman Reserve are fairly different to those of Martin Reserve.

So the Hawks’ well-established and highly-rated pressure game could be less effective here.

Hadfield’s only chance of knocking off the division’s raging hot favourite will present itself if the Kangaroos have a mental letdown.

It could happen, given Sunbury has had a tricky five-game stretch of footy and will have the following two weekends off with back-to-back byes.

It looms as a potential belter, but the star-studded Kangaroos should have it on their terms if they come to play.


KEILOR PARK v EAST SUNBURY
Saturday 2:15pm at Keilor Park Reserve

Rumour has it the Devils are feeling good about this coming weekend.

Saturday’s home fixture against East Sunbury looms as Keilor Park’s biggest game of the year and John Mangos’ men will be ultra-keen to deliver a strong performance for their home fans.

Keilor Park’s best game since coming back to senior ranks was against the Thunder back in Round 4, where captain Luke Furci booted two goals and Aiden Cassar added one in a strong individual display.

It remains the only game to date in which Keilor Park has gone down by less than 100 points and they’ll be desperately hoping to, at the very least, emulate that here.

But desperation is also going to be the key motivating factor for East Sunbury.

The Thunder is languishing in seventh spot on the ladder and after losing to Coburg Districts and the Sunbury Kangaroos in consecutive weeks, the Thunder now has little more room for error in pursuit of another finals berth.

Their percentage is significantly lower than all the division’s other finals hopefuls, so expect East Sunbury to storm out of the blocks early.

But finding reliable avenues to goal has been this team’s major shortcoming all season long.

If they don’t win and win well, then the Thunder will need a miracle to get into the final four.

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