THE excitement of the finals is finally upon us for all of our senior divisions with the Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division getting their finals series underway this weekend.
Greenvale and Aberfeldie have clashed a number of times during recent finals campaigns and this Saturday’s contest is expected to be a close affair for the two teams as they strive to advance directly to the Grand Final, thus avoiding the Preliminary Final.
The two teams met in last year’s Preliminary Final with Aberfeldie prevailing on that occasion.
It is great to have Maribyrnong Park competing in the finals series again for the first time since 2012, which is great reward for their hard work and effort of recent years.
As recently as 2014 Maribyrnong Park just avoided relegation, finishing second-last on the ladder and having to wait on the outcome of the final round match between Essendon Doutta Stars and Northern Saints before knowing that they had avoided relegation.
Strathmore also return to finals football in what will be their first finals match since their two-point Grand Final victory in 2014.
It is unusual for the Mores to go without finals football so they’ll be looking to make the most of their opportunity this year.
Hillside will be looking to bounce back into form in the Essendon Ford Division 1 competition and will be aiming to play in their first senior grand final at Division 1 level.
They take on a rejuvenated Airport West team who have hit form at the right time of the year.
Only two weeks ago these two teams met in the final round of the home-and-away season, with Airport West running away with an upset win by 30 points to secure the final spot in the finals.
Their first encounter this year was a nail-biting one-point win to Hillside.
This weekend’s match promises to be an enthralling contest against two tightly-matched sides.
Glenroy will be waiting for the victor on grand final day confident after a strong season and a commanding performance in the Semi Final.
Glenroy’s last Grand Final appearance at senior level was in 2013 with the club looking to go one better and make their way into the Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division.
A strong win last weekend sees Coburg Districts qualify for their first senior EDFL Grand Final since returning to the EDFL in 2013.
Coburg Districts has been top of the Division 2 ladder for 13 of the 18 rounds of the home-and-away season, sitting second for the five rounds that they didn’t occupy top spot.
The Preliminary Final is shaping as an exciting contest with Jacana, the grand final team from 2015, up against a formidable Northern Saints who last year were playing in Essendon Ford Division 1.
Jacana has been the talking point of the season in many ways with their bold recruiting and strong player retention making them flag favourites for large parts of the season.
Meanwhile it has been a pleasing return to winning football for the Northern Saints, who have undergone a significant rebuild in recent years and are now enjoying the taste of victory.
With no AFL scheduled, this weekend is shaping as a great weekend of finals football and with two great venues in Coburg and Windy Hill being used, it will be great to see fans out in force to cheer on their teams this weekend.
Marc Turri, EDFL CEO
