By Luke Mathews
Essendon Doutta Stars will return to Nipper Jordan Oval for the first time in 2025 to take on Aberfeldie.
Both sides had plenty to take away from their Round 1 performances with Abers easily accounting for Marby on Saturday night, while Douttas were in the game for three quarters against a formidable Pascoe Vale outfit.
Last year the Stars got the better of Abers in one of their best wins for the year, coming away with a 13-point win despite trailing at half time.
For Douttas to come away with the win, they’ll need their forward line to find some goals and kick a winning score.
Abers have one of the most potent forward lines across the competition, putting Marby to the sword last week with 19 goals.
For Douttas to be able to match this, they’ll need Oscar Sasulu and Bailey Ryan to fire once again if they want to come away with the four points.
Keilor will be back at Joe Brown Oval for the second week running to take on Airport West in a mouth-watering clash.
Both sides couldn’t have had a better start to 2025 with the Blues thumping Deer Park to the tune of 138 points, while Airport West took care of an underwhelming East Keilor side.
Last year it was Airport West that ended Keilor’s 713 day winning streak, defeating the Blues by 13 points in one of the upsets of the season.
The midfield battle will be an intriguing watch at Joe Brown Oval on Saturday with both teams boasting several high-quality onballers that have the potential to sway the contest in their sides favour.
Deer Park will return to John McLeod Reserve to take on Greenvale for the first time in 2025.
It was a disappointing start to 2025 for both sides, with Jamie Madigan’s side never really in the contest against Keilor, while Greenvale failed to fire a shot in the first half against Strathmore kicking only one goal before half time.
Last time out, Deer Park were no match for the Jets, with Greenvale running away with a comfortable 58-point victory thanks to four goals from the now departed, Baker Smith.
For Deer Park to win, they’ll be hoping for improved performances from gun recruits Trent McKenzie and Lachlan Smart.
Both men only managed one goal each last week against a staunch Keilor backline.
To ensure their side comes away with the four points, they’ll be hoping to hit the scoreboard more than once for the first time in 2025.
East Keilor will take on Maribyrnong Park at Overland Reserve in what looms as a win either side will be looking to bank.
The Cougars were very disappointing in their opening game of the year, going down by 190 points to Airport West, while Marby showed some positive signs in their defeat to Aberfeldie.
Given its Marby’s first season back in topflight football and East Keilor’s ninth placed finished last year, it is assumed that wins may be hard to come by for both sides in 2025, especially given the exodus of players both teams had during the off season for varying reasons.
The thing to keep an eye on at Overland Reserve on Saturday will be the performance of Marby’s youth.
Brodie Holland has had a focus on blooding young talent during his second stint as Marby coach.
Jack Mantello, Ned Ryan, Zac Coughlan, and Tom Barnett are all aged under 21 and featured heavily on Saturday night. It will be interesting to see how the youngsters fair in their second hit out in 2025.
Strathmore will play host to Pascoe Vale at Lebanon Reserve in one of the games of the round.
The Panthers had their neighbour’s measure last year, defeating them three times from their three outings with their best win coming in the qualifying final.
Both sides did what they needed to do in Round 1, with Pascoe Vale running over the top of a gallant Essendon Doutta Stars side, while Strathmore’s first half dominance set up the win against Greenvale.
The ruck battle will be one to look out for on Saturday at Lebanon Reserve. The Panthers have the luxury of having two-gun rucks with Tom Hofert (if available) and Matthew Dennis set to suit up for the first time together. Sam Hayes and the returning Andrew Vavra should provide a cracking contest.
By Ben Parker
Oak Park will host Avondale Heights in one of the matches of the round. With both teams coming off strong performances in Round 1, expectation is incredibly high.
The Heights will again be looking to announce themselves as a genuine premiership threat, and a win here over arguably the competition’s best would cement that.
For the Roos, protecting home from the start of the season is pivotal if they want to solidify their premiership aspirations.
After an exciting start to their season, Oak Park will be looking to build on this strong start and take the scalp of another potential contender early in the season. However, after their inaccurate performance in front of the sticks last week, having kicked 8.15, they’ll need to be more accurate.
Errol McConnell and Josh Ksiazek will be eager to put forward another strong performance for the Roos, with Jesse Hotchkin another one to watch out for. Hotchkin kicked five goals last week to propel his Roos side to victory and will need to be accounted for more appropriately this week.
On the other hand, Avondale Heights are fresh off recording their first win in almost a year.
Having put away a somewhat disappointing West Coburg side, the Heights will be looking to dismantle another powerhouse of the competition.
Key players to watch are Brody Watts who bagged five goals last week, and ruck Tom Russell, who will no doubt put forward another tough performance in the ruck.
In a rematch of last year's qualifying final, West Coburg and Hillside are all set for their blockbuster clash at Shore Reserve. With both sides coming off disappointing starts to their seasons, making amends for their respective Round 1 defeats is critical.
The travellers took plenty of positives away from last week’s loss to Oak Park and should be right in contention to bank their first win of the year. Making a late charge at the Roos last week will breathe plenty of confidence into a hungry Sharks side.
Vice-captain Josh Covelli was at his brilliant best in Round 1 with five majors. Expect him to make his presence felt early.
Others to watch out for include Tyson Gill and Lucas Failli, who both toiled away gallantly in a disappointing result.
West Coburg will certainly look to put forward a much better performance this week, and in particular produce a stronger second half of footy. After having only kicked just the two second-half goals in their Round 1 loss to Avondale, the Burgers will have to produce a much stronger offensive output if they are to record a win here.
Zac Newman and Damian Galofaro will need to be at their exciting best again for them to protect home this week.
With a Sharks side looking to sink their teeth into a potentially vulnerable West Coburg, and a Burgers outfit who will no doubt come out firing, on-lookers won’t want to take their eyes off this one.
Lakeside Reserve plays host to what’s a highly intriguing contest between Roxburgh Park and Craigieburn. Both were unable to produce a win last week, and both will be seeking to reverse their respective Round 1 results.
After a frustrating day at home last week, the Eagles were lucky they didn’t lose by a lot more. With St Albans' inaccurate goal kicking keeping Craigieburn to within a sniff, the Eagles' accuracy in front of the sticks was a key highlight of the day. They returned a precise 9.1 scoreline back to the box score. If they can maintain this accuracy but now produce more of it, it will go a long way into helping them win this contest.
Harry Albon and Luke Collins are both coming off solid performances and will be dangerous again with ball in hand.
Roxy on the other hand were simply outplayed last week. After a brilliant opening quarter against Taylors Lakes, Roxy were only to generate another four goals for the rest of the game, to the Lions' 14. This dominance by Taylors Lakes should have Roxy ready to go.
Cooper McPharlane will be looking for a bit more help this week, after the forward booted five of his team's seven goals last week. Expect him to hit the scoreboard again strongly.
Taylors Lakes will make the journey to Ormond Park to take on Moonee Valley in what should be a cracking contest.
The Lions produced a dominant performance to easily put away a disappointing Roxburgh Park side last week. After a tight first quarter, the Lions broke away to kick a staggering 14 goals to Roxy’s four for the rest of the game.
Another replication of this performance will see the Lions prove very hard to beat. Ones to watch out for include Christian Petersen and Jacob Hutchinson, who were instrumental in last week’s win.
Moonee Valley on the other hand are coming off a rather unusual opening round.
After an exceptional first half against Tullamarine, the match was unfortunately called off in the third term.
A strong first half of footy suggested that the Fog have come back in excellent shape this year and will be pushing throughout the season.
Young guns Zayas Leonedas and Luca Papsis will be the ones to watch in their first games back at Ormond Park, as well as recruit Callum Clinnick. Expect Moonee Valley to make a statement this week.
Footy returns to Kings Park this week as St Albans host Tullamarine.
The Saints are fresh off a great first up win over Craigieburn, where they arguably should have won by a lot more had they kicked straight. With a stack of contributors on the day, another wide spread of performers should see the Saints very much in contention for their first win at home.
Tom Eckel and Matthew Gundry were brilliant last week and will need to be closely monitored by the Dees. Tobe Watson is another Saint to watch out for should he be released again.
Like Moonee Valley, Tullamarine have also had quite a different opening round hit out where they effectively only played a half of footy before being the game was called off. After a slow start last week, the Dees made a charge at the start of the third prior to the game’s cancellation.
Anthony Liberatore was a pivotal driver of this, and he will no doubt produce another big performance this week.
With fresh legs underneath them, the Dees will look to start hot here.
By Levi Swanson
Willowbrook Reserve will see its first senior clash in 2025 with Westmeadows looking to bounce back against East Sunbury.
It was a loss first up for Westmeadows which entered the season as the flag favourites, while East Sunbury is coming off a monumental breakthrough win.
A poor third quarter was the difference for the Tigers in the end who enjoyed some solid productivity out of new recruits Nick Mathewes, Hugo Jenkins, and Marcus Mammoliti.
East Sunbury will look to carry the momentum from last weekend into this contest.
The Thunder introduced some size around the contest and some targets forward of the footy, Brendan Fevola and Todd Elton the headliners.
They were plus 41 in contested ball which is an area they'll look to exploit Westy who were beaten comfortably in that area last week.
Westy on the other hand will look to open up their running game that brought them so much success in 2024.
Northern Saints will return to Charles Mutton Reserve for the first time in 2025 to take on Glenroy.
It was a 40-point loss last time out for the Saints who will be looking to respond.
Glenroy on the other hand enjoyed a thumping 68-point win over Burnside Heights to start Addam Maric's tenure.
Northern Saints were unable to stop Hadfield from controlling the footy last week which was a feature in Glenroy's win.
Tamer Abdallah's men had no issue getting inside 50, but turned the ball over too many times in their forward 50 for his liking.
Nick Bruno still managed five goals and, along with Khoder Taleb, will be hoping for some cleaner entry against a Glenroy defence that recorded the most intercept possessions across the competition.
Burnside Heights will be looking for an improved showing in their return to Tenterfield Drive against Hadfield.
They were contrasting performances for these two sides in Round 1 with the Bears suffering a heavy defeat, and the Hawks enjoying a strong win.
Cole Harvey has turned to his youth to start leading the charge following off season departures with the likes of Dante Iuele and Ethan Dalla Rosa stepping up.
It was the experienced heads of Hadfield that were among a number of contributors in Sam Godden, Rhys Gleisner, and Jake Polizzi.
Andrew Beever boasted 11 goal scorers, a healthy spread he'll no doubt love to see as his side looks to make it two from two.
It'll be a local derby at Eric Boardman Reserve with Sunbury Kangaroos taking on Rupertswood.
The Kangaroos went down convincingly to East Sunbury last week, while Rupertswood won a thriller against Keilor Park.
The Roos led at the first change, but couldn't stop the onslaught from East Sunbury and were soundly beaten in the contest.
It was an even battle for Rupo against Keilor Park, but the Sharks are a side expected to contend for finals and will provide a good challenge for Shanon Carroll and new co-coach Jayden Eales.
THIS WEEKEND’S FIXTURES
KEILOR v AIRPORT WEST
Saturday 2:15pm at Joe Brown Oval
ESSENDON DOUTTA STARS v ABERFELDIE
Saturday 2:15pm at Nipper Jordan Oval
DEER PARK v GREENVALE
Saturday 2:15pm at John McLeod Reserve
EAST KEILOR v MARIBYRNONG PARK
Saturday 2:15pm at Overland Reserve
STRATHMORE v PASCOE VALE
Saturday 2:15pm at Lebanon Reserve
OAK PARK v AVONDALE HEIGHTS
Saturday 2:15pm at JP Fawkner Reserve
ROXBURGH PARK v CRAIGIEBURN
Saturday 2:15pm at Lakeside Reserve
WEST COBURG v HILLSIDE
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Saturday 2:15pm at Shore Reserve
MOONEE VALLEY v TAYLORS LAKES
Saturday 2:15pm at Ormond Park
ST ALBANS v TULLAMARINE
Saturday 2:15pm at Kings Park Reserve
WESTMEADOWS v EAST SUNBURY
Saturday 2:15pm at Willowbrook Reserve
NORTHERN SAINTS v GLENROY
Saturday 2:15pm at Charles Mutton Reserve
BURNSIDE HEIGHTS v HADFIELD
Saturday 2:15pm at Burnside Heights Recreation Reserve
SUNBURY KANGAROOS v RUPERTSWOOD
Saturday 2:15pm at Eric Boardman Reserve
