NORTHERN SAINTS v MOONEE VALLEY
EASILY the pick of the games for Round 3.
Neither side has had a loss yet in Season 2018 and whoever emerges victorious from this one may become Strathmore Community Bank Division 2’s new premiership favourite.
The Northern Saints have been flawless under new coach Paul Dunn to date and have been particularly impressive in their forward half.
Rocky Ferraro is the early goal-kicking leader of the division with bags of six and four already to his name, while both Kelsey Clayton and Nathan Wilson have been outstanding in the opening fortnight of the season.
But as we know, the Saints play high-octane footy and had to do the hard yards in the wet to score 12.6 at Hadfield last week, so the fresh legs Moonee Valley will have coming off a bye will prove quite handy for the Fog.
It’s hard, though, to look past last year’s 0-4 record the Fog had against the Saints, which included two games at Charles Mutton Reserve and a final played at Hadfield.
EAST SUNBURY v ROXBURGH PARK
This also looks a cracker on paper.
We know East Sunbury likes to put on a show when on home soil and with the forecast looking like it’ll be ideal for footy come Saturday, Steve Grey will be hoping his side turns on the jets against a Roxburgh Park side that could be at risk of being caught out for speed in this one.
The Magpies have their mojo back after storming home to beat the Lions last week and it certainly helps to have Luke Capuano back inside their forward 50.
The Glenroy premiership player had to do some of the heavy lifting with Tumay Hamza and Osama Saad missing from last week’s game and will need plenty of help in this game if East Sunbury makes it a shoot-out.
Jamerson Campbell has made a good impression of himself so far this season and has been one of the Thunder’s best players alongside the returning Kamen Ogilvie.
If Tom Cree lifts through the midfield alongside Brad Bernacki, then East Sunbury could have enough firepower to overcome the Magpies at home.
BURNSIDE HEIGHTS v HADFIELD
The stakes are high in this one.
A 6.3-39 final score wasn’t exactly what Aidan Stott had in mind for his new side in its first outing last week and the only acceptable response is a W here at home against the Hawks.
However, Brett Pitts will be feeling the exact same way after a disappointing 0-2 start for Hadfield.
The Hawks are struggling to find avenues to goal so far this season and of the sides that have played two games, they are the lowest-scoring team in the division with a combined 15 goals for the year.
Hadfield needs to take advantage of what can be a leaky Bears backline and at the same time, be prepared for a tough match-up problem at the other end of the ground.
Josh Covelli picked up where he left off with four majors for the Bears last week, and again looks as though he's going to give plenty of Division 2 key defenders some headaches in Season 2018.
Neither side has had a win as of yet, and the loser of this one could have the blowtorch turned on them heading into Round 4.
