By DAVID NAGEL
SOUTH EAST FOOBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
PREVIEW – ROUND 7
DOVETON v CRANBOURNE
ONE of the most charismatic footballers of the modern era, former Carlton star Brendan Fevola, will light up Robinson Reserve when Doveton and Cranbourne meet in a legitimate block-buster on Saturday night.
The Doves’ traditional home ground will have seen nothing like this before, with a massive crowd expected for the battle between third and fourth on the SEFNL ladder.
And that’s the real bonus here – take away the fanfare of Fevola versus Marc Holt and we have a legitimate game of footy played between two of this year’s genuine premiership contenders.
We know they’re great rivals, but it’s hard to imagine that a bigger home-and-away game has ever been played between the Doves and the Eagles than this.
Both played finals last year, but the last time both were at the pointy end of the table was back in 2009, when the Doves rolled the Eagles by 26-points in the preliminary final.
The Doves’ great full-forward of the time, Danny Casset, kicked four and the Doves will be hoping that another star full-forward in Fevola will lead them to victory on the weekend.
Doves’ coach Steve O’Brien acknowledged that it will be a unique situation to have one of the games’ great goal-kickers lining up for his side on Saturday.
His general philosophy is to let the natural instincts of Fevola take a hold.
“He’ll train with the group on Thursday night and go through our Ops review, look at how we set up, but basically he knows how to play footy and he’ll just get amongst it,” O’Brien said.
“We’ll stick to our structures, but knowing Fev, he’ll do his own thing at times. It’s very exciting for the club, he’s played a lot of footy and kicked a lot of goals at the highest level of the game, and hopefully we can get in there enough for him to have the impact that we know he can.”
O’Brien said that after two weeks off the scene his Doves were fresh and ready for one of the biggest challenges in SEFNL against the runners-up of the last four years. He said the game should be a magnificent spectacle for those in attendance.
“We haven’t played for two weeks so the whole thing has probably been played down a bit, but I’m sure the excitement will build as we get closer to the weekend,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve got Brendan at one end, who is obviously very proficient at kicking goals, and they’ve got Marc Holt at the other, so it’s going to be a very exciting spectacle.”
The Doves’ coach said the Eagles on the rebound made the challenge even greater.
“In a perfect world you wouldn’t want them coming off two losses (Berwick and Narre Warren) in a row, but it is what it is and that’s the challenge that lies before us,” O’Brien said.
“I watched them against Narre Warren, but the conditions were terrible so it was hard to take a lot from that game. Obviously we got to a take a look at how they set up and that was the only bonus really.”
So who wins and why?
The Doves had a battalion of stars out in their gutsy win over Pakenham in round 5, with Mitch Viney, Shannon Henwood and Jarrad Boumann all missing from a jubilant bunch.
The experience of those three could be crucial this week, with the start sure to produce some of the hottest contests we’ve seen all year.
Apart from Fevola and Holt, the man with the ability to steal the show is a defender, with Cranbourne’s Brandon Osborne growing his reputation with another outstanding interleague outing last weekend.
But what’s a good game against Fev? If he keeps him to five or six that might be good enough for the Eagles.
It’s going to be a cracker, in front of a huge crowd under lights, with two champion full forwards in Fevola and Holt trying to outdo each other at either end.
It’s the Eagles by two points.
BERWICK v NARRE WARREN
FIVE weeks of building confidence and belief is going to be put to the ultimate test when Narre Warren makes the daunting trip to Edwin Flack Reserve to take on Berwick.
The Magpies have been one of the real talking points this year.
Pulled from pillar to post through movement in the off-season, Heath Black has somehow found a way to slot his side into second place on the ladder.
A first-up one-point loss to Doveton could have had serious ramifications, but the Magpies have gone four-zip since then to show their undoubted quality. Their last win over Cranbourne was the best sign yet that belief is definitely growing within a new group of players.
“Definitely, you look at some of the really good teams, like your Geelong, or Hawthorn, or when I was coming through it was the Brisbane Lions, the belief you have you when you drive into the carpark with your footy bag and know 90 per cent that you’re going to win, is contagious,” Black said after the win.
“Belief wouldn’t have been strong in this group at the start of the year but it’s getting stronger with each solid performance.”
But that belief is going to be tested like never before against a Berwick side that Black obviously rates very highly.
“I’ve been open and honest in saying that right now, in the home-and-away season, they’re clearly the best team in the competition and we’ve got some catching up to do.”
One area where the Magpies can go in confident of matching the Wickers is in the midfield, with Michael Collins, Dylan Quirk, Josh Tonna, Col McNamara and Hayden Stagg seeming to have all bases covered.
Tonna’s resurgence, after a horror run of injuries in 2015, has given the Magpies midfield that touch of class that was missing last year. He’s an exquisite talent Tonna and could really hurt the Wickers if he’s allowed to run.
But how can you tip against the champs?
They’ve got long memories the Wickers, and after years of getting their bums kicked they’ll be keen to build on a four-zip record against the Magpies last year.
Kearns, Smith, Riseley, Wilson, Sheppard and Jellyman-Turner -they’re names that are growing in stature and will continue to do so with a 23-point win.
BEACONSFIELD v TOORADIN
CAN Tooradin build on its best performance of the year or will it slip back into the pack when it travels to Holm Park Reserve to take on Beaconsfield.
The Seagulls stopped looking at the bigger picture and got down and dirty at every contest against Berwick, going down by just four goals in a major sign of improvement.
Leaders like Michael Hobbs, Matt Livermore, Julian Suarez and Josh Muling all played discipline roles that day, while exciting talent Andrew Dean was dangerous up forward.
To watch Dean and Muling strut their stuff for SEFNL last week showed that the Seagulls have the talent to really improve in the next third of the season.
Dean has probably earned the company of his interleague team-mate Daniel Battaglin this week, while Kane Airdrie is another who put the stoppers on.
And then there’s Scotty Meyer.
What the champion ruckman did for his league last week was inspirational, and if he can half of that game again then the Eagles look primed for victory.
This one will be closer than a lot expect. It’s the Eagles – featuring former Western Bulldogs 265-gamer Daniel Giansiracusa – by 13 points.
PAKENHAM v HAMPTON PARK
TIME is up for Pakenham – the Lions need to start roaring their loudest and it has to begin with an impressive victory over Hampton Park at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday.
Don’t put the Lions four close losses all down to bad luck, sure there’s an element of that, they just quite simply haven’t played anywhere near their best footy yet this year.
To do that they need slick ball movement, Russell Lehman and Luke Walker can take care of that, while Kym Jones needs to start imposing himself at the stoppages.
Jones had a great duel with Beaconsfield star Scott Meyer before the interleague break, and he will need to continue that form against the Redbacks’ best big-man in Billy Thomas on Saturday.
The Lions will win, but it’s how they play their footy and how they carry themselves into their toughest part of the draw that will define their season. They face Narre Warren, Berwick and Cranbourne in rounds 8, 9 and 10, and will need to win two of those to get their season back on track.
Cory Phillips, Jordan Derbyshire and Luke O’Brien will make the Lions work hard early, but the wide open expanses of Toomuc should crack the Redbacks in the end.
It’s the Lions by 73 points.
Officer has the bye.
