By RUSSELL BENNETT
ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
PREVIEW – ROUND 4
ROUND 4 of the senior EDFL season looms as an absolute belter, with five of the seven games on offer posing some real dilemmas for local tipsters.
The match of the round pits Nar Nar Goon up against Kooweerup in another early-season litmus test for Tom Hallinan’s boys.
And he’s up-front about it – they can’t afford to play the game on Kooweerup’s terms and expect to come away with the four points.
“We acknowledge that if we play the style of footy that Garfield, Cora Lynn and Kooweerup like to play that we’re not at their level yet,” Hallinan said candidly.
“We can’t play with a plus-one and feel that we’re as strong as them, but we can certainly take away their time and space and that puts us in a 50/50 contest, which clearly puts us right in the game.”
Hallinan admits to being intrigued as to whether his side can back up their impressive win over the Stars with a win this week against another of last year’s contenders.
“We have a few sore bodies and we’ll be up against an extremely well-drilled team… if we can put in a competitive effort that’s all I’m seeking,” he said.
“I expect our group to at least nullify their midfield influence.
“You’ve got three blokes, potentially four, who are six-foot two-inches plus (188 cm) in their forward line if Marusic goes forward… if we can nullify their midfield and half-back influence it puts the game on an even keel.
“We’ll strip it back to the basics of footy and all I want is to leave Kooweerup with an impression to say Nar Nar Goon is a competitive beast – whether they won or lost, this team is bloody hard at it.”
We’re tipping Kooweerup to get over the line by four goals in a hard-fought contest.
Bunyip, meanwhile, will host the Warragul Industrials in a battle of the top four sides. Ash Green’s Dusties and Brad Walker’s Bulldogs boast the competitions two stingiest defences and both have plenty of versatility in both their smalls and their bigs at that end of the ground. The battle of the half-back lines could well determine the result. We’re expecting Bunyip’s loss against the Cobras to have stung them into life and the Bulldogs to win by 15 points at home.
The Magpies smell blood in the water and will look to swoop in for the kill on Saturday at the Showgrounds against Lang Lang.
Poowong is buoyed by their win over Nyora and sees this clash as another real opportunity to clinch the four points, but the Tigers just have too much proven talent and should win by six goals.
The much-improved Cats will head to Longwarry to take on the Crows in what could be an exciting, high-scoring shootout between the likes of Tyssen Morrow and Chris Urie for the visitors, and Semir Zijai for the home side. Longwarry should have too much class when it’s all said and done, but this could go right down to the wire.
Catani will host Nilma Darnum in another fascinating battle at Taplins Road. There’s plenty of the unknown about this matchup, but it’s clear one of the highlights of the game will be the battle of the key forwards – Jason Wells at one end, and Owen Fitzpatrick at the other. Both sides will be looking to rebound from heavy Round-3 defeats, but Catani should prevail at home in a tight contest.
In the two remaining clashes of the round, Cora Lynn will be far too strong for Ellinbank, likewise Buln Buln for Nyora.
Garfield has the bye this week, and while Ryan Hendy’s men will be keen to atone for their loss to the Goon, it might just have come at the perfect time with Lincoln Withers, Ash Brown, John Atwell, Tyler McDonald and the suspended Justin Berry all having missed the game on the weekend.
