Liam Durkin
SALE and Maffra both have hosting duty in the Gippsland League tomorrow.
The superstitious types will be hoping Round 13 does not bring their team any misfortune when players take the field.
SALE and Wonthaggi meet in a top-five battle.
The Magpies take on a side that has arguably firmed as premiership favourite.
Wonthaggi is on a nine-game winning streak, and has defeated top-three sides Moe and Leongatha in the last two rounds.
Amazingly, the Power are one of four teams all currently equal-first on the ladder, making for one of the tightest races to the double-chance in living memory.
While the Magpies won’t be able to achieve a double-chance (four games off fourth with six games to go), they do have a clear run to sewing up a finals position.
Sale, two games clear in fifth, can make life easier for themselves with victory at home tomorrow.
Although the ladder might indicate a clear discrepancy between the top four and the rest, the Magpies have slowly but surely been managing their weeks as the finals approach.
After being decimated by injury in the first six rounds, recent performances have given a greater reflection of a side that played in the Grand Final last year.
This was perhaps best demonstrated last Sunday, when the Magpies trounced Bairnsdale by 80 points, more than making up for the shock three-point loss suffered at the hands of the Redlegs back in Round 2.
Having had one less day to recover, it will be interesting to see if or how greatly this affects the Magpies tomorrow.
Sale will be buoyed by the fact Wonthaggi is coming off two tough games, games in which the margins have not been all that convincing.
The Power scraped through by a point against Moe in Round 11, and by 17 points against Leongatha last week.
By contrast, the Magpies only lost to Wonthaggi earlier in the season by 14 points. Given the Power are making the trip to Sale Oval for the rematch, the home side will rate its chances of making up that handful of goals.
Sale’s task should be made easier due to the absence of Ryan Sparkes. The Power gun midfielder, and likely front runner for the Trood Award and Rodda Medal, will have to sit out tomorrow after being concussed last week following a sling tackle by Leongatha’s Kim Drew.
While one player won’t make all the difference, there could be one key element that does.
A common trait this season has been the Power’s ability to block off the corridor completely, forcing teams to retreat down the line, a position where they have then been able to score heavily on turnover.
Sale therefore will need to come up with a plan to counter this, which could come from midfielders such as Hudson Holmes, Shannen Lange and Cooper Whitehill tracking through and ticking back at the ball.
This will allow Sale to maintain possession, as well as gain territory, and if they can press Wonthaggi’s defence, it will at least mean the ball has to travel back further the other way.
With things tight at the top, a Magpie win tomorrow will well and truly put Wonthaggi and fellow top-four sides Leongatha, Moe and Traralgon on notice.
This could well be the year a team comes from outside the top three and wins it.
MAFFRA has plenty to play for.
With finals out of the equation, the Eagles will be looking to pick up as many wins as they can in the last six weeks.
A genuine winning opportunity presents itself tomorrow in the form of the travelling Bairnsdale.
For a young side such as Maffra, coming up against a team around their mark on the ladder will mean players will enter the game ‘thinking’ rather than ‘hoping’ they can win.
It has been a torrid winter so far for the Eagles, who have copped the top five teams all in a five-game stretch.
Results have seen some heavy defeats, however, there could be scope for Eagles coach Anthony Robbins to turn it into a positive.
Maffra players could be battle-hardened from the experiences, and now that they are presented with a game with a lesser degree of difficulty, they could find themselves with much more time and space than what they have been accustomed to lately.
Also working in the Eagles’ favour is the fact Bairnsdale is coming off a six-day break.
Having won just five games combined this year, both sides will be desperate to claim the four points.
For any team going through a rough season, a win can do wonders for morale, and considering the last time these two teams met, the game ended in a draw, there could well be very little that separates combatants tomorrow.
Former Sale City player Sam Davidson has been named in the best the last two weeks for Maffra, and has provided some much-needed experience since joining the team from the Sunraysia region just before clearances closed.
While there is still six games to go, Maffra is in danger of claiming the wooden spoon, and will surely be motivated to win tomorrow to help avoid such a fate.
For those involved in the Gippsland League since the turn of the century – who ever would have thought you’d put Maffra and wooden spoon in the same sentence.
IT will be Gary Ablett Day in Drouin tomorrow.
The AFL legend is pulling on the maroon and gold for the Hawks when they take on Morwell.
The Ablett family has strong connections to Drouin, with Ablett’s famous father Gary Senior playing for Drouin in his younger days.
Senior was one of three Ablett boys, along with Kevin and Geoff, to play AFL football, while sister Fay added another branch to the family tree by marrying Michael Tuck, who went on to become the AFL games record holder.
Sydney premiership player Luke Ablett, son of Kevin, filled in for Drouin reserves back in 2017.
Gary Junior’s younger brother Nathan also played in an AFL premiership, and also made some sporting appearances in the Drouin area.
Known for his eccentricity, Nathan suited up for Hallora Cricket Club in the mid-2000s. Playing against Trafalgar, Ablett caused quite the scene when he strode out to bat wearing a sombrero.
Thinking it was a joke, the Trafalgar bowlers were quickly put to the sword, as Ablett began teeing off, sending a lofted straight drive for six straight through the goals at the Hallora Recreation Reserve.
Interestingly, the Abletts only put their family farm at 10 Walton Rd, Drouin on the market in 2021 after 40 years of ownership.
GAME of the round will see Leongatha play Traralgon.
The winner at Parrot Park will get a one-game break on the other, as both these sides are equal-first on the ladder, but four positions apart.
WARRAGUL makes the trip to Moe.
The Lions will start heavy favourite, but will be mindful the Gulls are coming off a win.
While Moe has a 10-win, two-loss record, they haven’t really flogged many teams.
Without jumping to conclusions, given how tight the top-four is, Moe could see this game as an opportunity for some good old ‘percentage management’.
