By RUSSELL BENNETT
ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE
PREVIEW – SEMI FINALS EAST DIVISION
LONGWARRY v BULN BULN
Semi Final 2 – Saturday from 2.10pm at Poowong.
Ladder positions: 1st (17 wins, 1 loss) versus 2nd (14 wins, 4 losses)
Earlier this season: Round 5 at Buln Buln – Longwarry 8.11 (59) d Buln Buln 6.8 (44). Round 12 at Longwarry – Longwarry 10.9 (69) d Buln Buln 10.7 (67).
TYE Holland is fresh off winning yet another club best and fairest award for Longwarry and his battle with young Buln Buln star Tyson Bale will be a real feature of this Saturday’s long-awaited showdown at Poowong.
Though the two sides have played twice already this year – with the Crows winning both by narrow margins – a potential finals classic is what everyone has been salivating over.
Semir Zijai has bagged 68 goals for the season at four per game and is an extremely dangerous forward for the Crows. He’s part of a lethal three-pronged attack with Luke Serong and Stephen Hawkins (48 goals apiece), but by contrast Buln relies on an even spread of contributors up forward. Sean Proctor leads the way for Paul Alger’s men with 42 majors, while gun ruckmen Bob McCallum and Matt Gray have booted 56 between them.
Veteran midfielder Brent Eastwell has played every game this season after battling a bad ankle throughout the off-season. In fact, the former Garfield premiership player-coach has been the Lyrebirds’ best player in each of its past three matches.
McCallum, Gray, Eastwell, and Brad Virgona (who was rested on the weekend) form a mature, proven on-ball division while Jack Symes, Tyson Bale and Jack Nuttall make up an impressive trio of youngsters.
Buln has a good mixture of experience and youth but the biggest danger coming from Longwarry is the Crows’ even spread of contributors. While Holland and Semir Zijai have been absolute standouts this season, the likes of Aarong Serong have also.
Key defender Nick Walsh is crucial to his side’s chances, as is athletic ruckman Nick Redley – who may have to put in the performance of his life this week against two VCFL representatives.
Dean Rice’s Longwarry side is full of blokes who can play a role, such as 26-year-old Brody Rundell – a returned star who adds real pace. He has played just six games this year and that’s the most in a season since he was 21 but he’s an x-factor who can break lines with his run and carry. We expect Saturday’s game to be an awfully tight affair, but we can’t tip against a side that has only lost once all season. The Crows by 10 points.
WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS v NEERIM NEERIM SOUTH
Semi Final 1 – Sunday from 2.10pm at Buln Buln.
Ladder positions: 3rd (14 wins, 4 losses) versus 4th (8 wins, 10 losses)
Earlier this season: Round 4 at Warragul – Warragul 17.6 (108) d Neerim South 4.7 (31). Round 11 at Neerim South – Warragul 9.8 (62) d Neerim South 4.7 (31). Round 18 at Warragul – Warragul 12.12 (84) d Neerim South 6.8 (44).
ON the one hand, the Round 18 encounter between these two sides on Saturday could have just been one of ducks and drakes – knowing they were almost certain to match-up on each other in the first week of the finals.
But on the other, it likely wouldn’t have made a difference. The Dusties were too strong, winning by 40 points, to take their season tally against the Cats so far in 2014 to 3-0 – having earlier recorded comfortable wins in Round 4 and Round 11.
Talk about danger – Josh Peterson, Rhett O’Hara, Jimmy Bradshaw and Michael Ablett can break lines with their run and carry, while Daniel Johnson is one of the best finishers in the EDFL – East or West – off a half-forward flank and has 30 goals to show for it this season.
And we haven’t even mentioned Danny Brewster yet or the heart and soul of the Dusties, his star player-coach brother Shane. Warragul has potential match-winners all over the ground, while Neerim has made the finals off the back of a gritty blue collar work-rate. That’s the issue – will the Cats have enough to compete on Sunday?
Kody Wilson plays an uncannily similar style to Tooradin gun Matt Wade in regards to the way he moves around the ground – and that’s a huge compliment – while Aaron Fawcett, last year’s EDFL under-18 best-and-fairest winner, and Glenn Anderson will offer plenty of grunt.
The Cats’ half-back line of Dean MacFarlane, Nathan Bayne and Darren Ratten offer the most resistance behind the centre for their side but will that be enough to counter wave after wave of attacking pressure headed their way? We’re not so sure. The Dusties by six goals.
