IN WHAT feels like no time at all, we’ve reached halfway in the Mid-Gippsland football netball league’s season.
The top six is shaping up nicely and it’s looking like we could have a good couple local games on this weekend.
Fish Creek Vs Mirboo North
A big matchup this weekend down in fish creek, with a clash between 7th and 9th.
Fish creek had the week off last week, so they’ll be hoping to be nice and fresh for what looks like will be a great game Saturday.
Whilst Mirboo North are coming off the back of the upset of the season, knocking off the reining premiers, Yinnar, at home last week.
Fish creek’s coach, Jarrod Walker saying, “It was a nice weekend to have a week off and freshen up.”
Adding, “It will be a big game again this week against Mirboo North, coming off a good win. With the ladder being so close you can’t afford to take any games lightly.”
After the tigers 14-point win over Yinnar, they would be coming into the game in Fish Creek confident. It has also given them the opportunity to show that last week’s upset was no accident, and they are a serious threat to everybody in the comp.
Mirboo North’s coach, Peter Mongta said that “Last week the playing group bounced back after a great week on the training track, but this week we travel to Fish Creek FC, who come off a bye so they will be fresh and ready to go.”
The last time these two-team faced off was round 18 last year, where Fish Creek knocked off Mirboo 71 to 48. And so far, this season, 8 teams have had a bye, and five of them have won their game the next week. So, it looks like Fish creek might have an advantage, but momentum is a funny thing in footy and no doubt the tigers will be coming out to prove a point. This is shaping up to be a big game down in Fish Creek
Newborough Vs MDU
This is by far the biggest game of the round. The Newborough bulldogs are sitting at the top of the table as it stands, going undefeated so far this season. But this will be the dogs biggest challenge so far, coming up against a team that last year, finished 11th. But this year they have surprised everybody and are now in second with 6 win and 3 losses.
The coach down at MDU saying, “We head to Newborough this weekend, so we’re really excited to seeing how we stack up against them.
There is no disputing that the Bulldogs have been class on the field this year, and it’s clear that the dogs will be everyone’s target. This season and come finals time, but this doesn’t seem to worry Newborough’s coach, Craig Skinner, which sees it as an opportunity to better his team.
“Looking forward to playing MDU this Saturday, they are another big improver and I know it will be another close one and that’s the strength of the competition we are”, said Skinner.
And that’s more than true, because despite Newborough being 2 games clear of second, there is still a huge battle going on with 7th to 4th just 4 points behind 2nd and 3rd.
Stony Creek Vs Foster
Stony Creek can’t seem to catch a break this season with three straight losses, in games that they could have won, all within 25 points. And now this week they are coming up against a powerhouse of the competition.
It has to be said that the boys down at Stony are starting to come under some pressure.
Coach Chris Verboon saying “Foster this week will be another big challenge at home. They are coming off a big win against Toora and no doubt will be hard to beat.”
The tigers are coming off the back of a monstrous win over Toora, winning by 161 at home.
Foster’s senior coach, Sam Davies, was elated with his team’s performance against the magpies saying,
"Last week we had eleven or twelve different goal kickers and were ruthless, it was something we haven't been for a long time."
Foster are 4th on the ladder this year and might be a stretch to far for the lions, but if they want to make a statement for the rest of the comp, a win this week would surely do that.
Toora Vs Tarwin
Toora hasn’t had the best start to the season, all the way down in 12th on the MGFNL ladder, and with only one win against Hill End back in round 2. It looks like it isn’t going to get any easier this week when they go up against Tarwin who currently sit 6th on the ladder with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses.
Despite some frustrations that are remaining a “secret” at this point, the sharks have found a way to win this season.
Tarwin coach, Troy Hemming saying, “This week we have Toora at Toora, and it’s never easy going down there, and I personally have huge respect for Jack! (Toora coach, Jack Weston), but we need to keep our momentum.”
Momentum will be sure to factor in this weekend with the Sharks coming into this one confident that they can get a win on the road. For Toora, they have shown glimpses of good footy this season and at times looked like a good side, but they are going to need to pull out all of the stops and produce a genuine four quarter effort if they want any chance of winning this weekend.
The coach down at Toora, Jack Weston said, “Tarwin this week will provide a difficult challenge, they are a side that are great at the contest and well-structured behind the ball”.
There is no doubt that it is Tarwin’s game to lose this weekend, they’ll be hoping to get a big win to push themselves further up the ladder, and Toora will be wanting to put up a good fight against Tarwin and carry some good momentum into what is possibly a winnable game could be next week against Boolarra.
