Sink your teeth into another big weekend of EFNL action with our Weekend Preview.
Rowville v Balwyn
Two of 2019’s finalists meet this weekend, equally keen to build on the performances they put out last week, as Balwyn take the fairly lengthy trip out to Seebeck Oval to tackle the young Hawks.
The Tigers re-entered the finals chat with a comprehensive win over early season bolter Noble Park last weekend, thanks to a strong bookended performance. The Tigers booted seven goals to none in the first term and blew the spirited Bulls away again in the last, kicking six majors to one.
The Tigers took 77 uncontested marks, laid 54 tackles and had 50 pressure acts in Saturday’s win, as they nullified the brilliant individual performance of Kyle Martin. They had some standouts themselves, with forward pairing Jeff Gobbels – four goals – and Charlie Haley proving too much to handle for the Bulls defenders.
Haley kicked 3.4 and had 16 disposals in arguably his best performance of the year, bringing his season tally to 10 goals from four games. The small forward is averaging 12.5 disposals per game in 2021 but has collected 14+ in his last three outings.
This somewhat upset win makes up for their shock loss to Berwick earlier in the year, to bring them back to level pegging, but with a top four in 2021 they can’t afford another slip up.
Rowville will fancy their chances though.
The Hawks welcomed back a number of experienced players after the two week lay-off and produced a similarly constructed win over North Ringwood on the weekend, kicking five goals to none in the first term and six to one in the last.
Rowville’s midfield is their strength in 2021. They’re ranked 3rd for Clearances (40.5) and Disposals (310.3) and 1st for handballs per game (126.5), despite Ben Wise wanting his side to be slightly more direct.
They did make that shift on the weekend, with a 2:1 kick – handball ratio to go with 272 uncontested disposals.
Lachlan McDonald and Michael Best were the best of the bunch on Saturday, having 54 disposals between them. McDonald – who had 31 – had 15 clearances, whilst Best took five intercept marks.
Meanwhile young forward Lachlan Wynd is proving a hot hand, with the young forward taking nine marks on Saturday, five of them inside 50, and booted 5.3 to take his season tally to a league high 20.
Rowville can go into the game with a feeling of freedom as all eyes burn into the back of Balwyn’s head. The Tigers have to win this game to remain a genuine threat and despite Rowville’s impressive performance last weekend, the Tigers still have the credits in the bank for mine.
Matt Fotia
Vermont vs Blackburn
Vermont takes on Blackburn at home in the 2019 Premier Division Grand Final rematch in what is sure to be the game of the round.
Although it’s a different looking Vermont side from recent years, they’re proving once again to be the benchmark team of the Premier Division. After falling short to Balwyn in Round One, the Eagles have won the last five games in a row including last week’s impressive win over South Croydon. In what was an intense head to head clash for three quarters, the Eagles younger list stood up when the game was up for grabs in what was a true battle of experience vs youth.
Lachlan Johns was once again the standout on the weekend, finishing with the best on-field honours with five important majors to get Vermont over the line, it takes his season total to 16 goals. Johns has been having a career-best year and will be someone that Blackburn should consider putting some extra attention into.
After a three-week break and a bye, it’ll be interesting to see how Blackburn start on Saturday afternoon, possibly either full of run or a little lacklustre because of the full month without football. It’s the last team that they would have wanted to be facing after the bye, especially given they currently sit fifth, a full four points and percentage behind Norwood. They’ll be thanking the Sharks for their upset over Norwood last week, it keeps them well and truly in the finals hunt.
However, the biggest concern for the Burners at the moment is that they haven’t knocked off another premiership contender yet. With losses to South Croydon, Balwyn and Noble Park, the Burners will be desperate for a big scalp.
This is certainly a big opportunity for the Burners to make a statement. The club has enough talent, statistically they’re quite a dominant side, they led the division in Inside 50’s before the bye while also averaging 312 disposals a game, Noble Park the only team with more.
Ryan Bathie has been key for the Burners up forward, kicking 15 goals for the year, in the absence of experienced star Jake Hammond. If Blackburn is to cause an upset, he’ll be crucial in finishing off the impressive work of the midfield.
Just too hard to tip against Vermont, especially on their home deck, so expect the Eagles to get the four points in a close one.
Ryan Long
Montrose v Mitcham
The Tigers make the trip up the mountain to take on the Demons, with both sides keen to rebound from disappointing losses last weekend.
Both Mitcham and Montrose’s finals hopes to massive hits on Saturday, with Montrose in particularly frustrating, losing to third bottom Bayswater, just weeks after knocking off flag fancy Croydon on their own patch.
The Demons will be rueing their inability to put an inaccurate Bayswater to bed in the first half, leading 5.4(34) to 1.8(14) at half time, before the Waters scraped home 10.11(71) to 10.8(68).

The Demons struggled to match the likes of Galvin, Haasbroek and Lopo around the coalface and couldn’t keep tabs on Josh Treeby down forward for the Waters.
Brad Watson’s return to the side was welcome, with the youngster adding yet another appearance in the best to his impressive 2021 resumé, and a return to their own lair will be music to Demon fans ears.
Their home record is strong, with three wins and one loss (to Park Orchards), but alarming they still average just 63 points per game on their home deck.
Their opponents Mitcham, whilst slightly less disappointing given the recent appraisal of Wantirna South’s fortunes, will be hurting after their comfortable loss to the Devils.
The Tigers lost the game in the first quarter, trailing by five goals at the first break and whilst they did their best to claw their way back into the game, they were never quite in it and were blown away a little in the last term.
Positively, Jake Parente continued to show his star power. The key forward made it 12 goals from his two appearances this season booting another six on Saturday in a best on ground performance in an exact replica of his return against Bayswater.
Alex Barton-Smith impressed once again, and back pocket Jake Toohey was named in the best for the first time in 2021.
Mitcham have been strong defensively in 2021, up until the weekend where they conceded their first 100+ score of the year and kept Montrose to just 6.7(43) back in Round Two. Given Parente’s return you can expect them to commit more numbers up the ground and repeat this dosage whilst isolating their ace-in-the-hole.
Montrose will be a different kettle of fish on their home track, but with Parente in this sort of form, combined with Montrose’s inability to score freely, I think Mitcham will keep their finals hopes alive.
Matt Fotia
South Belgrave v The Basin
In what is another mammoth match between second and third in Division Two, The Basin travels up the mountain to take on South Belgrave.
It was a low scoring encounter back in round four, with the Bears getting a three goal victory over the Saints under lights at Batterham, with star forward Jackson Drake kicking four goals and South Belgrave only scoring 32 points, their lowest total in 2021.
Other than that game, it’s been free flowing and high scoring footy for South Belgrave, who’re averaging a division high 103.1 points per game in 2021 whilst also only conceding 55 points per game.
The Saints also boast two of the three best forwards in Division Two for this game, with Tim Smith and Damian Garner (both combining for 47 goals in 13 games), both of whom were missing the last time these two teams played.
They’ll be up against the best defence in Division Two, with The Basin’s young side conceding only 52.1 points per game, conceding over 50 points just twice this season.
South Belgrave will have to be wary of The Basin’s game style, with Boronia coach Matt Clark stating a while back on Eastland Match of the Round that “The model they use is pretty much a Boronia model” with a quick attack and getting numbers back.
The Saints will also have to be wary of the Bears strong forward line, led by former NAB League forward Drake, who’s kicked 17 goals in seven games this season. They also average 88.9 points per game in 2021 (third best in Division Two).
South Belgrave do boast some stardom players as well, including Liam and Aidan Kidd, Ben Haddock, as well as star forwards Sam Brown, Smith and Garner.
The Basin also have some in form young players of their own, including Drake, Connor Edwards, Nicholas Hallo and Joshua Adams.
It’s going to be a tight game in this top four battle. But with South Belgrave gaining Smith and Garner from last time around and coming off an 83-point win against fellow contenders Boronia, as well as winning their last three, I’m tipping the Saints to get the win at home.
Josh Ward
Warrandyte v Ferntree Gully
It’s a top of the table clash in Division Three as offensive-minded Ferntree Gully takes the trek to Warrandyte to face the division’s defensive powerhouse.
Warrandyte will be out for blood yet again against the Eagles, with the Bloods winning last time around by 33 points in Round Two at Wally Tew, with three goals each from club legend Luke Dunn and young Quinn Clark.
Ferntree Gully also scored 69 points, their lowest total in 2021.
Their defence has been the Bloods strongest point in 2021 though, conceding a Division Three low of 59.8 points per game in 2021. Their attack hasn’t even hit their full potential yet, only scoring 88.5 points per game (equal third in Division Three).

The Eagles have found their straps offensively, averaging a Division high 106.2 points per game in 2021 despite not having any forward in the top five goalkickers. They also only concede 73.8 points per game this season (second best in Division Three).
Both also have stars everywhere, including Warrandyte boom recruit Ryan Phillips who’s so far the equal second highest goalscorer in Division Three with 24 goals in only six games. They also boast the likes of star midfielder Chris Tout and elusive mid-forward Nikoda Brooking.
The Eagles have their fair share of stars too, including star Kieran Gray who’s kicked 15 goals in seven games. Daniel De Ieso is also having a solid 2021 and former Bayswater star Wayne McInerney is supporting Kieran Gray well, kicking 12 goals in seven games.
This game will yet again be another tight one. I believe it’ll all come down to if Warrandyte can shut down this strong Eagles attack yet again or if Ferntree Gully can prevent a big game from Ryan Phillips and expose this strong Warrandyte defence.
But with the home ground advantage, having won last time around and with Ferntree Gully only winning by 43 points at home against bottom side Fairpark, I think it’s the Bloods who’ll win yet again.
Josh Ward
Kilsyth vs Nunawading
Kilsyth will host the Nunawading Lions at Pinks Reserve this weekend in search of their third win of the season.
Both clubs are coming off a poor return after the break, kicking a combined total of just five goals. While the Lions went down by a massive 211 points, the signs are a little more positive up at Pinks Reserve. The Cougars were knocked off by the experienced and undefeated Coldstream side, however, the final margin was eight goals less than the first time they played at Coldstream Reserve earlier this season. Simon Clarke was the standout for the Cougars once again, named in the side’s best for the fifth time this year.
As for Nunawading, they’ll be looking to put last week’s demolition at the hands of Forest Hill behind them as they prepare to hit the road. The Lions haven’t had a win since Round 16, 2019, at this stage of the season, they’ll start to be looking at matches like this one as their biggest chance to break their winless drought.
In their last match-up with Kilsyth back in Round Three earlier this season, it was quite a close battle for most of the day before the Cougars piled on seven goals in the final term to run away 46-point winners.
It was probably the Lions best all-around performance for the season so they’ll take plenty of confidence into this week. They had ten goalkickers with Dylan Harvey and Marcus Bubis kicking two each. To have any chance of leaving Pinks Reserve with a win, their forward line needs to start hitting the scoreboard more often, like in their most recent encounter with the Cougars.
Nunawading will be looking for another strong pair of performances from Cam Woods and the Murley brothers who have featured in their best multiple times this season.
Kilsyth for me.
Ryan Long