ECHUCA V SHEPPARTON
The moment of truth has arrived for the Shepparton Football Club.
They have earnt first crack at Echuca after finishing the home and away season with 17 wins.
They have had the one blemish.
Echuca at Echuca in the middle of June when they lost by nearly 12 goals.
And, the scary thing is that the reigning premier had at least half-a-dozen players missing from the team that took care of business on that day.
The Bears were down a couple of good soldiers as well.
It will be interesting to see what the Bears have learnt from that day and how they adjust.
And, Echuca’s only blemish came in the first half of the year to Rochester.
Since then, they haven’t put a foot wrong and appear every bit as hungry as last year.
I truly believe that the Bears are playing well enough to make a better fist of this match-up than the June match.
Luke Smith was outstanding in round 18, with his six goals one of his best hauls for the season.
Ruckman Ashley Holland continues to press his case to claim the league’s highest individual honour.
He will be looking to feed his midfield group to ensure the forwards get the supply to kick a winning score.
Tyler Larkin, Mitchell Brett, Xavier Stevenson and Trent Herbert will be looking to put their best forward to give the Bears a big show of booking a second semi-final spot.
Stevenson and Ted Lindon know that it will take 21 players to all buy in and contribute to be a chance to go the distance with Echuca.
Benjamin Reid, Samuel Reid, Jack McHale, Jack Evans, Sam Willoughby and Cam Valentine were some of the key contributors in the ruthless display that saw the reigning premier pile on 11 last quarter goals to run out 15-goal winners.
In a further positive for the Murray Bombers, they had 14 different goal-kickers pile on the big score at Princess Park.
For me, until they get beaten, I won’t be tipping against them.
So, with that I think Echuca will be the first team into the second semi-final. Tip: Echuca.
ROCHESTER V EUROA
This will be an intriguing match-up.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out as neither team is playing great football.
Euroa has won one its last four games, defeating Benalla in round 17 to officially lock its place in the finals while Rochester has won two of its last four games, noting it lost one of those after the siren at Mooroopna in round 17.
I am not sure what to expect, but both teams will be desperate to put their best foot forward, knowing if they don’t the season will be over.
The Pies come into this contest off the back of a defeat to Mansfield and Andrew Bell, Lachlan Hill, Fletcher Paul, Will Creevey, Jett Trotter and Ryan Pendlebury will be doing their best to get to the second week of finals at the very least after strong finals series in 2022 and 2023.
Rochester did enough to get past Shepparton United at Deakin Reserve in round 18 and I think coach Ash Watson would be very disappointed if his team didn’t at least win a final.
Win a final and the Tigers will play at least two more finals as they will move into the second semi-final showdown with a win over the Pies.
Douglas Wren, Ryan O’Keefe, Mitchell Trewhella, Adam McPhee and Hamish Heine will be desperate to lead the way for the Tigers and help them into the major semi-final that would see them play for a spot in the grand-final against the winner of the Echuca versus Shepparton qualifying final.
I am leaning towards the Tigers, but do believe this will be a really close game. Tip: Rochester.
MOOROOPNA V KYABRAM
This is going to be an interesting match-up under the lights of Mooroopna.
The Cats will be looking to turn the tables after losing to the Bombers at Mooroopna a few weeks ago.
And, they will be strengthened up by the return of Keelin Betson, Bryce Rutherford, Jack Lear, Dom Gugliotti, Coby James and Isaac Dowling.
These players all missed the match at Kings Park, Seymour where the Cats went down in round 18.
William Bella, Ben Hicks, Toby Williams, MacKenzie Calleja and Jed Woods will be looking to continue their good form for the Cats while coach John Lamont will be looking to some of his youngsters – in particular Caden Ratcliffe, Oscar Emanuelli and Xavier Chandler to provide a little bit of run and X-factor.
Bailey Tome, Brad Whitford, Joshua Dillon, Anthony DePasquale and Kaine Herbert will be important for the Bombers.
Jason Morgan will be important for the Bombers to play that intercepting role to set up things from the back half.
The Bombers qualifying for the finals is a big win for them.
Many pundits outside of Kyabram thought this might struggle to play finals after some off-season departures post the grand final loss in 2023.
But they have proven everyone wrong and they will be coming to Mooroopna expecting to win and get through to the second week of the finals.
This will come down to which team can take their opportunities when they have the momentum.
I like the form of the Bombers even though they lost their round 18 clash with Shepparton.
I sense this could go to the wire and the winner will be the team that handles the conditions better.
For me this is a real flip of the coin but I think the form of Kyabram is slightly better, so I am going for them to win. Tip: Kyabram.
