ROCHESTER V SHEPPARTON
This shapes as one of the matches of the season.
Both are in really good form, Rochester last losing to Shepparton in round three and Shepparton was handed a football lesson by the reigning premier about a month ago.
They loom as the biggest threats to Echuca on form and both will want to make a statement in this game, especially the visiting Bears.
If they get the win, then they will most likely finish in the top two to get first crack at the reigning premier in September.
Rochester will want to claim another big scalp.
They have already claimed the scalps of top six aspirants Euroa and Mooroopna coupled with the reigning premier at Echuca.
Wil Hamilton, Dylan Gordon, Adam McPhee, the returning Douglas Wren and James McPhee will be important if the Tigers are going to reverse the result of round 3 when they were well beaten by the Bears.
The Bears have been ultra consistent in the front half, averaging 104 points and 81 against.
The Tigers average 86 points per game while they have only been giving up 60 points a game – second best in the competition.
Ashley Holland is arguably one of the best ruckmen in the competition and is likely to figure prominently in the Morrison Medal.
Holland is mobile for a big man and very good below his knees.
He will be important and if can give first use to his midfielders then that will put the Tigers’ defence under pressure.
Jhett Cooper, Bryce Stephenson, Lewis McShane, Liam Duguid and Joel Brett (four goals) will be others that will be looking to lend support to Holland.
They haven’t put a foot wrong between round 4 and 13, but I think the Bears will be in front at the final siren to take a giant step towards securing a top two finish. Tip: Shepparton.
MOOROOPNA V ECHUCA
This will be an intriguing match-up for a variety of reasons.
The Cats under coach John Lamont, are one of the few teams across the competition that has had a really good record against the all-conquering Murray Bombers. The meeting earlier this season saw the Murray Bombers get home in a real arm-wrestle – 70 to 56. I expect this to still be a good contest despite that both teams will likely be missing some of their best 21.
The Cats come into the contest off the back of a grinding win over the plucky Bulldogs while the reigning premier did enough to get past the Lions at home.
Mooroopna will look to the experience of Bryce Rutherford, captain Ben Hicks, key forward Daniel Johnston (six goals), Angus Hanrahan and Keelin Betson to lead the way for the home team.
The visitors will look to the classy Sam Willoughby (three goals), key forward, Cooper Barber (four goals), Jack McHale, Benjamin Reid and Lachlan Watson to lead the way to get the job done. Tip: Echuca.
SHEPPARTON UNITED V BENALLA
This will be a great opportunity for both these teams to chalk up another win to try and finish off the season on a positive note.
The Saints sit in 10th place on the ladder with 2 ½ wins while the Demons sit in 11th with 1 ½ wins.
Benalla was reasonably competitive against the red-hot Rochester, especially in the middle part of the game.
They will be eager to start well after a slow start against the Tigers and they will look to Jordan Wolff, James Martiniello, Wade King, Christopher Welsh and Tyler McGregor to lead the way.
Shepparton United showed glimpses of what they are capable of when they are on and they will look to Joel Serra, Jesse Cucinotta, Liam Serra, Kaedyn Napier (four goals in his 50th senior game) and Fraser Hicks to try and lead the home team to the win. Tip: Benalla.
SEYMOUR V TATURA
Both teams have battled at times during 2024 so this is a chance to get a rare win for both.
The Lions have won three times in season 2024 after qualifying for finals in 2023 while the Dogs are rock bottom after major injuries with only one win – in round one versus the Lions and that came after the siren.
Seymour went to Echuca and it was reasonably competitive before going down by 33 points while the Dogs were plucky in pushing Mooroopna all the way last round,
The Dogs will look to Jacob Simpson, Chris Ryan, Mitch Heywood, Andrew Ciavarella and Curtis Ryan to take it up to the Lions while the home team will look to Ben Rigoni, Nicholas Quigg, Tom Maloney, Seamus Feery, Nathan Beattie and Riley Mason to lead them to victory. Tip: Seymour
EUROA V SHEPPARTON SWANS
This is a huge game in the context of the season for the Shepparton Swans.
Euroa is two games clear of sixth placed Kyabram and seventh placed Mansfield after it accounted for the 2019 premier at Memorial Oval last round.
That was a big win for the Pies. A defeat would have meant that would have put them into a tricky fight to feature in September.
But a win gives them some breathing space, but coach Ryan Pendlebury will be reminding his players of the importance of this match, with a few tough games to follow for the Magpies post this match-up.
The Shepparton Swans were really strong in getting past Mansfield at home last round.
They played three really good quarters, but did give up seven goals in the third quarter against the Eagles, which would have been a concern for coach Jedd Wright.
Max Clohesy, Mark Kovacevic, James Auld (six goals), Tyreece Collison, Zac Alderton, Steele Simpson (five goals) and returning skipper Nathan Rachele (three goals) were the key contributors in the win and they will all need to play well to win and keep their September dream alive.
Jack McKernan (five goals), ruckman Fletcher Paul, Andrew Bell, Jayden Gleeson and Tristan Davies were really good for the Pies in their win over the Bombers.
The only area of concern for Pendlebury was the third quarter where they gave up six goals to let the Bombers back into the contest.
This will be tight and the Swans will be looking to reverse the round one loss to the Pies, which I think they can in a real arm wrestle. Tip: Shepparton Swans.
MANSFIELD V KYABRAM
This is one of those eight-point games that could decide who plays finals and who doesn’t come September.
Mansfield last won at the start of June at Euroa while the Bombers have lost their past three, last winning at home against Benalla in early June.
Anthony DePasquale has been one of the real shining lights in 2024.
He was already an established senior player, but he has gone to another level this year.
Brad Whitford, Aidan Robinson, Marcus Khoo, Riley Ironside and Brad Mangan (four goals) will be others that will be important if the Bombers are to go to the High Country and come away with the four points.
William Christopher, Max Mahoney, Billy Hogan (six goals), playing coach Jack Hutchins (five goals) and Tom Dunstan will be the players trying to help the home team to their first win in over a month.
The Eagles and Bombers both shone in the third quarter of their defeats but both will want to start well to set the tone of the contest.
I think if the Bombers go with the right mind set, then I think they can win a close one. Tip: Kyabram.
