PORT Melbourne’s thrilling six-point loss to Geelong is just a taster to the upcoming finals series.
You get the feeling that the Borough will play a major part in this year’s finals – that’s if it gets past Coburg on Sunday – which is almost a certainty.
Losses to the Northern Blues and North Ballarat on Sunday means Port remain in the top eight at the end of the penultimate round of the VFL season.
Also on Football Nation: VFL Results & Ladder Round 18
The Borough are one of only two teams along with Box Hill, that can match the Cats. They proved it with their tenacity at North Port Oval.
Cats VFL coach Matthew Knights believes Port threw everything at them on Saturday.
“We knew that (Port Melbourne coach) Gary (Ayres) was going to throw everything at us today with his team and they did led well by Bairdy and the other players,” Knights said.
“We’re just pleased to come away with a win, it’s not a bad game for us leading into a finals prep, playing a solid effort going into finals.”
“You know what’s pleasing for most of it, is that we’ve done it with very different teams. I think at the start of the (10 in a row), we played the Northern Blues with 17 VFL listed boys and then today’s game is at the polar end of that,” he said.
This was a classic contest from start to finish. Both teams have built up a scintillating rivalry it’s only starting to simmer for this year’s finals series. Wouldn’t it be great if they were to meet again – perhaps in a preliminary final at North Port Oval?
So the permutations to this year’s finals series begins. Box Hill, who thrashed Coburg by 88-points, will meet Casey next week and it may be for two weeks in a row with a likely qualifying final clash awaiting it.
Williamstown, however, can still jump to third spot and face the winner of next week’s clash between Box Hill and Casey.
The Seagulls were worthy 19-point winners over North Ballarat on Sunday.
Essendon should hang on to eighth spot if it defeats North Ballarat. It’s a 50-50 ball game and it depends on which Essendon team show up perhaps. North Ballarat certainly has the hunger to cause an upset. But even if it does, it relies on Williamstown defeating the Northern Blues to play finals.
The Bombers defeated Frankston by 59-points at Windy Hill to reignite their hopes.
Casey’s 129-point win over Bendigo added some much-needed percentage to their top four placing.
Collingwood’s 60-point win over Sandringham almost guarantees the Pies to play finals.
And Werribee’s 48-point win over the Northern Blues has consolidated fifth spot for it but can’t make the top four due to its inferior percentage to that of fourth placed Williamstown.
Football Nation’s Finals Predictor – Week One
QF1 – Geelong v Williamstown, (likely to be a Friday night at Simonds Stadium)
QF 2 – Box Hill v Casey Scorpions (likely to be a Saturday afternoon at Box Hill City Oval)
EF1 – Werribee Tigers v Essendon* (likely to be a Saturday afternoon at North Port Oval)
EF2 – Collingwood v Port Melbourne (likely to be a Sunday afternoon at North Port Oval)
* Essendon’s finals appearance is pending any verdict from the investigation into the supplement scandal. The Northern Blues or North Ballarat will be on standby to replace it.
Hero of the week: Josh Hunt (Geelong) – While it was Paul Chapman who kicked the match-winner, Hunt was the one who patrolled the defensive line in such an important final stanza against Port.
Villain(s) of the week: Bendigo Gold – One word: ‘uncompetitive’. The Gold are anything but gold given their lack-lustre performances this season. It will be interesting to see whether they believe they can remain viable with a decision to come next month.
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