UQ vs. Wilston Grange
Saturday July 9, 2:00pm, Field 9
If these four-points went to auction, both clubs would be taking out a loan.
It’s a game both clubs will see as getable, not something that happens every week. That means it’ll be two young sides playing with confidence.
Round 12 was a week both would rather forget, and the best way to do that is with a good win tomorrow.
While the one-on-ones will be important, the biggest factor in this game will be the tempo.
Grange can’t afford to leave it open and free. If they do, UQ will load up from the backline and run them out wide.
What the Gorillas will look to do, is play it down the spine, and make it as physical as possible, which Field 9 will help them do.
They have to use their bigger bodies like Foster in the ruck, Satchell over the pill, and Trewhella, Eaton and Williams in the arcs. No Brittain hurts though.
UQ get Ballenden and Tagell back in the forward line this week, which means they have two big targets to kick to… that’s what they missed the most last week.
The Red Lions play their home deck very well. If they back their running game in, and remove their lapses in games, they are more than a show in this one.
Where it will be won: inside/outside balance
Mt Gravatt vs. Broadbeach
Saturday July 9, 2:00pm, Dittmer Park
Let’s dub this one the ‘big blue’ (and white).
It’s been an indifferent month or so for both clubs with a massive turn over of players, so there is still a bit of an unknown about what exactly will happen.
Mt Gravatt got the wheels turning again last week. They were back playing the footy they wanted to play.
It gets better this week though.
Inclusions don’t get much bigger than Carbone, Joe Murphy and Crawley; it’s their best team on paper for over a month.
These also an inclusion by the name of Joshua Vearing. The former club skipper is back from retirement, and back at Dittmer Park.
The Cats were a bit off last week; they couldn’t hold the damn wall against Surfers, so they need to respond.
They will be up against it this week, there are no two ways about that, but their last trip to Brisbane yielded some good footy. They need that buy in from all 22 again.
I can guarantee you this will be quick.
Both teams rely heavily on their outside running game, but you can’t have that without controlling the stoppages.
Josh Searl plays senior game 100 for the Cats this week, and they will need him to have a blinder in the middle.
When they get their tails up, Broady are dangerous, but they have to start well, and they have to score from their forward 50 entries.
Mt Gravatt will be hard to knock off at home in this one, especially with those ins.
Where it will be won: who feeds their runners.
Western Magpies vs. Sandgate
Saturday July 9, 2:00pm, Chelmer
The steam train that is the Magpies last month could be about pick up even more speed.
If they play like they have for the last four weeks, they are going to be bloody hard to stop tomorrow.
Sandgate will have to bring their a-game.
We know they will come out swinging, their first quarters have been their best all year, but it’s about maintaining that rage for the other 90 minutes.
If they can do that, this will be brutal in the middle, and they can cause an upset.
If they can’t, the Magpies could be in for another day out.
In the Hawks camp, you know what you’re going to get from the Rutledge’s, from Overington, and from Beaven. It’s going to be about what we see from the bottom six; they have go to another level.
As good as they have been, the Magpies can’t take this one lightly though, no one in this comp this year can take any game lightly.
The extra string to their bow of late is their scoring power. If the ball is coming out of the middle quickly, good luck stopping it.
The Hawks strength is their strength around the ball, so if the Magpies can match it with them there, they will beat them on the outside. That’s where it will be decided.
The Western Magpies should win this, but let’s be honest, this year has been harder to pick than a broken nose.
Where it will be won: Sandgate’s intensity
MATCH OF THE ROUND
Morningside vs. Labrador
Sunday July 10, 2:00pm, Jack Esplen Oval
LIVE BLOG FROM 1:45pm
In terms of how the top five looks, and will play out for the rest of the year, this is as important as any game that’s been played this year.
A Labrador win brings them within a game of Morningside, but a Panthers win, which makes them three games clear, makes them very hard to catch.
It’s not going to be your textbook Morningside vs. Labrador game though, that’s for sure… it’s got a whole different look about it.
Morningside will have a very fresh-faced line up this week.
Out of last weeks side, which was already missing a heap, is Frame and Buntain… not ideal when you’re coming up against one of the most potent forward lines in the competition.
Dale will go to full back, Mueller will probably go to Retzlaff, and Brown might have to go to Goldsmith, which will be a mismatch in height.
They do get Daniel Fletcher into the midfield though. He was the contested ball bull that got them into the grand final last year.
The Tigers will go into this with a head full of steam.
And just when things couldn’t get much better on the health of the list front, they get to debut a two time AFL premiership player.
Yep, that’s right, ex-Geelong player, and current Gold Coast development coach, Max Rooke, will pull on the yellow and black this weekend.
Morningside got beaten up around the ball last week without some of their inside players, which is what Labrador will try and do this week.
For Morningside to win this, they need to at least equal the clearance count. If they don’t, the Tigers will be virtually unstoppable, especially if it comes flying into the forward line.
The Tigers could take another step forward this Sunday.
Where it will be won: centre clearances.
Surfers Paradise vs. Palm Beach Currumbin
Sunday July 10, 2:00pm, Sir Bruce Small Oval
The ladder might say 1 v 6 but the ladder lies, this is bigger than that.
Both of these teams have played some scintillating footy this year, both are more than capable of holding up the cup at years end.
If this game were played three weeks ago you would pencil Palm Beach in for a 10-goal win. Not anymore.
Surfers got back to their best last week, but anything less than that against the ladder leaders, and they will be in trouble.
The teams Surfers have taken care of the most comprehensively this year have played a little slower than Palm Beach do, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up again.
The last time they met, it was the Lions who broke the game open in the last quarter with their legs, and skipped away.
You’d expect Emblem to go to Daniel Green, with Lys taking the next tall. They need someone agile on Corbett, so Matt Derrick might get the gig to start with.
Both teams will have to make this uncomfortable.
Palm Beach have to play quick, stop the Demons defensive structures being put in place, while Surfers cannot allow the Lions to use their foot skills, they have to put them under pressure.
The Demons will probably look to sit one in front of Douglas, as there is no real match up for him, which makes that quick ball movement even more crucial.
Chisholm, Woolley, Callinan up against Haberfield, Woolford, Pope, that’s some of the competitions best going head to head in the middle.
Should be a Sunday arvo classic.
Where it will be won: who can play on the quickest.
150-year fact – Queensland Football Forensics
www.q150.net.au
After missing the finals in 1968, Sandgate were minor premiers a year later, bowing out with a one-point loss to Coorparoo in the Preliminary Final. Nonetheless, 1969 was the start of an incredible run for the Hawks, who made the finals for eleven consecutive years, winning the flag in 1970, 71, 74 and 79.
During this era, Sandgate played its first senior game at its new home ground at Lemke Road, Boondall, on 15th July 1973. Bruce Andrew officially opened the ground on a day when the home side beat Coorparoo by 16 points. The freehold purchase of the land at Lemke Road by the Sandgate club had not only been an amazing achievement but a meaningful commitment to ensuring the long-term viability of the club. The move confirmed Sandgate was cutting ties with Deagon which had hosted games every season from 1948, Sandgate’s first year in the senior competition, to 1971. The suburb where Lemke Road is located is now known as Taigum.
Match Replays
Remember, 24 hours after the game, match replays will be available to view HERE. No excuses not to be all over the ins and outs of the QAFL in 2016.
By Andrew Wiles
Follow @andrewjwiles
