MATCH OF THE ROUND
Mt Gravatt vs. UQ
Saturday May 14, 2:00pm, Dittmer Park
LIVE BLOG FROM 1:45pm
Ditch the footy boots this weekend, these two teams may as well strap on their running spikes.
Both have been close the last couple of weeks, but not close enough.
For Mt Gravatt, two very good outfits in Palm Beach and Labrador have squeezed past them, but they have been right in both contests.
They need to bounce back this week; they can’t afford to drop three in a row if they want to push for top spot on the ladder when push comes to shove.
It’ll be about converting this week. They haven’t been the most accurate side in front of the sticks this year, which needs to change.
The last fortnight has been head and shoulders above the other three games for the Red Lions.
In patches, they have played footy that would challenge any team in the competition.
Key word then was patches.
Last week was a wake up call though, because if it wasn’t for a ten-minute lapse, where they went into their shells, they would have had their first win.
Stopping Mt Gravatt’s talls will be a huge priority for John Tootell. Smith will float forward, as will Crawley, and Tronc can’t be allowed to dictate terms down back.
There are a couple of UQ players we could highlight that need to be shut down, but really, they need a contribution from everyone.
Bound to be quick, bound to look good, bound to be a corker.
Where it will be won: run
Surfers Paradise vs. Morningside
Saturday May 14, 2:00pm, Sir Bruce Small Oval
This has blockbuster written all over it.
While both teams are still working on ironing out the creases, they should be happy with how they are tracking.
Morningside will have to make the hardest road trip in the QAFL this week, especially if it’s windy down there.
If they play like they did in the first half last week against Grange, they win this one, but can’t afford to take the foot off the pedal.
Surfers’ confidence is growing, and a young team up and about is as dangerous as they come.
They love their home deck as well.
Frame will go to Danny Green, which will be a hard-nosed one-on-one, and Wearne will probably have to cover Corbett.
Up the other end, the Demons will have to cover the three towers in Abey, Mitchell and Mueller.
Stevenson comes back from Southport to battle with Mollison in the ruck, while Kimch and Pope will burry themselves in the middle of the pack.
If Surfers can get over the line here, they are genuine double chance contenders.
Where it will be won: contested ball
Labrador vs. Western Magpies
Saturday May 14, 2:00pm, Cooke-Murphy Oval
After a longer than expected wait, we will finally get to see Brent Staker in the black in white tomorrow, in a clash between two teams many tipped to be playing off in the grand final later this year.
They could well be both grand final bound, but they have bigger priorities right now.
Labrador got back in the winners circle last week with a strong second half performance against Mt Gravatt.
While still missing a few, they found a bit of the dash they were lacking, and the backline was on song.
They will need to back it up this week.
The inclusion of Staker transforms the Magpies’ forward line. You’d expect Bantoft to go with him if he stays deep, which opens up Dickfos and Pope to the second and third defenders.
It also allows Luke Scott to play behind the ball and steady up their defence.
The Magpies attention will be on Baxter in the forward 50, who was clinical last week.
Also keep an eye on Crawford and Thorsen in the middle, who will no doubt put their heads over it time and time again.
The Magpies need to contain the Tigers’ run, something they struggled with last season, while the Tigers will want to load up from the backline and take off.
It might only be round 6, but this one means a lot to both clubs.
Where it will be won: stoppages
Palm Beach Currumbin vs. Sandgate
Saturday May 14, 2:00pm, Salk Oval
If anyone thinks this will be a bit of one-way traffic, may I remind you of round 2, 2015.
On that day, Sandgate stunned the Lions to knock them off by 15-points.
If you think Palm Beach will be taking this one lightly, think again.
Sandgate are a better team than that point last year, especially over the last fortnight.
Playing at Salk Oval plays into their hands as well. They will revel in the in-close stuff, the key is being cleaner going forward. That was what they lacked last week.
The Lions are going to try and run the footy this week. They have to use their outside players, their senior heads, and then let Douglass and Stubbs go to work up forward.
Beaven, Overington and Aden Rutledge up against Derrick, Woolley and Thynne is as good as it gets on a Saturday afternoon. Get down the coast to see it firsthand.
Sandgate will have their work cut out for them, as Palmy are red-hot right now, but with the results we have seen so far this year, you just never know.
Where it will be won: the middle.
Wilston Grange vs. Broadbeach
Saturday May 14, 2:00pm, Bendigo Bank Oval
You’ll see a pretty similar type of game style in this one.
Both love the hardness around the contest, but both pride themselves on how they spread from it.
It’s been working a bit better for Broadbeach this year, but anything could happen tomorrow.
Grange was down last week, they missed crucial targets, and lacked some senior heads.
They really need guys like Kettle, Richardson, and Williams to control the tempo.
Trewhella and McIvor back (pending Aspley’s final selection) will also make a massive difference.
They also need to keep an eye on Royes in the middle, and last week’s Rising Star, (LINK) Harrison Kerr, in the forward 50.
Palmer and Foster will be good to watch in the ruck, they will run and jump into each other in the middle, and then both push forward to become a marking target.
The Cats will look to get their running game going for the full 120 minutes this week.
When it’s been on, it’s been slick. When it hasn’t, they have opened the door and let teams back in the game.
Expect a dog fight around the contested ball, but then a pretty open game when it gets out wide.
Where it will be won: the spread.
MATCH REPLAYS
Can’t be at two games at once? Never fear, you can now catch up on all the QAFL games online.
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 now.
150-year fact – Queensland Football Forensics
www.q150.net.au
After competing in the QANFL for the first time in 1948, Morningside dropped out midway through 1950. After this, Jack Esplen arranged an amalgamation of the Morningside club and the Hawthorne Junior club. The nucleus of the first Hawthorne Junior team consisted of players from Morningside State School’s successful 1947 side. Eric Timmermans, who coached the school team with assistance from some enthusiastic parents including Messrs Burns, Reynolds and McGuinness (father of Noel and Neville), became the ‘founding father’ of the Hawthorne Junior Club that wore red and white colours.
Years later Jack Esplen recalled in the football record that “we had a few arguments about club name and colours, but eventually decided to call the club Morningside and combine Morningside’s black and white with Hawthorne’s red and white to get the jerseys of today.”
The team entered the B Grade competition in 1951, going on to win the premiership in that grade the following year with the loss of only one game. The decision to elevate Morningside to A Grade was made public by the league before the end of the 1952 season, on the condition that the Coorparoo-Yeronga amalgamation went ahead (so keeping an even number of teams).
By Andrew Wiles
Follow @andrewjwiles
