Positivity, positivity, positivity in William Buck Premier Men’s

Nick Armistead

Boy, are we running a tight race here? Previewing Round 9 of the William Buck Premier Men’s fixture with little to no clarity as to whether a round will take place just yet. In any case, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and it’s always better to be positive than negative, so let’s look at the five games fixtured for this weekend.

Old Brighton vs St Bernard’s

Coming off the back of a Round 7 fade out against Old Xavs, the Tonners will be looking to bounce back against the eighth-placed Snow Dogs at Brighton Beach Oval. Their free kick count against Xavs hurt them badly and prevented any real sustained run-on, and a hamstring injury to boom recruit Jack Watts didn’t help. However, the form of Harry Hill, Tom Fisher, Will Lewis (15 goals) and R7 debutants, Callan Wellings and Joel Crocker, means the Tonners will enter this one as firm favourite. After winning two of their first three games, the Snow Dogs have since lost four games in a row with a combined score of 28 goals and 56 behinds. One goal for every two points. Clearly inaccuracy is killing the Snow Dogs, with Marcus Holland (12) their only player in the top 29 on the goal kicking leader board.

Old Melburnians vs Old Scotch

In what was meant to be the celebrations of celebrations, these two sides were set to play off in a commemorative match honouring the first-ever game of Australian Rules football between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College. OMs returned to some form with a 19-point win over Collegians snapping their two-game losing streak and putting to bed memories of their poor outing against SKOB one week earlier. Scotch, on the other hand, suffered a 73-point loss to Caufield after two magnificent wins against Uni Blues and St Bernard’s. Hard to go past OMs in this one.

Collegians vs Caulfield Grammarians

The Lions will host the red-hot Fields as they try to claim their second win of the season and distance themselves from the relegation zone. It was another strong performance from the Lions in Round 7 but they were unable to get over OM’s – however, the return of skipper and star midfielder Sam Hibbins for the first time this season was a welcome sight. The Fields recorded their fourth straight win against Scotch and, just as impressively, kicked 100 points for the third time in that run.

Uni Blues vs St Kevin’s OB

The 2019 Grand Final rematch pits the Uni Blues against the top-of-the-table Skobbers, with both sides coming off strong wins in Round 7. Defensively, SKOB is unrivalled with their 54 points against five better than Xavs in second spot and 20 better than Blues. The Blues, however, came out firing in their most recent clash with Trinity and posted their first score over 100 for the season (123). In fact, their 12.8 (80) first half would have been their third-highest score for the year. On the back of his four goals, Kieran Harper has jumped to equal-first on the goal kicking leader board with Julian Dobosz (CG) on 16.

Old Xaverians vs Old Trinity

In the final game of the round that may not take place, we have Old Xaverians hosting Old Trinity in what seems like another David vs Goliath-type operation. I say this on the back of Xavs’ outstanding 41-point win over Old Brighton in Round 7 where they ran away with nine goals to four in the second half and claimed their first win at Brighton in over a decade. Their forward set-up is without peer, with Rohan Bewick still set to re-join Ryan Schoenmakers, Xavier Richards, Grant Valles, Michael Batten and Jack Hewitt. The young T’s are fighting valiantly each week but their current lack of experience means it’s been a tough opening seven rounds. Christos Manoussakis has shown outstanding form over the past two games, while Ed Weatherson continues to prove a threat in front of goal.