EAGLEHAWK will be desperate to rein in Gisborne’s run when they contest the Bendigo Bank Bendigo FNL senior footy qualifying final on Saturday.
The clash of the Hawks and Bulldogs starts at 2.20pm at Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo’s View Street.
Although it’s nil-two against Gisborne this season, Eaglehawk takes on an opponent reeling from a 119-point loss to Sandhurst in last Saturday’s round 16 match at the QEO.
Gisborne coach Rob Waters declared a new season starts now.
As the Bulldogs were thrashed by Sandhurst, Eaglehawk warmed up for the finals with a hard-fought 27 point win against Castlemaine at Canterbury Park.
The Travis Matheson and Clayton Holmes-coached Hawks went into this season desperate to claim a top-three finish and double chance at finals time.
A 12-4 record meant the Borough finished the home-and-away series in second place.
Two of the Hawks’ defeats were to Gisborne by 11 and 15 points.
Eaglehawk goes into this match with gun ruckman Brayden Frost who was handed a one-match ban after an early guilty plea to rough conduct against Castlemaine.
The Bulldogs are also without their number one ruckman and Michelsen medallist Braidon Blake whose season was ended by a torn bicep.
Eaglehawk has Bailey Ilsley to be number one ruckman across the finals series.
Gisborne named Hugo Olive in the ruck for Saturday’s big clash.
On-ball and midfield duels will be a highlight.
Eaglehawk has captain Billy Evans, Ben Thompson and Joel Budarick to take on Brad Bernacki, James Gray and Jacob Murphy.
Huge plus for Eaglehawk is the return of key forward Clayton Holmes for his first match since the 13th round.
Holmes will be among the main targets in a Hawks’ forward line that includes Jack O’Shannessy, Nick Hoare and Pala Kuma.
A strong Gisborne defence is led by captain Jack Reaper, Jed Denahy and Zac Vescovi.
Eaglehawk defenders Dylan Hanley, Jonty Neaves, Charlie Langford and Jack Donat face a huge challenge against Pat McKenna, Zac Denahy, Matt Merrett and Harry Luxmoore.
Across midfield the Hawks have Joel Mullen and Thomas Bennett on the wings against Thomas Werner and Dylan Johnstone.
The winner will advance to a second semi-final clash with Sandhurst, while the defeated faces South Bendigo or Strathfieldsaye in a first semi.
On Sunday it will be South Bendigo and Strathfieldsaye fighting to stay in the race for the Bendigo Advertiser premiership cup.
The Bloods mark their return to the finals by contesting an elimination final with Storm.
Seven points was the difference across the two matches South Bendigo and Strathfieldsaye played in the home-and-away series.
A new-look South Bendigo kicked off the season by scoring a one-point win against Storm at Kennington’s Harry Trott Oval in round one.
In round eight it was Strathfieldsaye which fought on for a 59-53 victory against the Bloods at Triple M Park in Tannery Lane.
Among the many changes at South Bendigo was the appointment of Troy Coates, non-playing, and Jack Fallon, playing, as co-coaches.
South Bendigo has the “triple threat” of Kaiden Antonowicz, Brock Harvey and Steven Stroobants in its attack.
Create enough supply and the talented trio is likely to kick a target that Storm could struggle to surpass.
A tally of 48 goals earnt Harvey the Ron Best Medal as the league’s leading goalkicker for the first time.
Antonowicz has kicked 37 goals in his return to the Bloods after being co-coach of the premiership-winning White Hills last season.
Stroobants has slotted 44 goals in 11 matches.
A Storm defence that includes Hunter Lawrence, Patrick Blandford, Cooper Jones and Kya Lanfranchi faces a huge challenge.
At the other end of the ground Storm has James Schishcka and Jed Brereton as key targets.
Injury has meant both have missed a lot of footy, but they will be driving forces for the Luke Freeman-coached Storm.
Schiskha has kicked 12 goals in four matches, and Brereton’s tally is nine in six matches.
A Storm attack that includes Tyce Griffin, Riley Mulquiny and Charlie King will be up against Alex Smith, Jack Fallon, Blake Poyser, Zac Hare and Zac Sims.
The Bloods have a strong on-ball division led by ruckman Callum Crisp and ruck-rover Brody Haddow.
Other key players in on-ball or midfield roles for South Bendigo include Joel Swatton, Tom Brereton and Anthony Zimmerman.
Strathfieldsaye is likely to have plenty of attacks set up by Bode Stevens, Sam Heavyside, ruckman Tim Hosking, and Michelsen medallist Jake Moorhead.
Storm also has the 150-games experience of defender/midfielder Ben Lester who played in the premiership-winning teams of 2017 and ’19.
In the Drummond Golf reserves competition, South Bendigo and Sandhurst clash in Saturday’s qualifying final at 12.15pm.
The Bloods won the round five match at Harry Trott Oval by four points.
Sandhurst marked a 77-39 victory when they met in round 12 on the QEO turf.
The Bloods’ squad includes Darcy Backway, Regan Harvey, Zavier Holmes, Tait Rojewski, Braydan Torpey and Bailey Waterman.
Sandhurst’s squad includes Jarrod Bateson, Patrick and Sean O’Farrell, Wil Pinniger, Connor Sexton, and Alex and Joel Wharton.
It will be the Bloods or Dragons who meet Golden Square in the second semi-final.
On Sunday it’s the clash of the Magpies and Hawks in the reserves elimination final from 12.15pm.
In round six Castlemaine marked a 61-48 win against the Two Blues at Camp Reserve.
The Hawks won the round 13 showdown with the Magpies at Canterbury Park by five points.
The elimination finalists met again last Saturday where Eaglehawk won 69-29 in the Borough.
Castlemaine’s squad includes Ben Jardine, Brad Keogh, Ben McConachy, Declan Slingo, Archie Rixon and Wilson Staples.
The Hawks’ squad includes Sam Dean, Noah and Tyler Eliades, Cory Jacobs, Jaxon Vroom and Ryan Wellington.
First-up in the finals series will be South Bendigo and Golden Square in the SportsPower under-18s qualifying final on Saturday from 10.15am.
The Bloods won the round six match on Golden Square’s ground in Wade Street by 19 points.
In round 13 it was the Bulldogs who kicked on for a 44-20 victory on South Bendigo’s turf at Harry Trott Oval.
South Bendigo’s squad for the qualifying final includes Ryan Burchell, Luke Feuerherdt, Seb Gray, Toby Hardingham, Jasper Irwin, Oli Patton and Sam Power.
The winner will tackle Sandhurst in the second semi-final.
Elimination final day kicks off with the under-18s match between Gisborne and Strathfieldsaye at 10.15am.
First meeting of the teams was in round three where Gisborne won 50-25 at Gardiner Reserve.
The Bulldogs won a closely-fought contest, 52-40 in Storm territory at Triple M Park in round 10.
It was a hat-trick of wins for Gisborne as it marked a 73-29 victory against Storm in the 15th round at Gardiner Reserve.
The Gisborne squad includes Campbell Bryant, Lucas Carnell, Lucas Hannon, Lucas Jones, Jack Rutten and Noah Todorovic.
Strathfieldsaye will look to Hugh Behrens, Phoenix Gordon, Nathan Jones-Stibbe, Jack Molloy, Archie Stevens and Alex Wingrave to lead the way to victory.