BY NATHAN DOLE
Tigers take on Royals at Sea Lake
A SHOWDOWN between the ladder-leading Sea Lake Nandaly and third-placed Donald highlights this Saturday’s round 15 action in the Goldacres North Central senior footy competition.
Action at Sea Lake kicks off at 2.30pm.
Matches at Boort and Wedderburn will also have a significant bearing on the finals aspirations of several teams.
Beaten just once in ’24, Sea Lake Nandaly will start favourite to take the points on its turf at Sea Lake.
A closely-fought contest between the Royals and Tigers at Donald in round six went Sea Lake Nandaly’s way by 22 points.
The Bryce Delmenico and Billy McInnes-coached Tigers won last Saturday’s match at Nullawil by just four points.
Best in the reigning premier’s 12th win included Brodie Adcock, Kane and Wade Donnan and captain Ryan O’Sullivan.
The Tigers squad includes line-up to face the Royals includes Brody Weir, Max Cahoon, Lachy McClelland and Will Simpson.
Donald won its latest hit-out with St Arnaud by 38 points.
Pressure on the Josh Potter-coached Royals will be at a far higher level against the yellow and black.
Key players for Donald include on-baller and Feeny medallist Ross Young, captain Hayden Geddes, Jamie Papalia, Ryley Barrack, Jesse Wallin and Andrew Browne.
Another big clash will be at Wedderburn’s Donaldson Park where the Redbacks take on Wycheproof-Narraport.
The Tom Metherell-coached Redbacks start the round in fourth place on 26 points.
A win for Wedderburn and a loss for Donald will mean a flip in positions.
The Redbacks are under pressure from Nullawil, 24 points, and also from the Wayne Mitrovic-coached Wycheproof-Narraport which is on 22 points.
As Wedderburn had the bye last round, Wycheproof-Narraport went down to Boort by seven points.
The Demons fired up to score a 67-60 win against Wedderburn at Wycheproof in the sixth round.
Wedderburn’s team to face the Demons includes Tom Campbell, Michael Zelencich, Junior Miller, Jacob DeAraugo, Jordan Hargreaves, and Isaac, Louis, Oscar and Rhordan Holt.
The Demons will look to Spencer Allan, Boe and Jed Bish, Cody Green, Koby Hommelhoff, Maysen Murgov, George Turner and Josh Walsh to lead the charge to victory.
Finals hopes for Boort are not gone, but the Dale Cameron-coached Magpies must beat Birchip-Watchem to stay in the race.
Although on home turf at Boort Park, Boort faces a daunting task against the second-placed Bulls.
Boort’s best in the hard-fought win at Wycheproof last round were Jhye Baddeley-Kelly, Will Perryman, co-captain Jarrod Fitzpatrick and Ethan Coleman.
The Magpies’ squad includes Natnael McLaren, Jarrod Starr, James Keeble, Will Perryman and co-captain Keiren Wilson.
The margin was 118 points in favour of the Bulls in round six, but the Magpies will be confident of putting in a much more competitive performance this time.
Players to watch for Birchip-Watchem include ruckman Hamish Hosking, key forward Ben Edwards, Ty Colbert, Meyrick Buchanan, Marshall and Nicholas Rippon, Darcy and Joseph Reid, and Lachlan Ryan.
Charlton will be on home turf at Charlton Park to take on Nullawil.
The Navies faced a tough task at Birchip’s George Cartwright Oval last round where the Bulls won by 53 points.
Key players for the Mitch Collins-coached Charlton include Kade Blow, Thomas Finlay, Bailey Kemp, Patrick Soulsby, Harrison and Jesse Taylor, and Ned Zagame.
Nullawil beat the Navies by 56 points on the Maroons’ turf in round six.
The Daryl Wilson-coached Nullawil must win or risk slipping a rung or two on the ladder.
Best for the Maroons against Sea Lake Nandaly last Saturday were Lucas Caccaviello, Brent Sheahan, on-baller Matt Wade and Adam Thomson.
Nullawil’s squad includes Mitch Farmer, Dean Putt, Kyle Doran, Andrew Oberdorfer and Hunter Lawrence.
St Arnaud has the bye.
North Central senior footy ladder:
Sea Lake Nandaly 211 per cent, 48 points; Birchip-Watchem 210, 46; Donald 113, 30; Wedderburn 124, 26; Nullawil 100, 24; Wycheproof-Narraport 88, 22; Boort 84, 22; St Arnaud 38, 4; Charlton 41, 2.
Leading goalkickers:
81 Ben Edwards, Birchip-Watchem.
38 Tom Campbell, Wedderburn.
38 Josh Jenkins, Sea Lake Nandaly.
36 Mitch Farmer, Nullawil.
30 Nicholas Rippon, Birchip-Watchem.
25 Trent Grant, Donald.
24 James Keeble, Boort.
24 Joseph Reid, Birchip-Watchem.
22 Billy McInnes, Sea Lake Nandaly.
21 Jack Exell, Nullawil.
21 Oscar Holt, Wedderburn.
19 Nick Grabowski, Wycheproof-Narraport.
19 Anthony Zelencich, Wedderburn.
18 Ethan Coleman, Boort.
18 Blake Grant, Donald.
16 Tyson McKenzie, Sea Lake Nandaly.
15 Lachy McClelland, Sea Lake Nandaly.
15 Rylee Smith, Nullawil.
15 Adam Thomson, Nullawil.
14 Thomas Cox, Sea Lake Nandaly.
14 Josh Grabowski, Wycheproof-Narraport.
14 Will Simpson, Sea Lake Nandaly.
13 Daniel Bell, Birchip-Watchem.
13 Noah Berry, Donald.
13 Max Cahoon, Sea Lake Nandaly.
13 Ty Colbert, Birchip-Watchem.
13 Wayne Mitrovic, Wycheproof-Narraport.
13 Maysen Murgov, Wycheproof-Narraport.
13 Brody Weir, Sea Lake Nandaly.
12 Will Perryman, Boort.
12 Brody Weir, Sea Lake Nandaly.
11 Wade Donnan, Sea Lake Nandaly.
11 Torin Petrie, St Arnaud.
10 Chris Gavaghan, Charlton.
10 Cody Green, Wycheproof-Narraport.
10 Darcy Jackson, Wedderburn.
10 Junior Miller, Wedderburn.
10 Jamie Papalia, Donald.
10 Josh Potter, Donald.
10 Tom Potter, Boort.