The East Gippsland Football Netball League finals kick off this week with two big days of football at Bairnsdale City Oval.
Ladder leader Lucknow will do battle with Wy Yung this Saturday, while reigning premier Boisdale Briagolong will play Orbost Snowy Rovers on Sunday in the elimination final.
The Blues are delighted to be back in finals action after missing out last year.
Lucknow will go in as warm favourites against Wy Yung, but it’s a traditional rivalry, so expect there to be not much between the sides when the final siren sounds.
The Magpies were runners-up last year, and the knock on them then was their inability to kick a winning score and lack of a high-class midfield.
Twelve months down the track they are the strong points of Lucknow’s game, with John Gooch and Jake Richards providing plenty of flexibility up forward, while Link McKenna and Matt Corbett add to the midfield giving Joel McNamara some added help.
McKenna has quickly become the premier midfielder in the competition, with the Tigers needing to stop him if they are to win the match.
The Tigers of 2025 have plenty of avenues to goal, which could be crucial in the coming weeks if their midfield can get on top of the premiership favourite.
Jack Betts, Brad Daniel and co-captain Harry Kellow offer plenty of goal options.
Kellow has had another outstanding season, his ability to pinch-hit in the midfield making him difficult to match up on.
If the Tigers are afforded the luxury of being able to play Kellow and Nathan Dennison in the forward 50 in the coming weeks, they are going to be hard to beat.
But that will depend largely on whether Jock Overend, Jett Murphy, Bayden Ashwood and Norm Betts can get the job done in the middle.
BOMBERS V BLUES
Boisdale Briagolong is a formidable opponent, not as strong as last year but still more than capable of putting any team to the sword, if they get it right.
They have match-winners such as skipper Jimmy Reeves, Kel Porter, coach Kade Renooy, Tom Jolly and smooth-moving left-footer, Jackson Glenane in their line-up, who can quickly take a game away from you if you’re not accountable.
Goals have been harder to come by in 2025 for the Bombers, with Reeves, the competition’s leading goalkicker, the most likely source. He is likely to get close attention from this week from Keiran Vickery, Sean Nippress, Clancy Bennett or Jordan Ross.
Orbost Snowy Rovers coach Peter Seal will be hoping to keep Reeves quiet and hope his midfielders can do the job against the Bomber dynamos on the big wide expanses of the Bairnsdale City Oval, which will be more suitable to Boisdale Briagolong’s game plan.
The Blues will be looking for big games from Charlie Mein, Gus Rogers, Tommy Smith and Braeden Ross, while hoping that Will Walker has the game of his life against Matt Wilkinson.
The Bomber dominance which was predicted pre-season hasn’t come; they are certainly vulnerable but time will tell if the Blues have the firepower to progress to the preliminary final, after an impressive second half of the season.
