For St Mary’s, a win over 2023 preliminary final nemesis Leopold on Saturday on the ground where their dreams of a unique hat-trick of premiership were crushed will have a two-fold effect.
Victory will maintain the Saints’ three-game buffer in second spot with five rounds remaining,
Throw in a percentage that is 91 points greater than the rest of the competition, and it all but guarantees their finals campaign will start in no worse than a qualifying final.
“The season’s certainly tightening up, which is great for the competition,” St Mary’s co-coach Luke Rayner said.
“There are three or four genuine contenders at the moment, so how the back six weeks of the season plays out will go a long way in terms of determining what the final mix looks like.
“For us, it’s more about continuing to go out and try to play the footy we want to be playing, and we’ll get tested against a quality opposition this week.”
The Saints lose star trio Jarryd Garner (broken hand), Jack Blood (adductor) and Chris Jansen (overseas).
Two-time Mathieson medallist Harry Benson, star forward Sam Dobson, and Werribee-listed Matt Keast are more than adequate replacements.
The Lions will welcome back veteran Sam Scott for Tom Gordon (ankle).
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Colac has named Essendon VFL speedster Bailey Scott for his second game of the season as it prepares for a tricky meeting with Newtown & Chilwell at Elderslie Reserve.
He replaces suspended veteran Jonathan Simpkin.
The Towners have been boosted by the return of 2024 recruits Will O’Dwyer, Jake Toulmin and Joe McDonald.
Archie Lazzaro will be sidelined, while Rhys Devlin and Jesse Colville have been dropped.
Bell Park will be without Bendigo recruit Jacob Nihill for the remainder of the season.
The forward has undergone surgery on a shoulder injury suffered in last week’s loss to Colac.
The Dragons, who slipped out of the top five for the first time this season following the Tigers’ defeat, have made three changes for their meeting with St Albans.
Jack Sarcevic, believed to be training with Geelong’s VFL team, is out with a corkie, while Jackson Gorman is unavailable.
They’ve been replaced by debutant Cooper Edwards, Darcy Brown for his first game since Round 1, and Nick Petering for his first game since Round 2.
The Supersaints, who announced on Thursday night they would part company with coach Alex Tortora at the end of the season, have lost Tom Caudullo to injury and omitted Sam Ryan and Campbell Sunderland.
Jacob Whitfield, Miles Gray and Nathan Pearson return.
The durable Kelly O’Neil will be missing for South Barwon when it travels to Lara.
The midfielder has failed to train this week due to illness.
He’s been replaced by Lachie Weidemann, while youngster Max Mawson has lost his spot, with Ben Kellett returning from a concussion.
The Cats, who were unlucky not to beat the Swans in Round 2, have lost playing co-coach Devon Smith to suspension but welcome back star midfielder Connor Thar from injury.
Grovedale has named an unchanged team for its meeting with Geelong West at Burdoo Reserve.
The Giants have included Tyh Evans and Sydney VFL-listed Phil Moimoi.
They replace Jesse Mellor (Geelong Falcons) and Riley Meddings.
Experienced trio Joel O’Dwyer, James Hickey and Luke Webb are among five inclusions for St Joseph’s as it looks to extend its winning run to 13 against North Shore at Drew Oval.
Joeys have also recalled Charlie Clark from the reserves and promoted Oscar Hocking for his first senior game of the season.
Out of the team that comfortably accounted for St Albans last week are Ollie Hanneysee (hamstring), Tanner Owen (illness), Finn McCombe (unavailable), Jai Adams (under-18s), and Liam Kershaw, who will make his VFL debut for Geelong tomorrow.
The Seagulls have replaced consistent defender Cam Primmer and Tom Ryan with the recalled Darcey Webber and Ryan Wentworth.
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