MILESTONES
100 Games
- Sam Walsh (Defenestrators)
- Nat Fyfe (Lethal Vipers)
Somewhat astonishing to me these two are bringing up this milestone at the same time, given the different points in time they came into the league…
GAME OF THE ROUND
The Devils are in the midst of a very tough block of fixtures. They had a reprieve last weekend with Te Puke Pukekos, and promptly put them to the sword. But the week prior they had MaherShalalHashBaz, who broke their extended winning streak with an 8 point victory.
This week they face the form team in the Roughnecks, who have won 8 in a row and haven’t lost since their last dance with the Devils. And the following week they face the second placed Sparkles. Then the Defenestrators.
Over the next 3 weeks they could secure the minor premiership. Or fall out of the top two spots.
Both sides will go into the clash relatively injury-free. Or at least, free of relatively new injuries. The Roughnecks may field an unchanged lineup given they broke the 2000 point barrier in round 16. The Devils may need to replace Maynard in the backline and Hewett in the middle. Saad and Worpel may be called upon to fill those voids – though Conor Idun responded to his omission with a 106 last weekend, and could get the nod over the Carlton defender.
Not half bad this Devils outfit, scoring 1876 with tones on the bench.
The Roughnecks will be chasing for much of the weekend. The Power and Blues heavy Devils outfit will have most of their players done and dusted come Sunday, and will likely only have the in-form Rankine featuring the final game of the round. The Roughnecks, as it stands, will have 9 players to come on the Sunday. They’ll be hoping those sails are particularly wet.
Last time these two met
Speaking of 8 point victories… we had a classic back in, would you believe it, round 8, when we saw the Devils emerge triumphant by just, yes you guessed it, 8 points.
It was the Devils’ second consecutive win against the Roughnecks (Round 17 2023), with Jarrod Berry proving the difference with an out-of-the-box 1 31. The Roughnecks had won this matchup 7 times in a row prior to this.
The Roughnecks lead the all-time head-to-head matchup with 13 wins to the Devils’ 3.
DangerGawn votes
- 3 votes: Brodie Grundy (Roughnecks) – 134
- 2 votes: Jarrod Berry (Devils) – 131
- 1 vote: Blake Acres (Devils) – 121
SNEAKY INTERESTING MATCHUP
If the finals began this weekend, this would be the 2nd Elimination Final.
MaherShalalHashBaz’s loss last weekend to the Sparkles may have taken the wind out of their sails a bit. They’re 3 wins behind the 4th placed Defenestrators, and running out of games to make up that ground. A win this weekend would go a long way to making up that ground. Starting the year with 3 consecutive losses may ultimately prove costly in the pursuit of a finals bye, for a team that certainly has the firepower (now) to beat anyone they play.
On the other side of the matchup we have a team that feels a bit stuck in the mud. The Defenestrators did what they needed to do against the Chiefs in round 16. But in truth it’s been a while since they reached the soaring heights we’re used to from them. They’ve scored over 1800 only 3 times in the last two months. Granted they’ve still managed to win more often than not, and the byes were in the mix there. But they were ladder leaders at the end of round 10, and haven’t been in the top two since.
Can they refind their mojo? The back half of the season collapse, or gentle decline, of the Defenestrators is something you’ve typically been able to set your watch too throughout the course of the league’s existence. Granted since the pandemic they’ve generally been able to turn it on once the finals start. But I’m sure they’d like to make things a little easier for themselves and secure that finals bye more often than they ultimately have (and probably should have)
Last time these two met
Wouldn’t you know it, another round 8 classic! These two put on a high scoring shootout, with the Defenestrators scoring 1917 on their way to securing a 36-point victory.
MaherShalalHashBaz had been bolstered by a midweek mega-trade leading into this one, and their new recruits were keen to put on a show. Dayne Zorko and Josh Dunkley scored 335 between them. But it wasn’t enough to get over the top of a Defenestrators outfit with 13 players scoring 80 or more.
The Defenestrators have had the wood over MSHB in recent times. They’ve won this clash 8 consecutive times, with MSHB last tasting victory over the team in pink back in round 11 2020. Brandon Zerk-Thatcher dropped a stinky 11 for the Defenestrators that weekend….
Defenestrators leads the all-time head-to-head matchup 14 wins to MaherShalalHashBaz’s 7.
DangerGawn votes
- 3 votes: Dayne Zorko (MSHB) – 184
- 2 votes: Jack Sinclair (Defenestrators) – 156
- 1 vote: Josh Dunkley (MSHB) – 151
STRAY OBSERVATION
The Vipers v Chiefs matchup is awfully unlucky to fall on this particular round – as it has sneaky interesting matchup written all over it.
I’ve written a bit (a lot…) about the race of sixth in these previews, so I don’t need to map out the ramifications here in all that much detail. The Chiefs could all but secure a finals birth with two wins over the next fortnight.
After two seasons as a finals mainstay the Vipers have had a horrible 2024. But they still have a lot of talent, and Fremantle have started to hit some real form. They’ve won two in a row and a win over the Chiefs would see them just a win behind and, suddenly, very much a shot at playing finals.