MILESTONES
150 games:
| Ollie Wines |  |
50 games:
| Conor Nash |  |
GAME OF THE ROUND
Not much selling required here. These are the two highest scoring teams over the opening fortnight.
The Sparkles go into this weekend with a big question mark over their most famous cog. The Magpies are on the bye, and Nick Daicos’ opening round score of 60 is well below his usual standard. That’s a big win for the Roughnecks. Lipinksi’s 53 may also resign him to the bench, but it’s the absence (or 60) of Daicos that looms large.
The Roughnecks have their own opening round conundrum in Brodie Grundy and his score of 69. But he’s no Daicos – not at this stage of his career at least.
Any concerns the Roughnecks have lie in the forward line. Connor Macdonald is injured, so that’s one spot to fill. Lukosius is injured, so they can’t replace Macdonald with him. And Bailey Smith was a late out last weekend. He’s been named, but, he was named last week too.
With forward lines being what they are, in doesn’t take much before you’re having to field some players you’d rather not field. In a contest like this, in can be who avoids fielding a truly subpar score who emerges victorious. Forward lines, particularly those dealing with absences, are fertile ground for these sorts of disasters.
Recent history heavily favours the Sparkles here – they’ve won 4 of the last 5 encounters between these two. The Daicos situation puts the Roughnecks in a strong spot to get one back for their side of the ledger.
A final note on this one – the other undefeated teams have matchups they’d expect to win, so the loser here will likely find themselves looking up at 3 teams above them come next Monday morning. That’ll be midly annoying given the terrific start both have made in 2025.
Key Outs
Roughnecks: Flanders? B. Smith? Macdonald
Sparkles: Stewart? Daicos…
Last time these two met
Was Round 19 last year, when the Sparkles took victory by 80 points.
The Roughnecks had 3 excellent scores in Whitfield (145), Flanders (137), and Richards (131). But they also had 5 players score less than 50. Only 1 of those players is still on the list (Nankervis).
The Sparkles only had one terrible score (Cumming – 33), and 6 players were centurions – led by club stalwarts in Jack Steele and Tom Stewart.
DangerGawn votes
| Lachie Whitfield |  | 145 |
| Sam Flanders | | 137 |
| Jack Steele | | 133 |
SNEAKY INTERESTING MATCHUP
In last week’s preview, I wrote:
The Defenestrators had a horrid time in round one
and that:
a loss here would set off all sorts of alarm bells at Defenestrators HQ.
I do believe those are alarms bells you’re hearing!
The Defenestrators find themselves in 8th position on the ladder after a very shonky fortnight. They’ve scored just 14 points more than perennial celler-dwellers Te Puke Pukekos so far in season 2025.
The pain has been compounded with news that Treloar’s injury absence is likely to be extended for another month.
Scanning over the team list, it’s hard to identify a clear and obvious problem. Sinclair is doing well, as is Matty Roberts and Harry Himmelberg. Christian Salem has had an electric start to the season. The defence for the Defenestrators has been pretty good really – though one imagines coach Zerna might be at the end of his tether with Harry Perryman.
Oh wait no, I’ve found the problem. The forward line is a wasteland. Taylor Walker is the line leader here with a 65.5 average to date. Of course, this is warped by Brent Daniels and his injury affected Round 1 score. But the Defenestrators are desperately trying to cobble together a forward line while they wait for Hogan to come back. And it’s unclear if Hollands is coming back anytime soon. Is there enough cattle to turn this around?
The Vipers copped a smacking at the hands of the Roughnecks in round 2. But they have a win on the board thanks to a round one matchup with Pukekos. Can they further the Defenestrators’ early season misery and keep within touching distance of their likely competitors for that elusive finals spot?
In truth the Vipers do look a bit sturdier on paper. The forward line is similarly sparse, but the Vipers at least have workhorse Ben Keays as a difference maker in this part of the park. The defence – usually a solid line for the Vipers – has been mostly middling. It feels like the Defenestrators have an edge there.
But the midfield is looking like a comparative strength for the Vipers, even with Brayshaw being well down on his standard. Caldwell has continued his blazing form from the end of last season, and Liberatore has been immense. Oh, and they have a 136 locked in from Darcy Cameron in the opening round. Yikes! I think you’d have to back the Vipers as the favourites this weekend…
Key Outs
Defenestrators: Treloar, Hollands, Mannagh? Hogan?
Vipers: Ugle-Hagan, Darcy
Last time these two met
Was round 13 last year, where the Defenestrators had a commanding 424 point victory.
The Vipers only had one tonne – Lachie Neale, whose 128 scored him two DangerGawn votes. The Defenestrators had 6… and another 3 in the 90s.
DangerGawn votes
| Max Gawn |  | 148 |
| Lachie Neale |  | 128 |
| Joel Jeffrey | | 120 |
STRAY OBSERVATION
Te Puke Pukekos put up a score that would’ve beaten 4 other teams last week, and they were only 5 points shy of surpassing a fifth. They did that despite copping a donut…
One doesn’t fancy their chances this weekend against MaherShalalHashBaz. But is this team flirting with seriousness?