Gather round children, it’s time for the fifth weekend of head-to-head matchups. The tips look reasonably straightforward this weekend. Perhaps that means we’re ripe for an upset?
GAME OF THE ROUND
Two teams with topline rucks face-off without either of those topline rucks. Get excited!
No Daicos, No Xerri, No Worries. The Sparkles dispatched the Devils comfortably over Easter and find themselves sitting pretty with 3 wins, floating under the radar. They seem to be making a habit of this, stacking on the wins while staying out of the limelight.
Te Puke Pukekos also find themselves with 3 wins, despite having scored 500 less points than the Sparkles, and just 200 more than the winless Defenestrators.
If there’s a silver lining (well, beyond the 3 wins of course), it’s that the Pukekos seem to be playing to the level of their opposition. After an unexpected round 1 loss to the Chiefs, they’ve done what they’ve needed to do in order to secure victory, and little more. But that “what needs to be done” does include an outlier 1890 score in round 3 to defeat the Devils.
One imagines they’ll need to deliver that round 3 energy again if they’re to topple to Sparkles. And they’ll be doing it without their talisman in English. A tall order perhaps, but things do seem to be breaking their way in recent weeks.
Key Outs
Sparkles: Xerri, Ridley, Daicos?
Pukekos: English, Bowey, Curtin, Day
Last time these two met
Was a tight contest, with the Sparkles getting over the line by 67 points.
The top end scores – the Sparkles securing all the DangerGawn votes on offer – proved to be the difference in the end.
DangerGawn votes
| Nick Daicos |  | 146 |
| Brayden Fiorini | | 126 |
| Liam Baker | | 114 |
SNEAKY INTERESTING MATCHUP
Perhaps nothing particularly sneaky here. The reigning premiers are riding high, and the Devils are smarting a bit.
But perhaps the Devils will benefit from going in the clear underdog? After triumphing over Threat Level Midnight in what is undoubtedly the game of the season so far back in round 2, the Devils have had a bumpy fortnight. They copped Te Puke Pukekos’ only premiership level score to date in round 3, and then fell quite flat indeed against a weakened Sparkles.
They’ve gotten an astonishing start from Jayden Short and Matthew Kennedy, but it trails off quickly from there. Butters is the other centurion average, just. They’ve got only 2 players averaging in the 90s, and one of them has already been dropped at AFL level (Worpel).
They’ve got 9 players averaging in the 80s. This would usually be cause for celebration, but in this instance, it’s a mini-disaster, as half of them are guys you’d be hoping to see in the 90s. Then you’ve got the dramatic underperformers – Rankine, Briggs, Amon, Langdon, and Banks.
Good news. It’s a long season, and you just need to do enough to make the finals, then anything can happen.
Bad news. It seems unlikely the turnaround begins this weekend, given their opponent. But perhaps coach Bernardi would settle for a return to form for some key contributors.
Key Outs
MSHB: Petracca, Nankervis
Devils: Rozee, Viney
Last time these two met
Was in last year’s preliminary finals. You know who won the flag, which means you know who won this one. The premiers vanquished the Devils by 234 points.
Andrew McGrath top scored whilst in the middle of his midfield-bliss era. New law of the universe: it’s mighty hard to win against MSHB if Andy McGrath is dropping 130+ on your head.
DangerGawn votes
| Andrew McGrath |  | 134 |
| Max Gawn | | 132 |
| Finn Callaghan | | 122 |
STRAY OBSERVATION
Could the Defenestrators give Threat Level Midnight a shake this weekend?
On paper, the Defenestrators don’t look like a team that should be winless. They have plenty of solid contributors. The issue so far has been they really lack top end firepower – though that’s not surprising given their manoeuvres at the end of last season.
Archie Roberts has recovered after a slow start. Josh Ward seems to be going to another level. Sam Walsh isn’t injured yet. Milera and Maynard have been rock solid. Wardlaw makes everybody around him 5 points better when he’s available, through sheer manic energy alone. If guys like Duggan, Mannagh and Atkins can return to their usual levels, this is a team that could cause an upset or two still.