Two of the competition’s powerhouses meet in this Gold Coast Derby on Saturday afternoon. Adding further interest is that between both teams, they contributed about half of the Queensland side that were successful in beating Tasmania for the third successive time last week.
The Sharks Tayla Gregory took out the medal for the Maroons best player and will look to dominate in the ruck again to provide the opportunities for players such as Steph O’Brien, Olivia Meagher, Kierra Zerafa and Rhianna Schipp.
Bond University will look to Maisy Evans in particular to counter Gregory’s and O’Brien’s influence in the ruck – giving the elusive Ella Calleja who performed so well last week, and Shannon Nolan who has gathered the most disposals overall, some supply.
The Bull Sharks defenders including Skye White and Jasmyn Davidson will need to be on their toes to contain the Southport forwards in Caitlin Miller and Maddy Baldwin. Olivia Meagher has also become a handful for opposition in more recent weeks. However, Bond have their own goal machine in Kendra Blattman who is the competitions leading goal kicker and also prominent in the hit outs.
The Sharks are undefeated so can the Bull Sharks hunt in their territory and give the home team something to think about before the finals?
ASPLEY(6th) V UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND (7th) 2pm AUTOMALL OVAL (GRAHAM ROAD)
Aspley have narrowly lost two of their last three but squeezed in between was a great win over current second placed Morningside. The Hornets should take confidence from that victory and having a couple of state players in Kaitlyn Day who is always dangerous on the forward line and Emma Pittman who was part of the solid defensive unit last week. Lucia Liessi, Jesse McMillan and Holly O’Flaherty are also high possession gatherers for last seasons preliminary finalists.
UQ will look to Coco Garton to give them plenty of drive from the ruck and involve playmakers such as Farradai Hopkins and Harriet Knijff.
The Red Lionesses have lost their last two and received a harsh lesson from ladder leaders Southport in the previous round. However, they have demonstrated they can mix it with the best when they defeated Bond University in round eight.
UQ will need to reverse the result from round six and beat Aspley to stay in the finals hunt, conversely, the Hornets will be looking to open a two-game buffer.
In the remaining matches Moreton Bay (8th) will be out to test Coorparoo (4th) at home at Red Rooster Park (4pm), while the Kings are aiming to consolidate their current top four position.
On the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore (9th) are hosting Morningside (2nd) and will follow the men’s match at 4:45pm at the Multi Sports Complex. Meanwhile, Wilston Grange (5th) will be looking keep in touch with Coorparoo when they travel to Leyshon Park (2pm) to play Yeronga South-Brisbane.