There are three regular season rounds remaining but for teams like ladder leaders Palm Beach Currumbin only play two matches with byes playing their part. An enthralling round awaits as the next four teams on the ladder are drawn against each other. Second hosts third, fourth travels to fifth and fixtures involving teams in the bottom half of the top eight will be significant in shaping the finals.
REDLAND VICTORIA POINT (2ND) v MORNINGSIDE (3RD) 2PM TOTALLY WORKWEAR PARK)
RVP can take advantage of recent losses and a bye this week to Palm Beach Currumbin to clinch top spot in this crucial clash with only three rounds remaining.
The Sharks have not been in the top spot since round seven when they gave it up following a loss at home (see Everleigh Sports Ground) to Aspley.
There was a bye last week to prepare for this contest and no doubt reassess for their September campaign. Prior to the break, the Sharks had a taste of finals football with three solid hit outs against fellow top eight rivals – Surfers Paradise, Aspley and Labrador – all resulting in victories after receiving a jolt in round 13 when losing at Wilston Grange.
Morningside can inch a step closer to the top two if they overcome the Sharks which would leave them only one win behind the top two as the reigning premiers aim to defend their title. The Panthers had their bye two weeks ago and maybe were a little bit rusty last week being slow out of the blocks and trailing all day against Aspley even though the margin was only a narrow one in the end.
Injuries were also a feature of last week’s loss so interest will be high at the selection table after Ryan Dadds and Kelly Castle were early casualties.
This will be the first meeting between these teams for the season as they were scheduled for round one, but Cyclone Alfred prevented that, and both accepted the two points. Another factor will be Shark’s spearhead Matt Hamelmann, who after the weekend off will be keen to get back amongst the action as he trails Aspley’s Connor Stackelberg by eight goals in the Ray Hughson Medal.
ASPLEY(5TH) V SURFERS PARADISE (4TH) 2PM AUTOMALL OVAL/GRAHAM ROAD
Another eagerly awaited clash with potentially a top four position on the line. Both teams are on ten wins, ten points clear of third, but the Demons have a healthier percentage (+45). Depending on the result at RVP, either of these teams could find themselves third as Morningside only have a two-point buffer over fourth and fifth.
In that context, Aspley’s win over the defending premiers last week was huge in their quest to finish the regular season in a similar position to 2024.
The Hornets, like the Panthers in the previous round suffered injuries with Jesse-Patrick Doherty and Joel Leahy so decisions to be made at the selection table.
Meanwhile, Surfers have reached the same number of wins as last year and are desperate to continue that form to fill a top four position. That will have them better placed to assault this year’s finals after being eliminated in the first week in 2024.
The Demons may have had this fixture in mind having a number of players miss last week. It had no effect on their performance as they thrashed Noosa by 81 points on the Sunshine Coast.
Again, in a quirk of the draw this will be the only meeting between these two for the regular season, so a win here is vital, especially for Aspley who have a bye next week.
BROADBEACH (8TH) V COORPAROO (12TH) 2PM NEPTUNE HOMES OVAL
What about those Cats! Languishing down the bottom in the first half of the season resulting in a change of coach and fortune, they are now in the eight for the first time. Following their best win of the year last week over ladder leaders PBC, the coaching staff will be at pains to ensure that form continues over Coorparoo.
Broadbeach have won six out of their last seven matches and find themselves in the traffic jam from sixth to tenth with only one win separating five teams, so they do not want to waste their recent good work.
Coorparoo’s finals campaign may be over, but they can certainly trouble finals aspirants in the run home as they did to Sherwood narrowly in round 15. The Kings had a bye last week so it can be assured a fresh approach will be the attitude for this clash.
Virtual elimination finals are on the menu for the two remaining fixtures in round 18. WILSTON GRANGE (10th) host MAROOCHYDORE(7th) 2pm at Hickey Park. The Gorillas will be desperate to play finals football again after finishing fourth last year but find themselves on the precipice this season and a final round bye does not help their cause – unless they make it!
A draw with Labrador in round 14 then successive losses to teams above them appear to have cancelled out the memorable win over RVP in round 13. However, in this topsy turvy season anything is possible, and hopes must remain high.
Conversely Maroochydore will be wondering what might have been. They have been stuck on seven wins since winning in round 12, four losses have followed (two by under a goal) and then a bye arrived before focusing on this week and working a way back to the winners list.
It is worth noting the Roos were in a similar position in 2024 and ended up with victories over Surfers Paradise and the eventual premiers Morningside to finish the season with nine wins and seventh on the ladder. Can history repeat?
Sunshine Coast neighbours NOOSA (9th) have also shown indifferent form of late and like Maroochydore had reached fifth during the season before sliding down to their current position.
For the Tigers every match now becomes a ‘must win’ if they entertain thoughts of playing beyond the regular season. It starts this week when they travel to Powenyenna Oval (2pm) to take on SHERWOOD (11TH). The Magpies finals hopes maybe just out of reach following a narrow loss to Coorparoo in round 15 but have shown enough to think a higher finish is still possible.
As mentioned earlier PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN (1ST) have the weekend off and time to reset following their losing fortnight ahead of another finals campaign. LABRADOR (8TH) also have a bye and will be anxiously awaiting the results to see if they remain in the eight after the weekend while MT GRAVATT have a break and see if a win is possible in their remaining rounds.
