MORNINGSIDE V COORPAROO 4-45PM JACK ESPLEN OVAL
It is the age-old question – who has the better form line? The team well and truly beaten in the qualifying final or the team that salutes in the eliminator.
Morningside have the benefit of the double chance and live again to fight for a Grand Final berth this week while Coorparoo stunned the more fancied Bond University at ‘The Canal’ and have the momentum going into this week.
The Panthers are in their debut season in the Bond University QAFLW and have done a remarkable job to reach this far, but do not want to end it now on home turf in front of their own supporters.
They need to rebound after last week’s hounding by the all-conquering Southport where as much as they tried the Panthers had few answers. Hopefully they have learnt especially the linking from the backline into attack. There is enough talent led by Laura Roy who heads their goalkicking and disposals along with playmakers, Issy Levine, Lucy Bellinger, Zoe Petrides and Annabel Peacock who was impressive last week. A special mention to Sienna Graham who kicked the Panthers only goals last week and no doubt they will be looking for more scoring avenues.
Meanwhile defenders Lucy McCormick, Kylie Lawrence and Stella Scott are hoping the ball spends more time in their own forward line. Perhaps the addition of a couple returning players such as Gracie Roy, Elle McNaughton and Theresa Dixon in the ruck can make a difference. Against Southport Georgia Lwin and Ella Gibson had a battle curtailing the brilliance of the Shark’s Georja Davies.
Coorparoo's ability to shut down Bond University’s attacking prowess was a feature last week even though they allowed 35 more uncontested possessions. Chelsea Winn (19 possessions & eight tackles) led a Kings midfield that applied a heap of pressure and will need to repeat the dose here.
Unsurprisingly the previous two meetings have been close contests. Round five at Giffin Park Morningside held on by four points. The Kings were goalless in the first half then the Panthers edged away with two goals in the third quarter while the home team added one in that term and one again in the last to fall short.
The return match at Jack Esplen Oval in round 11 was a higher scoring affair, but again the Kings were slow out of the blocks, being goalless at the main break while Morningside had four goals on the board. Coorparoo kicked the only goal in the third quarter and even though they added three more in the final term the Panthers kicked two of the first three to safely hold their opponents.
One stat to note out of those contests was the Kings spearhead Chelsea Chesterfield has kicked four of her teams’ total of six goals so Morningside would need to shut that down. However, we have seen the emergence of youngster Indy Scheffler along with other sharpshooters Edie Fraser and Chloe Haines so the Panthers defence maybe tested again.
Coorparoo was also boosted last week by the return of their key ruck in Renee Teys, who leads the competition with 382 hit outs, has collected 184 disposals and achieved almost 72% kicking efficiency. This could free up fellow ruck Tilayna Nissen who can drift forward and be an influence.
Aside from Chelsea Winn other key playmakers to watch out for include Grace Roberts-White, Lucy Schneider, Jasmine Fretwell, skipper Ayla Fetahagic and sister Zina in defence.
As mentioned previously Morningside are aiming to make the Grand Final in their debut season while Coorparoo are hoping for another tilt having improved from 2024. Southport will be watching.
