Nick Armistead – @NickArmistead
With William Buck Premier players bestowed a bye round over the weekend and the ability to escape the cold reality of Melbourne’s weather, it is time we look at how each team is tracking after Round 14 and their run home.
St Kevin’s (13-1): The clear premiership favourites have exercised near total control over the first 14 rounds of the season and the flag seems theirs to lose. Despite a 90-point drubbing at the hands of Collegians in Round 6, SKOB’s offensive prowess combined with their pressure on the ball carrier has them averaging 100.57ppg, 13 more than the next best and 21 more than their average last year. While Mitch Brown, Jay Schulz and Mark Jamar were the big-name recruits who have come in and made an immediate impact, it is the performances of Sam Critchley, Thomas Jok, Nick Wood and Lachie Sullivan who have created a depth at SKOB unmatched throughout the competition. It also helps when Anthony Lynch and Gerard Gleeson elevate their games to entirely new levels.
Run Home: Beaumaris, Uni Blues, SBMT, Uni Blacks
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Gerard Gleeson. Nick Wood will be leading the count after Round 4 prior to a stint on the sideline due to injury.
Collegians (10-2-2): If SKOB are clear premiership favourites, Collegians are certainly second after they claimed 10 wins from their first 14 rounds; including, their first six in a row. While their defence has been number one for the past two seasons, the Lions have added a layer or two to their offence with the (re)introduction of key players such as Lachie Ferguson, Kenny Ong, Viv Michie, Nick Dixon, Kyle Emley, Kalem Post, Jake Trotter and Corey Cassidy. Sam Hibbins, Billy Riddle, Alexander Croft and Courtney Hylton have gone to another level this year under Shane Joyce and, if they can field a healthy squad come finals, they pose the greatest threat to SKOB. Will finish second in the home and away fixture with four winnable games remaining.
Run Home: Uni Blacks, De La Salle, Old Trinity, Old Xaverians
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Viv Michie
University Blues (9-4-1): After a relatively shaky start to the year (2-3 after Round 5), the Blues hit their straps with seven wins from their next eight outings before tying with Collegians in Round 14. Their 74-point thumping of Xavs in Round 6 was the turning point for the Blues’ season as they officially stamped their intentions on the competition with ensuing victories against Trinity, De La Salle and Old Melburnians, and a tight 10-point loss to the Lions. Kieran Harper and Tim Gaeppen have led the charge up forward as they sit first and second on the goal kicking leader board with 36 and 35, respectively, while Ryan Eade and George Cameron’s contested ball work has released players the ilk of Young on the outside.
Run Home: SBMT, St Kevin’s, Beaumaris, De La Salle
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Ross Young & Kieran Harper
De La Salle (9-5): The fast-paced run-and-gun nature of De La Salle has been a showcase again in 2017 and taken them to fourth spot on the ladder after 14 rounds of football. They sit just half a game above Xavs and have four tough weeks ahead of them, commencing with a Trinity unit hell-bent on staying up in William Buck Premier. Their strength lies across their half-back line with Tom Humphrey, Sam Haslem, Sam Williams and Jason Tutt the main contributors and set-up artists. Williams and Tutt have been particularly influential and should poll well come Woodrow Medal night, but with the impending return of Jake Williams, the De La train could roll straight into finals.
Run Home: Old Trinity, Collegians, Old Melburnians, Uni Blues
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Jason Tutt
Old Xaverians (8-5-1): After commencing the year with four successive victories, Xavs have since gone 4-5-1 and currently sit fifth and half a game behind De La. Their percentage is the fourth-best in the competition and with a winnable three-week period ahead of them, the Xavs will put serious pressure on De La to maintain their winning form. Despite losing John Shaw and Brendan Goss overseas and Dan Noonan to injury, the Xavs have hit form with two timely wins against Beaumaris and the Tigers. Denis Symeopoulos’ season has been outstanding and the Johnston’s continue to find the ball week in, week out. Ted Richards has now played the last two games for the reigning premiers and should provide a handy target inside 50 alongside Matt Handley.
Run Home: Old Melburnians, Old Trinity, Uni Blacks, Collegians
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Denis Symeopoulos
Old Melburnians (6-7-1): The Redlegs are a passionate, heart-on-the-sleeves type unit and have only recently bowed out of the finals race with consecutive losses to the top two teams. Their top tier talent is as strong as almost anyone with Tom Paule, Josh Freezer, Nick De Steiger, Matt Thomas, Al Armstrong and Cam Banfield each producing on a regular basis. While finals may be a distant, albeit mathematical, hope, OM’s will produce more wins on the run home and play a key role in deciding who makes finals and avoids relegation.
Run Home: Old Xaverians, SBMT, De La Salle, Old Trinity
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Tom Paule
St Bedes/Mentone Tigers (4-9-1): The Tigers are an interesting case given two of their four wins have come against Uni Blues and De La Salle. They proved too strong for Trinity and Blacks in the past month, but were completely outplayed by Xavs in Round 14 when they were defeated by 92 points. While they should be well and truly clear of relegation, the Tigers will want to secure their return to form on home soil with a strong showing against the Blues this weekend and against the Sharks in Round 18.
Run Home: Uni Blues, Old Melburnians, St Kevin’s, Beaumaris
Woodrow Medal Fancy: James Tyquin
University Blacks (3-11): The Blacks have been ravaged by injury in 2017 more so than any other side and are thus fighting off relegation in the final four rounds. They are currently on a four-game losing streak but have been in each of those games for at least three quarters and could not have been closer in their Round 14 one-point loss to De La. Their run home is as difficult as anyone’s but with Simon Hogan and Alastair Robbins back last weekend and more still to return, the Blacks will be a lot stronger unit.
Run Home: Collegians, Beaumaris, Old Xaverians, St Kevin’s
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Lochie Dornauf. Watch for his first three rounds.
Old Trinity (3-11): What a year it has been for Old Trinity. After playing off in two successive William Buck Premier Grand Finals, they have struggled to recapture the form so many of us thought would take them to ultimate glory third time around. They lost coach Adam Andrews after seven years at the helm but have retained most of their grand final side, making their plunge even more surprising. However, with Brendan Iezzi and Luke Pacconi in charge for the remainder of the season, the T’s are hellbent on winning enough games to stay up in the top section.
Run Home: De La Salle, Old Xaverians, Collegians, Old Melburnians
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Brendan Iezzi
Beaumaris (1-11-2): It may have taken 14 rounds but Beaumaris claimed their first win of the 2017 season after returning to William Buck Premier with the Premier B flag this year. At the end of the day, they are only one win behind both Trinity and Blacks so avoiding relegation is not entirely out of the realms of possibility. Unlikely, but not impossible. They have two tough matches against SKOB and Blues, but two against Blacks and the Tigers in Round 18 which could shape the bottom of the ladder come season’s end.
Run Home: St Kevin’s, Uni Blacks, Uni Blues, SBMT
Woodrow Medal Fancy: Scott Braithwaite