Division 4 GF Preview

Jake Morris 

After a disappointing performance against Canterbury in the 2015 Division 4 grand final, Parkside will once again have another chance to taste premiership glory after they accounted for St Francis Xavier by 65-points. In an afternoon that the team said was one of the greatest in the club’s history, Parkside’s win earnt them the right to be promoted to Division 3 next season, and a grand final date with the all-conquering North Brunswick Bulls. This will be the clubs second attempt at a flag since they returned to the Victorian Amateur Football Association in 2015, after a brief hiatus which saw them compete in the Northern Football League from 2003.

This mouth-watering top of the table clash was destined to happen, and boy are we excited it finally is. The unquestioned premiership favourites all season, North Brunswick, squaring up against the unlikely hopefuls who are more than capable of committing the upsets of all upsets, Parkside. Meeting three times already this season, the Bulls have come away with the chocolates on all three occasions, with margins of victory sitting at 62, 26 and 49 points. This may suggest that our grand final could be a one-sided affair, but after a dominating win over the X-Men, and big names Luciano Logozzo and Isaac Romano firing up-forward, Anthony Waters down back and captain Adam Wells in the middle leading the charge, Parkside should be very confident they’ll be able to knock over the best of the best.

After just two blemishes on the year, North Brunswick earned their week off and deservedly so, hold the favouritism for this weekend’s do-or-die decider. Playing the role of the immovable and intimidating shadow that lingered over the rest of the competition, the Bulls have had little issue accounting for their rivals, eviscerating all who stood before them by an average of 72-points. Goal-scoring dynamos Michael Salloum and the George brothers, Brendon and Jake, have been almost unstoppable up-forward all year, while the potential return of Daniel Orr to that forward line could help bolster it even more. Cameron Lee and Gavin Livingston in defence have helped the Bulls to the third best defensive rating on the year while midfielders Seamus Lynch and Peter Butler have been exquisite all season long. The Bulls haven’t been stopped when at their best this year, and it’s going to take a lot for that to change.

Their matchup just two weeks ago in Semi-Final 2 saw the Bulls run out convincing 49-point winners. A nine-goal to two first half set up the outcome, and despite a strong showing from Parkside in the third term that saw them steadily reduce the margin, a mix of poor kicking in-front of goal and the dominance by the Bulls overwhelmed the Devils in the final stanza. The Bulls three-headed forward monster led by Salloum and the George brothers combined for 10 of their sides 14 majors, while their stingy defensive back six limited Parkside to just 48-points, their second-lowest scoring output on the year. Emulating this performance will almost certainly be good enough to gift the Bulls their first Premiership since 1981, a monumental achievement for the club.

Despite failing to stop the Bulls a fortnight ago, Parkside should now have an idea of at least how to slow down their opponents, whether that is crowding the backline and making life hard for the George brothers and Michael Salloum, or simply putting more numbers around the ball and relying on Adam Wells and co. to get the job done in the middle. Tidying up their inaccurate kicking of a fortnight ago goes without saying, which they went a long way in doing with a 15.5 (95) performance against St Francis Xavier last weekend. The amount of options up-forward the Bulls should be enough to overwhelm the Devils defence, making it hard to go past North Brunswick in this one.

Look for Parkside to show a lot of heart, play gallant football and compete for four-quarters, but North Brunswick will just be too strong, too powerful and run out winners in what will be a historic day for the club, breaking their 37-year premiership drought and ending their 18-year stay in Division 4 with a bang.