All scripts are set to be re-written, expect the unexpected this weekend

Joe Pignataro

Without fail, once a week, in a passing conversation, someone will make mention of another great show they’ve been binge-watching on Netflix, or a thriller movie they caught on Stan, some will even tell you how good MAFS, Masterchef, the Voice and Lego Masters is.

I personally am not sure why they bother, there’s only one thing worth watching – the footy.

And without fail, every week, the best sport in the world has the ability to capture the hearts, minds and imagination (thanks Brett Kirk) of every single footy fan. For the first four Saturday’s of the William Buck Premier season, we have been treated to some of the best unscripted reality you can get.

The most recent round has shown once again the evenness of the competition, any of the top-flight teams on any given Saturday can have the opposition’s measure, so much so that 50% of games so far in William Buck Premier have been decided by 13 points or less.

You only need to look back to the weekend as Old Trinity caused a stir to claim their first win of the season over University Blues, Caulfield Grammarians are also on the board in 2022 further underlining the statement above.

The Fields started 2021 in exactly the same fashion, round 4 was the moment the season got rolling, are they going to be following a similar script in 2022?

Old Brighton are disappointed with their first blemish of the year against Old Scotch, and will be keen to get back on the winners list at home. The forecast plays into the hands of the Tonners and if they’re able to keep Will Lewis in their forward line they’ll have a focal point to kick too.

Caulfield Grammarians has discovered another level to Isaac Morrisby (6 goals in 3 weeks), working in tandem with Julian Dobosz up forward. The Fields will come into the contest with confidence after beating Old Xav’s and in their most recent clash with their arch-rivals they came away with the win after losing six in a row to the Tonners.

We have been treated to classics in the RSN Carnival match of the day this year, this is sure to be another one of those afternoons out bayside.

Despite St Kevin’s having the wood over Old Trinity (Won the last 8) the T’s caused the boilover of the weekend, holding out University Blues; it’s a big challenge against the ladder leaders on Saturday at the Daley Oval. However, you can never discount what spirit can be spurred on from such a win, after all this piece is about the scripts being flipped.

Jaryd Cachia will miss for SKOB, Shaun Kennedy is in a race against time after an ankle injury last weekend. Waiting in the wings who Plugger Lynch can call upon are Callum Jones and Paddy Kerr. The confidence in the forward line is sky-high after Jack Darmody earned the round 4 rising star nomination with four goals against Collegians.

Sam Critchley vs. Dave Mirra was highlighted as the round 4 match-up to watch, after his five goals on the weekend, Sam Critchley vs. Alex Polidoris will be a fascinating duel. If the T’s can move the ball quickly through the St Kevin’s 18-man press ‘Poli’ may be able to get Sam on the lead, but of-course beating a full ground press is easier said than done.

Old Xaverians (1-3) and Collegians (3-1) have surprised many for various reasons across the opening four rounds. You would have been hard-pressed for even the best script-writers to have picked this as a start to 2022.

The Xav’s mafia have turned their fortunes around in recent years from tougher positions than this but they’ll want to get a move on and not allow the early part of the season to get away from them. The Purple Army on the other hand have ticked almost every box they’ve been confronted with.

Jared Rivers won’t be resting on his laurels with a final quarter fadeout and will be asking the troops of the Trott to push hard for the full four quarters. If they’re in the contest in the final term, you can assume the mind games and recent run of close finishes to the last few weeks may creep in for Old Xaverians.

While we can highlight players of Dave Mirra, Aaron Vandenberg, Will Hams and Viv Michie’s ilk in this contest, I’m going to put forward the suggestion that we may see mark of the year come from this game, Scott Bielby at Collegians or Charlie MacIsaac at Old Xav’s, both boys have springs in their feet and have a license to fly. As it stands, they’re chasing Nick Hodgson of Old Scotch who is the clubhouse leader in this category.

Speaking of Old Scotch, they head out to a ground that all opposition clubs despise, the Snakepit at St Bernard’s. The head-to-head battle against the Snowdogs is all-square (6-6 from their last 12), although recent history leans towards the Cardinals who have won the last 3.

Key names will be missing for the respective sides with Charlie Vague out of the St Bernard’s midfield, plus Tom Blenheim and Jack Polkinghorne are out of the Old Scotch line-up. Tom Ansell is available for selection which adds another layer to Mark Gnatt’s cavalry, a win away from Camberwell Sports Park keeps Old Scotch ahead of the chasing pack and knocking on the door of the top four.

St Bernard’s have battled to kick above 50 points in a game this season, just once from four games have they surpassed the half-century while Old Scotch have been unable to keep opposition clubs to below 80 points per game. What we’ve seen from both sides in the games they have won, if they’re able to get on a Melbourne Demons style of momentum-swing, they’re almost impossible to stop.

The final game (or episode, if you’re still on the TV script theme) is potentially the one with the biggest consequences for the loser out at Melbourne University.

Uni Blues have to get the points, or will be staring down the barrel at a 1-4 start to the season while Old Melburnian’s have the chance to move to 4-1 which will be the clubs best start to a season since 2009 in Premier B (Going onto win the Premiership that season).

The avenues to goal for Blues have dried up in the past fortnight (9 goals & 8 goals), OM’s are averaging 24 shots at goal in their past 3 weeks with Al Armstrong, Sam Dunnell and Cam Banfield all hitting the scoreboard regularly.

Ayce Cordy comes up against Nick De Steiger in the ruck while Cam O’Shea and Gus Borthwick do battle once it hits the ground. Ed Ziebarth and Ed Nicholls for their respective sides provide the next wave of talent coming through both of these sides.

Uni Blues will be hoping the next episode to this challenge doesn’t follow the most recent outing against OM’s which saw them go down by 72 points of the final game in the abandoned season of 2021.

The bottom five sides are separated only by percentage proving the season is as wide open as its been for a while. Whatever you do this weekend, make sure you’re watching the footy, expect the unexpected, all bets are off, rewrite the scripts because you won’t want to miss this.