William Buck Premier Men’s Round 5 Preview

TWO Grand Final rematches headline a fascinating Round 5 of William Buck Premier Men’s.

Here’s a closer look at each of the matches.

OLD BRIGHTON vs OLD SCOTCH (Saturday 2pm – Brighton Beach Oval)

The 2024 Premier Men’s Grand Finalists enter this one with very different form lines, given the Tonners haven’t lost since that last Friday in September, while the reigning champs have dropped their last two, including an 81-point belting from Old Xavs last week.

It was the Cardinals’ biggest loss since Round 2, 2021 (also to Xavs) and came after they had led by 20 points at quarter time – making it a 101-point turnaround in just three quarters!

Coach Mark Gnatt certainly wasn’t using the unavailability of injured or VFL-listed players as an excuse, but the reality was that last week’s line-up featured 8 players with less than 5 senior games under their belt. That cold, hard fact will make life difficult for any team.

Pre-season, we identified the proliferation of VFL-listed Cardinals as the biggest unknown in Premier Men’s this year, particularly when combined with a standard injury list that besets every club.

Who will Mark have at his disposal on any given Saturday, and can the Cards adapt on the run to hang in and win enough games to qualify for the finals, when they can ideally launch with their best line-up?

The flipside of this selection uncertainty is the unpredictability it creates for opposition coaches, who must plan for numerous scenarios and be presented with fresh faces to counter.

Marcel Bruin and the Tonners must be prepared for anything this weekend. One thing is certain – the proud Cardinals will come out breathing fire and determined to make a statement.

Old Brighton is battle-hardened after storming home to defeat another likely contender – St Kevin’s – in a tough grind on a typically windy day at Brighton Beach last weekend.

Mark Gnatt and the Cards will have gone to school on that tape to gain some handy insights into negating the Tonners at home, where they have won 12 straight at Fortress Brighton.

But that’s easier said than done, given Old Brighton’s average winning margin across those 12 victories is an impressive 32 points.

And despite Marcel Bruin telling us that 2025 isn’t about redemption for his group, we suspect that more than a few of them have had this particular date circled on their calendar since the fixture was released.

His group are ranked Elite in most major stat categories, leading the competition in Contested Possessions, Ground Ball Gets, Loose Gets, Intercept Possessions, Disposals, Contested Marks and Inside 50s.

The Cardinals must match the Tonners in the contest to prevent them from controlling the game, then absorb their pressure and not succumb to turnovers under heat.

Old Scotch have plenty of weapons of their own – they just need to create enough quality supply to feed them.

It’s going to be must-see TV and you can catch the action in our Reserves-Seniors double-header LIVE STREAMING on KommunityTV from 11.35am Saturday!

OLD HAILEYBURY vs DE LA SALLE (Saturday 2pm – Princes Park)

Our second Grand Final rematch of the weekend reprises the 2024 Premier B Grand Final, which Old Haileybury won in a landslide over De La Salle.

And that form line has continued into the early rounds of 2025, with the Bloods looking a cut above De La so far this season.

Daniel Ward’s men have returned to the top tier with a quiet but clear confidence that they belong. They have put together three competitive performances that delivered victories over Collegians and Uni Blacks and an honourable loss to Old Xavs after a late fadeout at Toorak Park.

De La Salle is yet to receive a return on their 2025 investment, but they feel like they are steadily building in the right direction.

“Proud of our young group’s effort,” said coach Nick Hyland after Round 4’s loss to Uni Blues.

“Playing three young debutants and having another in his second game was great exposure for them. No doubt a fantastic learning opportunity against experienced senior bodies.

“Again, we’ve shown improvement from week to week. The challenge is to sustain the effort and intensity for four quarters against quality opposition. Plenty of positives to take into the week ahead, as we look forward to taking on Old Haileybury.”

And maybe the challenge of facing up to the team that hammered them in last year’s Grand Final is the mind-clearer they need to discard the disappointment of recent weeks and focus on bringing the heat for four full quarters against a team they defeated at Princes Park in Round 14 last season.

The lapses in games have been De La’s downfall in recent weeks. They have proved capable of playing Premier Men’s standard football for large chunks of matches, but, as Nick mentioned, sustaining that intensity and not dropping away for a 10 or 20-minute period is imperative if you’re going to win games at the highest level.

Is this the weekend they put it all together or will the Bloods continue their rise towards Top 4 calculations?

Find out with our award-winning VAFA SEN Match of the Day radio coverage from 1.45pm Saturday on VAFA.com.au & the SEN app.

ST BERNARD’S vs OLD XAVERIANS (Saturday 2pm – St Bernard’s College)

Our third VAFA Media broadcast game of the weekend is a tantalising contest between two 3-and-1 teams fighting to force their way into the finals in 2025.

St Bernard’s successfully navigated three away games in the opening month – in fact, they won all three, with their only loss coming to the undefeated Old Brighton in Round 3. It’s a credit to the development of Steve Alessio’s group, who can now challenge anyone, anywhere, after failing to win a game away from the Snake Pit in 2024.

Old Xavs entered the season as a popular pick to rise into premiership contention, and their opening month suggests that may be the case. In the past three starts, they have narrowly fallen to St Kevin’s, come from nowhere to beat Old Haileybury, then completely dismantled Old Scotch with 18 goals to 2 after quarter-time.

Next, it’s a trip to St Bernard’s to test out the plucky Snowdogs, who showed plenty of grit and resilience to prevail over Collegians in a see-sawing final term last week.

Xavs currently boast the #1 Attack in the comp, averaging a whopping 109 points. Its strength is the multitude of scoring options, led by Stirling Phipps-Parsons and Charlie Macisaac. They have five players with 6 goals or more in the opening month.

Xavs’ pressure is helping feed these weapons, with 40 goals coming from Turnovers (compared to just 19 conceded), so ball security will be paramount for the Snowdogs.

Xavs can also score heavily from Clearance, so Steve Alessio’s men will need to be on high alert around defensive-half stoppages.

But the Dogs have some weapons of their own, led by ex-Carlton player Matthew Watson, who delivered a 5-goal breakout game last week and is more than capable of taking a match by the scruff of the neck if he receives quality delivery.

Oliver Liberatore and Luke Di Lizio – who is enjoying a fantastic season and bobbed up with the sealer last week – have also been amongst the goals in the early rounds and can inflict damage within range of the big sticks.

Xavs ranked #2 for Defence, while the Dogs rank #6. Both defensive groups will be heavily reliant on pressure up the field to help them hold the opposition to a beatable score.

It’s a great opportunity for both these teams to continue their rise, while the loser will slide back into the chasing pack.

It’s second versus third and you can enjoy this one streaming LIVE & FREE on VAFA.com.au from 1.55pm Saturday!

ST KEVIN’S vs UNIVERSITY BLUES (Saturday 2pm – TH King Oval)

The two teams that met in the 2023 Premier Men’s Preliminary Final continue their rivalry in an important game at TH King Oval.

The Blues have won 3 of the past 5 clashes between these two teams, and, more than any other team in the competition, are unpredictable in what they can deliver from week to week, which always makes them a dangerous proposition.

Their form line this year reflects this, with a heartbreaking 1-point after the siren Round 1 loss to St Bernard’s followed by a jubilant 5-point win over Collegians. Then a disappointing 35-point loss to arch-rivals Blacks, followed by a solid 5-goal bounce-back victory over De La.

New coach Matt Smith knows his team has plenty of upside to explore but will be hoping his team can get out of the blocks a little quicker, given they’ve trailed at quarter-time in 3 of their 4 starts this season.

“Another slow start wasn’t the ideal way to get going and we seemed off the boil a bit for the first half, mainly with poor skill execution,” said Smith after the game.

“Their first few goals came directly from our turnovers in their Forward 50. Second half looked a lot more like the style we want to play, although we were wasteful in front of goal.

“A step in the right direction, with plenty of improvement still to be found.”

His team will be tested by a SKOB team that is always hard to roll at home, where they are 21-4 since the beginning of 2022.

They are happy to take teams out into the deep water of a four-quarter slog as they did to Xavs in Round 2, so the Blues will know they are in for a fight to break down the much-vaunted SKOB defences that are currently conceding just 61 points per game.

The Blues do have the strike power to trouble SKOB if they can generate enough supply, with Sam Grimley and James Stewart both capable of tearing a game apart. However, the Blues are currently ranked #7 for Inside 50s (SKOB are #2), so the territory battle will be pivotal.

Darcy Chirgwin leads the competition for Inside 50s and Disposals (coming off 44 last week) & Marty Gleeson leads it for Kicks. If they can both continue to have an influence, with Charlie Furphy also delivering repeat Inside 50s, they can test the SKOB defence.

Contested beast Luke Winter looms as a player to watch. He leads the competition for Contested Possessions, Ground Ball Gets, and Hard Ball Gets. How do the Blues nullify his impact?

It would be a huge statement win for the Blues at TH King. St Kevin’s will be waiting in anticipation.

UNIVERSITY BLACKS vs COLLEGIANS (Saturday 2pm – Melbourne Uni Oval)

The final game of the round is a golden opportunity for two teams to square their ledger and remain in touch.

Uni Blacks and Collegians have both enjoyed some good moments in the opening month, but not enough of them.

Both sit 1-and-3, but a closer look at their relative percentage raises the eyebrow. Collegians have a percentage of 86.9%, compared to Blacks at just 59.2%, which suggests the Lions have been more balanced at both ends of the field.

Casting aside their Round 1 blowout to the Bloods, the Lions have kicked 36 goals and conceded 34 in their past 3 games. Their two losses were by 5 points to the Blues and 7 points to the Snowdogs last week in two games they could easily have won.

Wedged in between was a sparkling 38-point victory over Old Scotch on Anzac Day, so while their win-loss record reads 1-3, their form isn’t as patchy as that suggests.

The Blacks also suffered a Round 1 blowout but have been less balanced in the weeks since, conceding 25 goals and scoring 35. So, while their goals conceded roughly equate to the Lions’, their ability to score does not.

Hence, their preference may be a low-scoring contest as they enjoyed against the Blues when they held their rivals to just 3 goals for the afternoon in a superb defensive performance.

Alex Lukic, therefore, looms as a key in this match-up. The big Lion leads the competition with 15 majors for the season and has put himself squarely on the radar of Big V selectors.

With Will Mayhood and Jordan Carroll providing additional marking targets Inside 50, the trio are providing Collegians with an attack capable of spreading the opposition defence, allowing space for the likes of Dylan Thomas to weave some magic.

At the other end, the Lions have enjoyed a solid intercept game for numerous seasons, so Dale Bower’s Blacks will need to be selective with their ball use in the front half to avoid slingshot counter-attacks and create opportunities for Matthew Grocott (8 goals), Kane Loftus & Tom St.Clair (both 6) to kick a winning score.

This one may come down to who takes their chances, given they are the two lowest-ranked teams for Goal Accuracy in 2025. Who will step up and seize the big moments to level their season up at 2-2?

Amateur Footballer Record – Week 5

WILLIAM BUCK PREMIER MEN’S – ROUND 5 

SATURDAY MAY 10 (2pm):

Old Brighton                           vs             Old Scotch                KOMMUNITY TV DOUBLE-HEADER from 11.35am

Old Haileybury                      vs             De La Salle                 SEN MOTD – 1.45pm on VAFA.com.au & SEN App

St Bernard’s                           vs             Old Xaverians            VAFA.com.au LIVE STREAM – 1.55pm       

St Kevin’s                                 vs             University Blues                 

University Blacks                vs             Collegians            

Watch matches on-demand on VAFATV