And then there were 4… William Buck Premier Men’s Semi-Final Previews

After 18 rounds of twists & turns in the race for the Premier Men’s Finals, we’ve finally arrived with four teams all well & truly capable of hoisting the silverware in a fortnight’s time.

This weekend, one team will bow out, another will progress straight through to Grand Final Day, while the other two will move on to the Preliminary Final next week.

Here’s your preview of William Buck Premier Men’s Semi Final weekend:

1^st SEMI FINAL – ST KEVIN’S vs OLD SCOTCH (Saturday 2pm – Trevor Barker Beach Oval)

These two teams have walked very different paths to get to Semi Final Day.

SKOB have constructed a typical St Kevin’s campaign – worked into the season through the front half of the year, then steadily built and refined through the back half to arrive in September primed and ready to peak.

Anthony Lynch’s men were 5-5 after Round 10, then peeled off 7 straight wins, with their only loss since June 21 coming to the Snowdogs after they rested 13 senior players in the final round.

That was calculated man management from Plugger, but Old Scotch will be keen to test those guys, given they haven’t played a match in 3 weeks. Will they be bursting with energy or a little underdone after such a long layoff?

The Cardinals may have preferred to keep rolling themselves, given their pre-Bye form which saw them come from absolutely nowhere to snatch fourth spot from the Bloods.

The reigning champions were three games (plus percentage) behind with just three games to play, but their VFL-listed cavalry arrived just in time and slotted neatly back into their line-up, which subsequently took care of St Bernard’s, Uni Blacks and Old Haileybury in a Pre-Limination Final.

They will be without a couple of players who haven’t qualified for finals but have plenty of depth to cover those absences.

MATTHEW DONALD’S KEYS TO THE GAME

* Who gets the game on their terms for longer? They average almost the exact same number of Disposals, but differ significantly in HOW they do it. St Kevin’s are ranked #2 for Contested Possession vs #8 for Old Scotch, who prefer to get their Uncontested game going.

SKOB will be keen to seize control on the inside (Clearances #1 vs #7) and dictate terms from there.

Old Scotch will want to get their Intercept game going (# 1 Intercept Marks), led by Charlie Cormack & Jack Brown. They will be keen to use that to gain control on the outside (#1 Uncontested Marks vs #5).

* The Ruck Battle – Billy Coates (SKOB) & Sam Grant (Old Scotch) are two of the competition’s very best and their battle is going to be crucial.

Big Billy returned from injury in Round 7 and it was no coincidence that SKOB’s season took off shortly after. He’s averaged 59 hitouts and 11 clearances and his experience and strength will be critical once again.

But Sam Grant has been one of the best players in the competition all season long. If he can help the Cards break even or win on the inside, they’ll have the opportunity to spread and control the outside. What a battle between two giants of the competition!

* Strikepower – Both teams are blessed with multiple game-changing forwards that can turn the course of a match in a hurry. Who bobs up when the game is on the line?

Will it be Sam Critchley (30 goals), Sam Barnett (29 goals) or Patrick Kerr (25 goals) for SKOB? Or will it be Will Clark (28 goals) or James Tarrant (21 goals from 8 games) for the Cards?

* Returning Cardinal guns – Old Scotch have done well to qualify without a number of their biggest weapons and while some haven’t played enough games to be eligible for finals, the likes of Alex Noblet, Harry Stubbings and James Tarrant have been difference makers in recent weeks. Tarrant, in particular, is capable of tearing a game apart in the blink of an eye – he’s one to watch.

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These two teams split their home & away meetings in 2025 – Old Scotch unfurled their flag in style with a 14-point win in Round 1, before SKOB turned the tables by 11 points at home in Round 9.  

They met on Preliminary Final Day last year, when the Cards powered away with a stunning 7-goal-to-1 final term. This year they’ll meet to decide who MAKES IT to Preliminary Day Final. Only one can.

Find out who, streaming LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Kommunity TV, with radio coverage on VAFA.com.au & the SEN app from 1.45pm Saturday!

VAFA MEDIA TIPS:              

Matthew Donald –          St Kevin’s by 8pts

Paddy Grindlay –              Old Scotch by 4pts

2^nd SEMI FINAL – OLD BRIGHTON vs OLD XAVERIANS (Saturday 2.30pm – Elsternwick Park)

These two teams have been the pacesetters all season and finished well clear of the field.

The Tonners have barely put a foot wrong in 2025, racking up 16 wins and 2 losses once again to collect back-to-back minor premierships by 1 game and 2.5%. But, after the disappointment of last September, their season really starts now.

The numbers suggest that they are a better version of themselves 12 months on. Their attack unlocked even more potency this year, finding an additional 125 points from 2024, while their defence was 80 points superior to last year.

Their two losses were to Uni Blacks in a 3-point thriller in Round 9, then a 27-point loss to St Kevin’s in Round 12 as they battled the Tullamarine Flu with a bunch of frontliners holidaying in Europe.

Since then, they’ve won 6 straight by an average margin of 45 points and no team – Xavs included – got any closer than 23 points (incredibly that was Collegians, who would be relegated a week later).

Old Xavs entered 2025 on a mission to return to finals action after missing out in agonising circumstances last year. With the Toorak Park renovations complete, they turned their home base into a fortress – just like the Tonners have done at Brighton Beach over the past two seasons.

Xavs’ three losses this year have been to the two teams either side of them on the ladder – Old Brighton twice and St Kevin’s once. They sat 4-2 after Round 6, before clicking into gear and winning 8 straight before falling to the Tonners again.

They squeaked past Collegians the following week, then tuned up for September with thumping wins over the Uni duo.

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JASON BENNETT’S KEYS TO THE GAME

* Forward 50 power – These are the Top 2 Attacks in the comp, with Xavs averaging a whopping 100 points per game & the Tonners at 97. No-one takes more marks Inside 50 than these two teams – the threats are everywhere!

Xavs have multiple weapons and it’s near impossible to hold all of them down at once. Charlie MacIsaac (49 goals) is the main focal point, but his supporting cast is deadly – Wade Brusnahan (24), Hayden Woodhouse (22), Charlie Knott (20) and the mercurial Stirling Phipps-Parsons (18 from 9 games). If they get quality supply from the midfield, the Tonners’ defence will have its hands full.

But Old Brighton also boast multiple avenues to goal, any of which can take the game away from you in a hurry. All eyes will be on the team sheet and whether Will Lewis (25 goals from just 5 games) is lining up for the Tonners or Footscray this weekend.

But even without Lewis (as Brighton has been for most of the season), they have options aplenty – Ben Pryor leads their goalkicking with 26, along with Jamie Hope (21), Felix Flockart (19), Hamish Dick (16) and young gun Joey Campigli (14 from just 5 games).

Joey is the one to watch. Fresh off a third placed finish in Sandringham VFL’s Best & Fairest, he could be the cherry on top of very dangerous Brighton attack this September.

* The Midfield Battle – And what a battle it promises to be! With a deadly attack at either end, who provides the superior supply may ultimately be the deciding factor in this game.

They are the Top 2 Disposal teams in the competition (Old Brighton 364 to Old Xavs 350). Led by  Harry Hill, Tom Fisher, Finn Campigli and Tom Burnell, the Tonners will look to gain the inside ascendancy via groundball dominance (#1 Ground Balls to #9).

Old Brighton also has a powerful Intercept game (#1 for Intercept Possessions), so they can also pressure you into error around the ground.

Old Xavs has a powerful Xavs’ midfield brigade of its own, led by dominant ruckman Alec Spralja. And while they are without midfield stars Sam Fisher, Josh Kennedy and probably Marcus Stavrou, they still have a superb line-up led by Campbell Lane and have repeatedly put teams to the sword through the middle of the ground in 2025.

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The Tonners have won the last 4 against Xavs by an average of 45 points, including both meetings this season – by 61 points at Toorak Park in Round 6, then a 33-point win at Fortress Brighton in Round 15.

Who prevails on neutral ground & takes the express route to Grand Final Day?

Find out, streaming LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Kommunity TV, with our award-winning radio coverage on VAFA.com.au & the SEN app from 2.15pm Saturday!

VAFA MEDIA TIPS:   

Matthew Donald –          Old Brighton by 24pts

Paddy Grindlay –             Old Brighton by 11pts

Watch matches on-demand on VAFATV

Amateur Footballer Record – Week 21