Offences in form ahead of finals – Division 1 Men’s Round 18 Review

The Division 1 Men’s home-and-away season has come to an end, with Kew and Preston finishing first and second respectively, while Oakleigh and Prahran round out the top four.

UHS-VU 4.5 (29) def by Kew 27.20 (182)

Kew locked in a top two spot and continued their red-hot run of wins with a dominant victory over UHS-VU.

The 153-point victory came after an inaccurate first term saw Kew 3.7; however, the second term saw the Bears find the goals and stack on nine goals for the term.

Kew then went on a terrifying scoring run, kicking 15 goals to UHS-VU’s two in the second half.

The offensive powerhouse that is Kew has been intense in the second half of the season.

With their 12-game winning streak, they took top spot with points for this season, even though Preston only lost one game.

The Bears also have the second-least points against, showing their defensive strength and setting them up in phenomenal form and ready to face any side.

Kew will be the away side in the qualifying final against the Preston Bullants, whose only loss this year came in this very fixture.

Monash Blues 7.8 (50) def by Parkside 30.16 (196)

A dominant 146-point win wasn’t enough for Parkside to sneak into finals, with Oakleigh’s victory knocking them out of contention.

The game was still an exciting way to end the season, with multiple eight-plus goal quarters for Parkside showing a dominant offensive effort.

Monash were able to put up a fight in the first half, but their scoring dried right up with only one goal after the main break.

Parkside coach Rick Frost was disappointed to miss finals but was able to see a clear path forward for next season.

In response to the season’s result, he said, “I think the season reminded us how important it is to be mentally prepared to play each week and seize the opportunity each week. It’s something we can refresh and build on this preseason.”

Furthermore, acknowledging the achievement of both Parkside’s Under 19’s and Reserves sides both making finals, and how this shows the “transition of talent through the club is really strong.”

Looking ahead, he hopes the club-wide progress can “transition well into the senior side and set ourselves up for a big year in 2027.”

Both Monash and Parkside’s seasons are over for now, but the Blues specifically will be happy to have avoided relegation.

With 3 wins, a draw, and an incomplete game, they sneak ahead of both UHS-VU and Old Yarra to cement eighth spot.

Oakleigh 18.18 (126) def St Mary’s Salesian 7.7 (49)

Oakleigh stormed into finals with a 77-point victory over St Mary’s Salesian this week.

The Krushers took control of the game early, taking a ten-goal-to-two lead into half-time.

The Saints began to equalise in the third term but couldn’t break down the lead, while the final term saw Oakleigh return to full force and a six-goal quarter cemented their spot in finals.

Oakleigh coach Chris Worner was proud of his side’s performance, saying, “Yesterday’s win was exactly what we wanted going into this season’s final series and managed to get through the game injury-free, which was a bonus.” 

After being knocked out in the first round of finals last season, Worner felt his side had learnt a lot and was comforted that making it into finals this season was in their own hands.

Looking ahead to their first finals match-up, Worner was particularly excited to see how his stars would line up under finals pressure. Namely, division 1’s leading goal scorer Rogan Kitts and Elliot Black, who he said, “has also hit some very good form at the right time of year.”

Oakleigh will now face off against Prahran in the Elimination Final for Division 1. Both sides equalised for premiership points, although Prahran’s percentage was substantially stronger.

While the Krushers scoring power, helmed by Kitts, has been top three in the league, Prahran has the best defensive result by far in the competition. It’ll be intriguing to see whether attack or defence comes out on top this weekend.

Preston Bullants 29.11 (185) def Old Yarra Cobras 6.7 (43)

Preston came out firing in their final regular season game of the year, scoring 51 points in the first term and 55 in the second. The scoring only marginally slowed down from there, and their 142-point victory showed the difference between first and last on the ladder.

Captain Alex Johnston led from the front with 10 goals for the day, leading his side to a win.

The Bullants are ready and raring for finals, after locking in their spot weeks ago with a near-flawless season. They’ll be lining up against their division rivals this season in Kew, who are the only side to come close to Preston’s win streak.

Both sides have a fairly balanced system, and we’ll see if a handful of tough weeks for the Bullants have re-energised the side ahead of the qualifying final.

The Old Yarra Cobras unfortunately end the season with another big loss, and finish with zero wins on the board.

Prahran 19.16 (130) def Brunswick 3.4 (22)

Prahran finish their season in third place with a 108-point win over Brunswick, locking in a home elimination final against Oakleigh.

While not coming out of the gates quite as fast as some teams this week, Prahran still stacked on nearly five goals a quarter, and with their solid defence kept Brunswick to only three goals of their own.

The Two Blues maintained a fairly balanced scoring effort, with six players having multiple goals. We’ll see how this approach lines up next week against the offensive juggernaut that is Oakleigh’s Rogan Kitts.

Brunswick, while having a losing season, will stay in Division 1, having some solid wins on the board along with their unfortunate losses.

A highlight in particular being their 16-point victory over finalist Oakleigh. Next year will be a challenge to win against the top sides more often and not just the clubs around them.

Prahran will host in the Elimination Final next week, in a battle between offence and defence, the Two Blues will hope to restrain Oakleigh’s scoring potential. Something they struggled to do in their round 15 match-up at the start of August.

So far, Oakleigh have the wins over Prahran, going 2-0 in their regular season matchups, so Prahran will have an uphill battle despite the ladder placements.