The 2018 South West Football League season kicked off last weekend and the number of upsets across the round show how tight the competition will be this season.
Finals contenders Bunbury, Harvey, Donnybrook and Augusta-Margaret River are all still yet to get off the mark, while Busselton, Eaton and Carey Park surprised with their performances.
With the weather forecast not looking great for the weekend, it looks like we could be in for some old-fashioned wet-weather footy for round two.
Check out our preview of the weekend’s games and let us know who you think will win.
Donnybrook vs Augusta-Margaret River
Donnybrook and Augusta-Margaret River kick off the second round of the season in a Saturday afternoon match at VC Mitchell Park.
Both teams were highly-touted by the league’s coaches as premiership contenders, but started their seasons off with losses against quality opposition.
Donnybrook started slowly against last year’s losing grand finallist HBL, however strong last quarter performance led by star recruits Jace Cormack and Chris Atthowe resulted in a three point loss, but will provide the Dons with confidence.
Augusta-Margaret River are known for ending their seasons strongly but they were soundly beaten by a stronger Collie team at home. The Hawks were led well by ex-WAFL forwards Jack Hick and Matt Jukes, but didn’t make the most of their chances.
Both teams will be looking for a more consistent performance this week. The Dons showed they have the quality in the midfield to score quickly but can’t leave it too late again, while the Hawks midfield will need to make sure the forward line is getting enough of the ball to kick a winning score.
It’s only early in the season but this is shaping up as an eight point game as both teams look to be in contention for finals positions, however the depth of Donnybrook’s midfield will be likely be too strong for the Hawks.
South Bunbury vs Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault
South Bunbury were probably the most disappointing team across the competition in round one. The Tigers would have been expecting a win, but their decision making was poor and they were regularly beaten in the contest by a Carey Park team that was riddled by injuries.
HBL, on the other hand, were impressive for three quarters. However, their last quarter performance where they conceded five straight goals and gave away the lead with two minutes to go would be of concern to coach Derek Hall, who conceded the Lions were ‘lucky’ to win.
Stopping South Bunbury key-forward Leigh Kohlmann will be the focus for the Lions with Kohlmann providing a lone-hand up forward against Carey Park, kicking five of the Tigers’ eight goals.
Provided the Lions defenders can cover Kohlmann, they still have quality players that took them to last year’s grand final and would be expecting to pick up a win.
Harvey Bulls vs Carey Park
The Harvey Bulls, who have fallen in the preliminary final in each of the last three seasons, were widely regarded as one of the premiership favourites.
However, their season got off to a rocky start with an upset loss at the hands of Busselton. The Bulls and the Magpies traded the lead several times throughout the day but the Harvey defence didn’t do enough to curb the influence of Busselton’s main forwards Aidan Fraser and Jed Kemp, who kicked five goals each.
Carey Park were impressive in their match against South Bunbury and showed a lot of heart to pick up the solid win despite losing several players to injury.
On paper, Harvey look to be the stronger team and would be expecting to win, but Carey Park have shown that they can’t be taken lightly.
Collie Eagles vs Eaton Boomers
Collie take on Eaton on Sunday in what could possibly be the game of the round. The Eagles and the Boomers put on the two most impressive performances of the first round.
The Eagles made the hardest road trip in the league to Margaret River and looked dangerous all day, although they will be hoping to get more scoring out of their midfield this week after forwards Joel Houghton, Jayce Fontana and Blair Malatesta combined for ten of the team’s twelve goals.
The Boomers will have confidence they can take it to Collie after putting on a dominating fourth-quarter performance against the reigning premiers. Eaton regularly got first hands on the ball out of the middle and forwards Brandon Jetta and Rohan Lilly took a number of strong marks up forward.
This match will be determined by which midfield gets on top. With both teams relying on marking forwards to kick goals, the weather will probably play a big part so getting the ball forward as much as possible will be key.
Eaton coach Brett Maguire said the Boomers know they will have their work cut out for them and on their home ground, Collie would be confident of picking up their second win.
Bunbury vs Busselton
The final game of the round sees reigning premiers Bunbury looking for their first win of the season against Busselton.
Busselton was impressive in their upset win over Harvey and were able to get the ball into their forward half regularly. The Magpies recorded 31 shots at goal in the game, although they will need to be more accurate in front of goal against the Bulldogs.
Busselton coach Steve Lester said he is expecting the Bulldogs to come out firing after their disappointing final quarter against Eaton.
“We’ve beaten a side that was set to be pretty strong this year but it seems like Bunbury took their foot off the pedal in the last quarter so they’ll be coming out hard,” he said.
Bunbury will be looking to make up for a disappointing final quarter that cost them a win against Eaton in a game they had controlled all day.
Bunbury forwards Travis Justins, Jackson Oliver and Brett Peake looked dangerous when the ball made it forward, so it will be important for the Bulldogs’ midfield to get first use of the ball.
Despite being the premiers, the Bulldogs have something to prove after last week’s performance and should get the win in front of a home crowd.