SWFL round five preview: footy returns after bye

The week off has allowed several teams with extensive injury lists, like Augusta-Margaret River and Collie, to rest up their players ahead of a big weekend.

Round five is also the annual Belt Up round, to remember all those who have lost their lives on the roads, and each match will observe a minute’s silence before the first bounce.

Check out our preview of the weekend’s games and let us know who you think will win.

Round five kicks off on Saturday with an intriguing match between Carey Park and Busselton at Kelly Park.

The Panthers sit third on the ladder, but could have been sitting on top if not for some inaccurate kicking in the final quarter of their one-point loss to the Eaton Boomers a fortnight ago.

New recruits Gregory, Herman and Jarrod Humphries were the standouts last week, while Tim Yarran has consistently been one of the key players for the Panthers, so it will be important for the Magpies to close them down.

Busselton dragged themselves off the bottom of the ladder with a strong win over Collie, made vene more impressive by the fact the Magpies were missing key players Aidan Fraser and Jed Kemp to injury.

Busselton forward Steve Cameron kicked seven goals in a best on ground performance, so it will be interesting to see of he can back it up against the Panthers.

Prediction: Carey Park by 19 points.

Augusta-Margaret River have had an interesting start to their year. The Hawks sit in the top half of the ladder but haven’t quite put in their strongest performance yet.

The bye has come at the right time for the Hawks however, with coach Matt Jamieson saying the team was carrying quite a few injuries into their one-point win over Harvey two weeks ago.

The Hawks have two players, Jack Hick and Matt Jukes, in the league’s top five goal kickers, so the Bunbury defence will need to find a way to keep both off the scoresheet.

Bunbury have been the form team of the competition and will be confident against an AMR team that is yet to win at home.

The Bulldogs have been well served by Jesse Gribble in the midfield while ex-AFL player Brett Peake has been lively up forward and sits second on the league’s goal kicking ladder with 12 in four games.

The Hawks midfield will need to make sure they get first use of the ball and take their opportunities as the Bulldogs have shown they are the season’s team to beat.

Prediction: Bunbury by 15 points.

On Sunday, Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault host the Eaton Boomers at Brunswick Oval.

Lions fans will be hoping HBL used the week off to address their scoring issues, with the Lions averaging just 51 points per game this season.

The Lions have been well-serviced by ruckman Mitch Andrews, with the big man rated in HBL’s best three players in each game, so the Boomers will have to focus on negating his impact at the centre bounce and around the ground.

On the other hand, the Eaton Boomers have been the surprise of the competition and sit second on the ladder with their only loss coming in the wet to Collie in round two.

The Boomers play an exciting style of footy, but scoring could be a bit of an issue with only two players, Brandon and Aaron Jetta, averaging more than one goal a game.

While the Boomers have the form going into the game, this season has shown you can’t write any team off and the Lions could be dangerous if they get their scoring issues sorted

Prediction: Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault by four points.

The Collie Eagles last defeat to Busselton saw them drop from top position all the way to seventh.

However coach Seth White is confident the Eagles can bounce back, especially with the bye allowing them to rest up their extensive injury list.

The Eagles will have star recruit Ryan Crowley playing his first game in front of a home crowd along with a number of injured players returning.

However the most interesting battle of the day will be between the Eagles Matt Blackford and the Tigers Leigh Kohlmann.

Kohlmann leads the league’s goal kicking with 14 and if the South Bunbury midfielders are able to get the ball into the forward 50, Blackford will have to be at his best.

However, with the Eagles getting some players back, they’d be confident of a win on their home deck.

Prediction: Collie Eagles by 22 points.

The round’s last game between Donnybrook and Harvey might just be the most interesting.

Bulls coach Paul Fimmano stepped down after their one-point loss to AMR in round four and it will be interesting to see if new coach Brendon Jones changes anything up about the way the Bulls play.

The Bulls are the league’s highest scoring side, averaging over 75 points a game, but they also have the tendency to leak goals and are the only team to concede more than 300 points in their four games so far.

On the other hand, Donnybrook have turned their season around with two impressive wins away from home over Collie and South Bunbury.

The Dons have one of the strongest midfields with Chris Atthoew, Jace Cormack and Keiran Hug all performing well, and if they’re able to get the ball regularly into the hands of Sam Lowrie, it could be a long day for the Bulls defence. 

Prediction: Donnybrook by 42 points.

Read more from round four of the SWFL 2018 season: