Team Talk | The Courier | July 20, 2023
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to our Thursday night coverage of the Ballarat and Central Highlands Football
00:06 Leagues. I'm David Breaux and I'm joined by Edward Holland. Good evening, Edward.
00:11 Evening, David. How are you?
00:12 Not too bad. Round 13. It'll be lucky 13 for a few. And the Ballarat Football Netball League.
00:19 Give us a quick highlight before we delve into the CHFL.
00:22 Yeah, already looking forward to the City Oval clash. Back-to-back weeks at City Oval.
00:26 Redan and North Ballarat should be a cracker.
00:29 OK, so Central Highlands Football League. We had some big games last week, in particular
00:35 Springbank getting over the top of Gordon. And Springbank once again is engaged in one
00:41 of the big games of the week. And they're up against Hepburn, this time at Wallace.
00:48 So Springbank take some winning form into that game. They've lost a few players with
00:54 injury out of last week's game. And also, of course, having caught up with Harry Twaits,
01:00 accepted a one-match sanction for a striking charge. So he'll be missed as well. But look,
01:08 at this time of year, everyone's missing a few players. So nothing out of the ordinary
01:13 there. Hepburn, they're getting pretty close to full strength. Obviously, again, still
01:19 missing the odd player or two. I think Springbank might just have the edge in this. Their midfield
01:25 last week was just so impressive. And, you know, it was just that was a factor that brought
01:31 down Gordon. The Eagles just had no answer. And I think it could also be the factor here.
01:37 The one thing that Tigers will have to be well aware of is the potency of Andy McKay
01:43 up forward. He's having a great year playing as a permanent deep forward. He just finds
01:49 a way. He's a champion of the game in the Central Highlands and they won't want to let
01:54 him off the hook at all. I think they've got a player lined up and they'll need that. They
02:00 just can't allow him to roam free because he's so creative. And so that's going to be
02:05 a great matchup. Also, the ruck battle, I think, is going to go a long way to deciding
02:09 this game. Sean Ty back to his best in recent weeks after some injury issues with the Burroughs
02:15 up against Paddy Glanfield, who was a man mountain last week. And they know how important
02:22 he is in combining with that star midfield. But I think the Tigers might get home. Close
02:28 game could go either way. This big game in deciding maybe who finishes in the top four
02:37 takes a double chance. And of course, we can't forget last time they met in the preliminary
02:42 final, you were there and it went down to the last kick to break the deadlock, didn't
02:46 it? Yeah, big buzz, wasn't it, after the siren to get the Tigers into that grand final. Didn't
02:51 go that way in the end of the grand final. But yeah, it was. It was an exciting finish.
02:55 But of course, he's no longer with the Tigers. They'll have to find another avenue. So that's
02:59 the match of the round. Another big game is between Kahnem Linton and Newland. Now this
03:05 game could be a preview for a match up in the finals. Kahnem Linton, one more win, I
03:11 think will be enough and they can lock in finals. I think 40 premiership points is the
03:17 magic number to play finals. They're at home at Snake Valley. They do get back a big inclusion.
03:24 Nick O'Brien, he's been out with a fracture in the hand and thumb area for a few weeks.
03:31 They weren't expecting him back for at least another week. So that's a big plus, naming
03:35 him. On the other end of the scale, Newland, they're missing quite a few players from their
03:40 side from last week. And so they're really not scraping rock bottom, but they're certainly
03:47 their depth is being tested. So I think the Saints at home should get that and seal their
03:53 way into their first final series in the Central Islands Football League.
03:58 Talking to you off air, you were talking about Kahnem Linton, they're sitting pretty on the
04:02 ladder at the moment, but it is a tough run home for them. So not actually locked into
04:06 finals just yet.
04:07 Well, that's what I said. They need that one win. Get that one win and they'll be right.
04:10 I mean, mathematically, yeah, they could drop out, but then everything else has got to fall
04:14 into place. So Bunningong has to keep winning. Learmonth has to keep winning. And Kahnem
04:18 Linton plays Bunningong, for example. And Bunningong, they're up against Bungaree this
04:22 week, another big game. So let's go straight to that. And it's the undefeated Bungaree
04:26 up against Bunningong at Bungaree. Look, the Demons, they should win it. They've done everything
04:32 right so far. Bungaree, yeah, there's just no stopping them. Bunningong, well, you know,
04:39 they've been a bit like last year, hot and cold. They've left their hot for the back
04:44 end of the season. But I think this year they've left their run too late. Bungaree gets over
04:50 them. It doesn't completely put them out of the finals race, but I tell you what, it makes
04:54 it pretty hard for the Bombers. But I think the Demons win that. Let's run through the
04:58 rest of the games from the top. Dalesford at home to Dunstown. Dunstown, they've finally
05:04 put a couple of wins together. As we've said for a long time, their form's not great, but
05:10 they'll be too accomplished for Dalesford. There, Belan, they play Learmonth at Learmonth.
05:16 It's Belan's home game officially, but being played at Learmonth. And Learmonth still hanging
05:23 on to their finals hopes by an absolute thread. They should win and just keep those hopes
05:29 alive. Creswick at home to Warburra. Creswick, they've had a pretty good past month with
05:36 a couple of wins and a close loss to Dunstown. I think they'll get the points again against
05:40 Warburra, which they've had injuries all year, hasn't helped their cause, and they've been
05:44 hit by more, plus some player unavailability this week. So that makes the job really hard
05:50 for them. We skip down to Beaufort at home to Gordon. Beaufort, they're just not having
05:57 a year to remember at all. It can't finish soon enough for the Crows. Gordon's still
06:02 a little way off full strength, but they'll be far too good for the Crows. And our final
06:07 game, Roquod-Corrandap, finally getting a chance to play at Roquod, only their second
06:12 game on their home ground this year. They play Clunes, a toss of the coin here. Clunes
06:16 has probably got the better form. They've pushed a few of the better sides to within
06:23 two or three goals, and if they can produce that, they probably get the points. But don't
06:29 discard Roquod-Corrandap, so they're happy to be at home, and I think they've built themselves
06:34 up for this. Both sides, their last win, they have to go back to the last time they played,
06:40 or when they played Warbra. So that just says that neither of them have really kicked on
06:47 at all this season. Clunes had four wins, they were in the top eight for a long time,
06:51 but they were never going to stay there. And Roquod, they've just had a shocking year.
06:56 So there's the Central Highlands Football League, and we'll be out, or I'll be out,
07:01 at Bungaree this Saturday for the live streaming of the Bungaree and Bunningong game as the
07:08 Bombers strive to keep their finals hopes alive. Ballarat Football Netball League.
07:13 On to BFNL, so I mentioned that City Oval clash between Rodan and North Ballarat, Ramie
07:17 eager to bounce back from almost a shock loss to East Point that kept East Point's finals
07:22 hopes alive. North Ballarat come in almost full strength, they've got Sam Glover back
07:28 from, he's a well-rested man, he had the European summer, but he's calling on VFL
07:33 listed, so we'll have a few games back at North Ballarat before returning to VFL action.
07:37 Cam McCallum as well also returns, he missed last week just being managed through injury,
07:43 so Brendan McCartney wasn't too worried about him last week, he knew he'd be back for this
07:46 clash anyway. No Jamie Quick though for the Roosters, he's in some fine form actually
07:52 at Geelong VFL, kicked, he almost won the game off his own boot last week against Essendon,
07:58 so quick shout out to him. And just for Dan, Gary Learmonth was hopeful but unsure whether
08:04 or not Kub Craig-Peters and Will Madden would be available for them this week, they missed
08:08 them last week dearly against East Point and Billy, and they have two massive inclusions
08:14 if they do play. So, I mentioned East Point before, they've got a trip down the highway
08:19 to Melton, and it's going to be a strong Melton outfit, Jack Watkins, North Melbourne's VFL
08:25 skipper is lining up for his second game, so North Melbourne with the bye in the VFL.
08:30 They've got one more bye later on this year, but unfortunately for Melton they also have
08:34 to bye that weekend. That's it for him then. Yes, this will be the last time we see him,
08:39 he had 40 touches against Ballarat in his Bloods debut in round 10, so he's enjoying
08:48 VFL football when he does play. I'm sure he enjoys playing for North Melbourne as well.
08:52 That too. But yeah, looking forward to seeing what he does on Saturday. Interestingly, East
08:59 only lost by eight points against Melton in round seven, it was probably the best game
09:04 of football they've played this season, so hopefully for them they can replicate something
09:08 like that and actually get the four points and stay in that battle with Redan and Sunbury
09:14 for the last two spots in the top six. We've talked a bit about VFL players and Jay Dowerhouse
09:21 has been named to play for Sevastopol again, which is a bit of a bonus. They've got Melton
09:27 South but they really only expected to have Dowerhouse for one game against Lakers last
09:33 week, but he's named again. I think he'll be 50/50, so he had a big day out against
09:39 Lakers and I'm sure he'll have another big day out against Melton South. Running through
09:43 the rest of the game, Sunbury and Ballarat. Ballarat actually probably caused the first
09:47 real upset of the season with a win against Sunbury in round nine, so interesting to see.
09:53 I'm sure Chris May will be hoping his side can do it again, but Sunbury have a few more
09:57 names back for them this weekend compared to that round nine clash in the last game
10:01 of the round. Daly and Bakas Mas, so Luther Baker returning for Daly's shoulder and hamstring
10:06 injury a few weeks ago against Melton, and Brady Wright with no Talent League action.
10:11 He's in some fine form for the Rebels and he will be lining up at Daly Park on Saturday.
10:17 And I believe you've got a special shout out from one of your fans.
10:20 We've got Barry, he's been complaining about my pen.
10:25 Barry who?
10:26 Barry Agge. He's been complaining about my pen and haven't upgraded that. Hopefully the
10:30 volume's good enough for him as well. Quick shout out to Shane Hannall as well, he's back
10:34 in action too.
10:34 Yeah, because Barry's on the board, the Melbourne Football League and a former media personality
10:41 down at the eastern end of the competition down at Bakas Marshway and always good for
10:47 a chat. And the reason Barry that we always look rugged up on these shows, we're either
10:52 about to leave and go out into the cold or we've just arrived back, particularly on Saturdays,
10:57 or that way, you know, from being out at the cold face.
11:01 Yeah, a little bit behind the scenes. It's late on a Thursday and it feels like minus
11:05 three outside. So there's your reason.
11:06 We're ready to go.
11:07 There's your reason, Barry. But yeah, I've flirted a little bit too much with in-house
11:12 jokes this week as Jordan Johnson found out on Monday.
11:16 We won't go any further than that.
11:17 I'll steer clear from there.
11:18 No, no jokes there. But anyway, we appreciate everyone that watches our videos and always
11:27 appreciate a little bit of feedback and a little bit of fun. So thanks for joining us
11:31 on this cold evening, a real true winter's night. And we look forward to a special around
11:40 13 as we continue the countdown towards the finals. Still a number of weeks to go in both
11:46 competitions, but you just start to get the feel that finals are in the air, even though
11:53 it doesn't quite feel like spring yet. But thanks for joining us, Edward. And we look
11:58 forward to catching up with everyone at the weekend after, well, an action-packed round
12:05 of football.