Friday Footy Frenzy - The Courier - May 3, 2024
Join David Brehaut and Greg Gliddon as they preview round 4 of the BFNL and CHFL/CHNL, in Friday Footy Frenzy.
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00:00 Welcome to Friday Footy Frenzy. I'm David Brio and I'm joined once again by Greg
00:05 Glidden. Good afternoon Greg. Good afternoon David, lovely to be here on
00:08 this beautiful day. Yes, it looks good out there, looks good for the weekend as we
00:12 just delve into the Central Highlands and Ballarat. Football leagues, round four,
00:19 so I think we're getting to the stage over the next couple of weeks we'll start
00:23 to get a clearer picture of where sides are heading, although there's still a
00:28 long way to go but round four, nearly a month gone already of the season. I was
00:32 actually thinking that the other day, it's about a quarter of the way through
00:34 isn't it when you took us this 18 week season so it's gone pretty quick.
00:39 Although we've got to remember this year there's a couple of, there's an extra break in
00:43 the, particularly in the Central Highlands League but there's also with
00:47 on top of the the Kings birthday weekend so yeah we're going to have a couple of
00:51 freshers up during the seasons in both competitions. I think we all need them
00:54 John, when we get to June and July don't we? We certainly will. Okay let's just get a
00:59 little teaser because we'll deal with the Central Highlands first but just a
01:02 little touch of what to expect in your summary of the Ballarat Football
01:07 Netball League. Another good round ahead of us actually, there's a few really good
01:10 games but I think the Ballarat-Darley match looms as the clear match of the
01:15 round but we'll get into that a bit later on but there's a bit of a sneaky
01:19 chance out at the Bakersmarsh and Sunbury as well. Alright let's run
01:22 through the Central Highlands round four. The bye is with with Springbank and they
01:29 certainly need it. They've had a rough start to the season so they'll get a
01:32 chance to freshen up. So let's run through the games. Not a lot of big games
01:36 in the sense that we had last week but still some interesting matchups and one
01:42 of those most intriguing games I think is Gordon at home to Karnham Linton. Now
01:47 Gordon, they've just had a couple of games so far, they've had a bye so we
01:54 haven't really got a true feeling of where they're at. They've had a number of
01:58 players out and their depth, I wouldn't say it's been tested but we've seen a little bit
02:03 more of their depth than perhaps we have in recent times for the Eagles. Karnham
02:07 Linton, well they got off to a rocky start with a loss to Learmonth but they've
02:10 really hit back and they've looked the goods in their last two games and I think
02:15 the Saints can come out here and do a job on the Eagles, the reigning Premier.
02:22 Now this time when they met last year, different time of the year, Gordon gave
02:27 Karnham Linton, well not a hiding but it was a sound defeat but Karnham Linton's
02:34 already shown that they can turn things around. They did that last week against
02:37 Dunstown and I think they can do it again. They're really starting to look
02:41 the goods and I think if they can get over Gordon they're a genuine top
02:46 four chance. So I'm going for the Saints to get over the Eagles. Dunstown and
02:50 Creswick, well Creswick's coming off their first win, they'll be up and about
02:54 and Dunstown, well they've had a tough start to the season, dropped a couple of
02:58 games but I think the Towners can bounce back. Had a couple of players out. You
03:02 look through their side, they haven't really got any what you call game
03:05 breakers. They've got a lot of steady, down sort of players. They're rock solid but
03:11 perhaps it's time to, I think, unleash a couple of players and see if they can
03:15 just find something extra and the opportunities here against Creswick
03:18 which will be keen to make it two in a row but I think the Towners get it.
03:21 Roecoot Corendat at home to Bungaree. Bungaree, they're looking like they're
03:26 going to be the very hard to beat this season. Yeah I don't know, they don't want to be
03:32 known as the team to beat but I think they are as we go into round four and
03:36 the Demons, look, they should win this game fairly clearly against a
03:43 grasshopper lineup that's been disappointing since their first up win
03:50 against Springbank. They've dropped two games and now they've got some injuries
03:54 to some key players and that's not going to help. So I think Bungaree get over the
03:58 grasshoppers. I think one of the most interesting games of the round is
04:01 Learmonth at home to Dalesford. Now Learmonth, they lost their first game last
04:06 week. No surprise there in losing to Bungaree but this is a game I think they
04:12 have to stand up and they're up against the improved, the new look Dalesford.
04:17 If Dalesford get this game and they're a big chance to and I'm tipping them to
04:21 win this, there'll be four wins unbeaten in four rounds. Fantastic start and this
04:26 is one of those games that Dalesford, if they can get this, I think this will
04:31 signal they're on their way. Don't forget the netball in that one too. Yeah I was going to
04:34 mention that later but we'll mention it now. Greg, yeah Learmonth-Dalesford, a
04:39 rematch of last year's grand final. So there'll be plenty of interest both on
04:43 the football field and the netball court. I think in the football it's Dalesford, I
04:49 think in the netball it'll be Learmonth. Both undefeated in the netball
04:54 area. Alright then we've got Belan at home to Bunyong. Belan, they've improved.
04:59 They're going to be a lot tougher to beat this year. I don't know if they've improved enough to
05:03 beat Bunyong who will be, they were disappointing to a degree against
05:07 Hepburn but they just didn't have the manpower on the end. They struggled,
05:11 they were undermanned, they had a lot of players missing. I don't think that's going to
05:16 improve that much this week but I think the Bombers will just have a bit more,
05:20 too much class and steadiness for Belan. Hepburn at home to Warbra. Both won
05:26 their first games in round three but look it's hard to go past Hepburn in
05:31 this. I think that spark last week will ignite them and I think they're on their
05:35 way now. Beaufort at home to Skipton. Rivals, not near neighbours. Beaufort,
05:40 they're in for another tough year. No wins yet and this is not going to be one.
05:44 Skipton coming off a loss to Newland. They'll be pretty keen to get up and
05:48 about again so Skipton for me. And then Newland against Clunes. Clunes coming off
05:52 the bye. Newland very impressive so far. I like them. I think they're going to be a
05:57 candidate for top four and I think the Cats, they shouldn't have too many
06:00 worries against Clunes which, they're always tough to beat but they just
06:04 always seem to come up short so that's the Cats. So that rounds out round four in
06:09 the Central Highlands and let's whip straight into it. And you said Ballarat
06:13 Daly was a, well almost your match of the round but I'll tell you what Ballarat, they
06:19 must have improved if you're putting that on them because there was a big gap
06:22 between them at the end of last year. Well we only have to look at Anzac Day
06:25 last week to see what they did against Lake Wendaree.
06:29 The Lakers didn't kick a goal until the five minute mark, five
06:33 minutes to go in the last quarter. Yeah but you can't really, that's like
06:36 comparing chalk and cheese isn't it Daly and Lake Wendaree. Yeah but this is also, well
06:41 the other thing, the other way that you can work on it is their form against
06:44 Backersmarsh. Daly played Backersmarsh last week, two goal win.
06:49 Yep. Ballarat played Backersmarsh in round one, seven point win. Alright so that's
06:53 nothing between them. Alright we'll give you that one though, don't think you can take much out of the
06:57 Lakers win that's all. I don't know, Lakers have been playing alright those first
07:02 goal games, they weren't at their best last week but they were, they're
07:05 better than what they showed. Yeah well let's hope they can you know make a real
07:09 go of it the Swans because that's what the competition needs. The Swans, they're
07:13 up and about, they're 3-0. They haven't probably been tested against the best
07:17 teams yet but this will be their big test. So let's see how they go against the
07:21 Devils this week and we'll see what transpires. They've had the nine day break
07:25 as well so a couple of extra days of rest so we'll see what happens there.
07:29 Good thing this weekend we've got five games Saturday afternoon, we've got no
07:33 night games, we've got no Thursday games, we can just run it all as a lovely round
07:37 on Thursday afternoon, oh sorry on Saturday afternoon. The other game that as I said
07:41 Backersmarsh is the other one that I'm keeping a really close eye on at the
07:44 moment. They're another team that is showing remarkable improvement and as I
07:48 said they've ran the Devils to just two goals last week, 40 points down at
07:52 halftime and got back to five goals, six to one goal one. If they actually had to
07:56 believe they could win it I think they could have actually got even closer to
08:00 Dali last week with that one. They're playing Sunbury who are coming off the
08:03 bye. Sunbury, four goal win over Redan is probably the form that you're
08:08 looking at from the first few rounds. You can't take much from their
08:11 Melton South game and then of course they had the bye. This could be a big game
08:14 because you'd imagine if Backersmarsh is going to, now they've got a bit of a
08:18 margin to make up to make finals but if they can win a game like this, Sunbury is
08:23 one of those teams that they're in a sense looking to you know in a battle
08:28 with because Sunbury missed out last year as well. So if the Cobras could
08:32 pull off something special here that would certainly be a big thing for their
08:37 season. A little bit of history as well, last time they met Backersmarsh by two
08:41 points. So there you go, Cobras. They're definitely in it. Who are you going for though? Sunbury.
08:46 Big build up for Backersmarsh and then crunch. I don't want to see
08:53 any more honourable defeats from Backersmarsh but I just think Sunbury
08:57 look the goods and it's all over to Dennis and the team down at
09:02 Backersmarsh to see what they can produce this week. Okay back in Ballarat.
09:06 Redan versus Sebastopol. These are two teams that have to get a win.
09:10 Redan got that win last week against Mountain South, 53 points. I know it was a
09:15 different looking Mountain South unit that they came up against but 53 points,
09:19 9-10 goal win just to pass Mark I think. Redan last week.
09:24 Sebastopol, two weeks, three weeks ago against the Lakers. Look here we go.
09:29 How good is Sebastopol going to be? Then Mountain gave them a touch up
09:33 and then East Point absolutely tore them apart last week as well. Is there a fear
09:37 that the Boroughs or the Borough have hit that wall that some teams can have.
09:43 They battle hard, they get close, they make a grand final, they just fall short
09:48 because the Borough hasn't won that elusive Premiership in the
09:52 BFNL and they've been close, they've built up, they've kept their side
09:57 together and the signs aren't good in the first couple of weeks of the
10:01 season. They're going to have to turn that around. Give them an out for the first few weeks.
10:04 Obviously Tony Lockie is trying to put in a brand new system there, give them a
10:08 bit of understanding. What I do think the Borough need though is they need a
10:12 bit more run on the outside. I thought that was the deciding
10:15 factor last week. I thought they were good inside the play last week
10:19 but when the balls squirt out, because it was a slippery wet night, dewy night as we
10:23 see in Ballarat early this time of year, when balls spilled out East Point
10:28 were kept their width, the Borough were like the eyes of the honeycomb.
10:32 They've had a couple of night games too, haven't they Sebastian? Do you think coming back to daytime may help them?
10:37 It didn't help them against Melton two weeks ago.
10:39 As I say, I think it's a spread issue. I think if they can actually get the run, they can do something.
10:47 Certainly I don't think Redan are in the same, necessary in the same ballpark as Melton at the time.
10:53 It's going to be a different sort of game than last time but I still think Redan is in the same ballpark.
10:59 If it's a spread issue, perhaps some peanut butter or Vegemite at half time?
11:02 Whatever works, mate. Whatever works.
11:04 Sorry, a dad joke there. That's terrible.
11:06 Now moving on, the other two games, a bit of interest in this one. East Point, they were great last week.
11:13 They're playing Melton South at Eastern Oval. You want to see some pretty handy still AFL players.
11:19 It looks like that Jeff Gard will come back. It looks like that Sam Daly will come back.
11:23 It looks like that Harley Bunnell will come back.
11:25 So we might see some handy AFL players getting around Eastern Oval this week
11:28 but East Point should be too small, I think.
11:31 And the final game is North versus the Lakers.
11:34 Now North Ballarat have had Daly and Melton in their first two games.
11:40 They've run both to have been a goal. One win each way.
11:44 I think they will really appreciate an opportunity to get back onto Mars Stadium in the day
11:49 against their next door neighbour, the Lakers.
11:53 And they should be winning this well.
11:54 But they need to get their season going because they've had the toughest of tough starts.
11:59 I think they have because I think at the start of the year, really,
12:02 if you said we'll give you one and one against arguably the two biggest...
12:07 The two best challenges.
12:08 Yeah, just put them in the top three. You take one and one, you take it.
12:11 Absolutely.
12:12 And I think... Yeah, they lost the four points. They didn't lose much else in that game.
12:16 No, they didn't.
12:17 So they're not far off it for a team that's lost some key players
12:20 and got a couple of big names out at the moment.
12:23 So, no, that's fair enough.
12:24 They'll get some hype out, but they should be winning this one pretty comfortably.
12:27 All right, Greg. Anyway, it's been a good insight into Round 4
12:32 in both the Bill Ballarat and Central Highlands Football League.
12:34 A few jokes thrown in, which will always just light up the show, which is good.
12:40 But that's it for our Friday Footy Frenzy.
12:43 Hope we've provided you with a little bit of an insight of what's ahead on Saturday.
12:48 And, of course, keep across all the Ballarat and Central Highlands news,
12:53 both online in our print edition.
12:55 So, from myself, David Brio, and Greg Gooden, it's a very good afternoon.
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