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Thought I'd take the time to write up a preview for this week's VFL Grand Final, which is shaping up to be the biggest Grand Final this competition has had in years.
Port Melbourne V Williamstown
Port Melbourne
Last won the premiership in 1982.
Total premierships: 15
Port Melbourne are the powerhouse of the 2011 VFL season. A seemingly unstoppable force, having topped the ladder with a perfect 18-0 record and a healthy percentage of 156. They had the best attack and also the best defence of all thirteen teams, and despite not being aligned with an AFL club, they boast an exceptional talent of VFL players, including plenty who have previously had AFL experience.
Shane Valenti has just won his second consecutive JJ Liston Medal as the fairest and best player in the competition and he combines extremely well in the midfield with John Baird, the Port Melbourne captain, and Nathan Batsanis, the former Port Adelaide player. The three of them dominate the midfield every week and could be well and truly on their way to returning to the AFL.
There are three former Bulldogs players on their list, in Patrick Rose, Malcolm Lynch and Wayde Skipper, all of whom have had dominant seasons. There will be extra incentive for them to win this week, as they go to war against the Bulldogs VFL affiliate.
David Fanning provides adequate support to Skipper in the ruck, with former Port Adelaide player Fabian DeLuca being the third choice ruckman.
Other former AFL players on their list include Tristan Francis, Cory McGrath, Adam Bentick, Jake Edwards and Bo Nixon.
According to my calculations, that's 13 former AFL players on their list, which is one more than the number of 2011-listed Gold Coast players who previously had AFL experience before the season started.
The list of talented VFL players doesn't end there for Port Melbourne. Arguably their highest profile player without AFL experience is the midfield jet Sam Dwyer, who is tipped to win their Best and Fairest. Surprisingly, he was the pre-count favourite to win the JJ Liston, yet only polled two votes. To put that into perspective, that would be like Judd only polling ten votes in this year's Brownlow.
Their most dangerous forward is goal-kicking maestro Dean Gallea (coincidentally, a former Williamstown player). He is fresh off kicking five goals four behinds in their Preliminary Final win over the Northern Bullants, and was the dominant player on the ground along with John Baird.
Hugh Sandilands and Sam Plemming are their two most dangerous defenders, who will both be critical in stopping the Williamstown forwards.
Outside of Patrick Rose and Dean Gallea, their next two most dangerous forwards are club stalwart Ryan McMahon, and Chris Cain, who possesses a lethal kick. Both players combine for over three goals per game between them (Rose and Gallea combining for over seven goals per game).
Others to look out for are former Oakleigh Chargers captain Toby Pinwell, and Michael Dillon, who has been quite solid since crossing from Bendigo a couple of years ago.
Port Melbourne formline
Preliminary Final: defeated Northern Bullants by 22 points
Qualifying Final: defeated Casey Scorpions by 97 points
Round 22: defeated Box Hill Hawks by 20 points
Round 21: defeated Northern Bullants by 33 points
Round 20: defeated Williamstown by 5 points
Williamstown
Last premiership: 2003
Total premierships: 13
Seen as the perennial chokers of the VFL, the prominent finalists may have finally got the Monkey off their backs, after doing two things they have previously struggled to do under the Western Bulldogs affiliate. Firstly, they won silverwear, with their Foxtel Cup victory. Secondly, they have finally made their way into a Grand Final, the first of two giant steps needed to get the Ape off their back.
After finishing second after the Home and Away season with a 14-4 record, they have hit their best form at the right time of the year. Of their four losses this year, they have been to the undefeated Port Melbourne by five points, the reigning premiers North Ballarat by two points and then by thirteen points, and again to Port Melbourne in round seven, by 51 points in perhaps their only poor performance of the season. They started off at a steady pace, going well without going great, before leaving their run til late until firing on all cylinders. Along the way, they have picked up some minor honours by winning the Foxtel Cup and having two players finish in the top five in the JJ Liston Medal.
With up to fifteen Bulldogs listed players allowed to represent the Club in any match, it's staggering to think how an AFL affiliate side is not favourite to defeat a sole entity, but that's exactly what confronts Williamstown this week, as they enter the Grand Final against the undefeated Port Melbourne as a $2.10 outsider.
Up to twenty Bulldogs listed could represent the Seagulls this week, but only fifteen are allowed, so it will be a tough assignment for their coach Peter German to narrow the list down from 19 to 15. A realistic attempt would be Nathan Djerrkura, Sam Reid, Mitch Wallis, Will Minson, Josh Hill, Mitch Hahn, Andrew Hooper, Christian Howard, Jordan Roughead, Jason Tutt, Brennan Stack, Ed Barlow, Jayden Schofield, Ayce Cordy and Dylan Addison, which means Patrick Veszpremi, Matthew Panos, James Mulligan and Jason Johannisen miss out on selection.
Veszpremi would be seen as good enough to be a part of the fifteen Bulldogs listed players, but I feel Coach Peter German will favour others over him, as he has played fewer games than the others this season, and appears to have some issues he needs to address before any coach commits to him.
Eligible Bulldogs players unavailable due to post season surgery or requested leave are Luke Dahlhaus, Jarrad Grant, Zephi Skinner, Lindsay Gilbee, Brian Lake, Eddie Prato, Brodie Moles and Lukas Markovic.
The other eight players shouldn't be too hard to predict. Captain Brett Johnson will once again be important in the engine room, along with Ben Jolley and Brett Goodes. All three players have enjoyed exceptional years and will be just as important as the Bulldogs listed players. The other locks are Dave Stretton, who will likely go to Patrick Rose or Dean Gallea and former North Melbourne player Ben Davies. Of the three remaining positions, Dane Rampe and Matthew Cravino probably did enough to remain in the 22, while Stephen Witkowski will once again be used as the 23rd man as long as he hasn't used up his quota.
Williamstown formline
Preliminary Final: defeated Werribee by 83 points
Qualifying Final: defeated North Ballarat by 67 points
Round 22: defeated Frankston by 93 points
Round 21: defeated Box Hill by 101 points
Round 20: lost to Port Melbourne by 5 points
Prediction:
Williamstown to stun Port Melbourne by 13 points.
The fact it's under a closed roof on a quick surface that more than half of the Williamstown squad is very familiar with, should give them the advantage. Port Melbourne's home ground TEAC Oval is the neutral venue for Finals, so once that is taken away from them, there is no longer an advantage.
Selection will be interesting, with Matthew Panos and James Mulligan having played against Werribee, but assuming Schofield and Cordy are back from injury, I see those two as the logical changes. One less tall should suit Williamstown's run and carry.
Port Melbourne V Williamstown
Port Melbourne
Last won the premiership in 1982.
Total premierships: 15
Port Melbourne are the powerhouse of the 2011 VFL season. A seemingly unstoppable force, having topped the ladder with a perfect 18-0 record and a healthy percentage of 156. They had the best attack and also the best defence of all thirteen teams, and despite not being aligned with an AFL club, they boast an exceptional talent of VFL players, including plenty who have previously had AFL experience.
Shane Valenti has just won his second consecutive JJ Liston Medal as the fairest and best player in the competition and he combines extremely well in the midfield with John Baird, the Port Melbourne captain, and Nathan Batsanis, the former Port Adelaide player. The three of them dominate the midfield every week and could be well and truly on their way to returning to the AFL.
There are three former Bulldogs players on their list, in Patrick Rose, Malcolm Lynch and Wayde Skipper, all of whom have had dominant seasons. There will be extra incentive for them to win this week, as they go to war against the Bulldogs VFL affiliate.
David Fanning provides adequate support to Skipper in the ruck, with former Port Adelaide player Fabian DeLuca being the third choice ruckman.
Other former AFL players on their list include Tristan Francis, Cory McGrath, Adam Bentick, Jake Edwards and Bo Nixon.
According to my calculations, that's 13 former AFL players on their list, which is one more than the number of 2011-listed Gold Coast players who previously had AFL experience before the season started.
The list of talented VFL players doesn't end there for Port Melbourne. Arguably their highest profile player without AFL experience is the midfield jet Sam Dwyer, who is tipped to win their Best and Fairest. Surprisingly, he was the pre-count favourite to win the JJ Liston, yet only polled two votes. To put that into perspective, that would be like Judd only polling ten votes in this year's Brownlow.
Their most dangerous forward is goal-kicking maestro Dean Gallea (coincidentally, a former Williamstown player). He is fresh off kicking five goals four behinds in their Preliminary Final win over the Northern Bullants, and was the dominant player on the ground along with John Baird.
Hugh Sandilands and Sam Plemming are their two most dangerous defenders, who will both be critical in stopping the Williamstown forwards.
Outside of Patrick Rose and Dean Gallea, their next two most dangerous forwards are club stalwart Ryan McMahon, and Chris Cain, who possesses a lethal kick. Both players combine for over three goals per game between them (Rose and Gallea combining for over seven goals per game).
Others to look out for are former Oakleigh Chargers captain Toby Pinwell, and Michael Dillon, who has been quite solid since crossing from Bendigo a couple of years ago.
Port Melbourne formline
Preliminary Final: defeated Northern Bullants by 22 points
Qualifying Final: defeated Casey Scorpions by 97 points
Round 22: defeated Box Hill Hawks by 20 points
Round 21: defeated Northern Bullants by 33 points
Round 20: defeated Williamstown by 5 points
Williamstown
Last premiership: 2003
Total premierships: 13
Seen as the perennial chokers of the VFL, the prominent finalists may have finally got the Monkey off their backs, after doing two things they have previously struggled to do under the Western Bulldogs affiliate. Firstly, they won silverwear, with their Foxtel Cup victory. Secondly, they have finally made their way into a Grand Final, the first of two giant steps needed to get the Ape off their back.
After finishing second after the Home and Away season with a 14-4 record, they have hit their best form at the right time of the year. Of their four losses this year, they have been to the undefeated Port Melbourne by five points, the reigning premiers North Ballarat by two points and then by thirteen points, and again to Port Melbourne in round seven, by 51 points in perhaps their only poor performance of the season. They started off at a steady pace, going well without going great, before leaving their run til late until firing on all cylinders. Along the way, they have picked up some minor honours by winning the Foxtel Cup and having two players finish in the top five in the JJ Liston Medal.
With up to fifteen Bulldogs listed players allowed to represent the Club in any match, it's staggering to think how an AFL affiliate side is not favourite to defeat a sole entity, but that's exactly what confronts Williamstown this week, as they enter the Grand Final against the undefeated Port Melbourne as a $2.10 outsider.
Up to twenty Bulldogs listed could represent the Seagulls this week, but only fifteen are allowed, so it will be a tough assignment for their coach Peter German to narrow the list down from 19 to 15. A realistic attempt would be Nathan Djerrkura, Sam Reid, Mitch Wallis, Will Minson, Josh Hill, Mitch Hahn, Andrew Hooper, Christian Howard, Jordan Roughead, Jason Tutt, Brennan Stack, Ed Barlow, Jayden Schofield, Ayce Cordy and Dylan Addison, which means Patrick Veszpremi, Matthew Panos, James Mulligan and Jason Johannisen miss out on selection.
Veszpremi would be seen as good enough to be a part of the fifteen Bulldogs listed players, but I feel Coach Peter German will favour others over him, as he has played fewer games than the others this season, and appears to have some issues he needs to address before any coach commits to him.
Eligible Bulldogs players unavailable due to post season surgery or requested leave are Luke Dahlhaus, Jarrad Grant, Zephi Skinner, Lindsay Gilbee, Brian Lake, Eddie Prato, Brodie Moles and Lukas Markovic.
The other eight players shouldn't be too hard to predict. Captain Brett Johnson will once again be important in the engine room, along with Ben Jolley and Brett Goodes. All three players have enjoyed exceptional years and will be just as important as the Bulldogs listed players. The other locks are Dave Stretton, who will likely go to Patrick Rose or Dean Gallea and former North Melbourne player Ben Davies. Of the three remaining positions, Dane Rampe and Matthew Cravino probably did enough to remain in the 22, while Stephen Witkowski will once again be used as the 23rd man as long as he hasn't used up his quota.
Williamstown formline
Preliminary Final: defeated Werribee by 83 points
Qualifying Final: defeated North Ballarat by 67 points
Round 22: defeated Frankston by 93 points
Round 21: defeated Box Hill by 101 points
Round 20: lost to Port Melbourne by 5 points
Prediction:
Williamstown to stun Port Melbourne by 13 points.
The fact it's under a closed roof on a quick surface that more than half of the Williamstown squad is very familiar with, should give them the advantage. Port Melbourne's home ground TEAC Oval is the neutral venue for Finals, so once that is taken away from them, there is no longer an advantage.
Selection will be interesting, with Matthew Panos and James Mulligan having played against Werribee, but assuming Schofield and Cordy are back from injury, I see those two as the logical changes. One less tall should suit Williamstown's run and carry.
