IT can be expected the outcome of Saturday’s Western Border football grand final rematch will be quite different to the big day back in September 2018.
Millicent has suffered some heavy losses to key personnel and when it travels to McDonald Park for a round two meeting with East Gambier, it will need to pull something special out of the bag to replicate last season’s drought-breaking premiership win.
The Saints went down to North Gambier in convincing style last round, as the Tigers surged from two points down at half time to claim a dominant 63-point victory.
Of course there was light in the darkness, as Tom Hutchesson was in his usual hard-to-catch form, while Dylan Tincknell also performed well in the new-look side.
Playing coach Lyndon Smith led his team well, but may need to look at the game plan to ensure the four-quarter effort needed to compete with the Bulldogs.
To add another challenge to the match, Hutchesson’s commitments to the Adelaide Crows in the South Australian National Football League may see the superstar unavailable.
The likes of Sam Willis and Dylan Bromley, who were both quiet by their standards with a goal each last round, will need to stand up and make an impact, to prevent the hosts from running away with the game.
For East it was a fairytale finish against West Gambier in round one, as new recruit Shaun King booted a goal after the siren to steal the win by five points.
The Bulldogs are not without their own player losses, but based off that performance seem to have them covered at this stage.
With three goals from recruit Robert Brewster, along with two each from Kevin Thomson and Mark Rumbelow, East showed plenty of firepower in front of goals.
Playing coach Matt Willson was all class and led his side by example, but it was Riley Janeway who stood out to be named best-on-ground.
In the ruck, the absence of Mark Kieselbach has seen Kurt Rodis step up to the role and he fared well against West’s Todd Lewis in the season opener.
He will test himself against Jonah Grimes this week in a battle between the two rising ruckmen.
Although it can be hard to gauge where teams sit in the competition at this early stage of the year, East seems to have a clear advantage heading into the match.
If the Saints are to stand a chance at putting down the Bulldogs, they will need to play a more disciplined brand of football, as that was a big downfall against the Tigers.
Unnecessary free kicks can be costly and Millicent can not afford to give away any cheap shots at goal.
If the reigning premiers can do that they may remain in the game, but based off round-one form East should come away with the points.
