Mount Burr v Port MacDonnell
The records of either Port MacDonnell or Mount Burr will be tarnished for the first time this season when they do battle on Saturday at Mick and Jean Walker Oval in the match-of-the-day in the Mid South East Football League.
The Demons have overcome the off-season departure of talented trio Wade Chant, Mark Smith and Kevin Thomson to record home ground wins over Kalangadoo and Nangwarry.
Meanwhile, the Mozzies have recorded three wins from three outings with returning coach Clint Gallio working his magic.
Gallio has put his faith in his younger players with five colts taking to the field in round three.
The youngsters provide great support for such seasoned veterans as the Wallis brothers, new skipper Dylan Ridley, vice-captain Jack Gregory and Gallio himself.
Port MacDonnell boasts three Mail Medallists in Will Macdonald, Tim Sullivan and coach Josh Woodall.
Can Hill should be packed for this round four fixture as two likely finalists square off.
Robe v Kalangadoo
Reigning premiers Kalangadoo face a 0-4 start to their flag defence unless they can come away from the seaside at Robe on Saturday with the premiership points.
The Mid South East Football League was founded in 1936 and there must be very occasions when a reigning premier has defended their title after losing their first four games.
There will not be much sympathy coming from the direction of the Roosters as they want to achieve a 4-0 start to the minor round.
The two clubs have not been the best of buddies in recent years in the wake of a controversial tribunal outcome.
Both teams could take positives and negatives from their round three encounters.
Robe had kicked a lousy 3.13 by the long break at Kongorong but finished strongly.
They banked a percentage-boosting win of 90 points and restricted the Hawks to just three scoring shots.
Over at Kalangadoo, the home side was only 19 points in arrears to Hatherleigh at the one-minute mark of the final term and then faded badly.
One hopeful sign for the Magpies is the addition of Hatherleigh premiership ruck Tom Agnew to the senior list.
It is said that he is keen to play alongside his younger brother Scott and at the club where their father Mick was a president and premiership player.
The match-winner for the seasiders could well be their ace coach, Nathan Brown.
With eight goals in the second half at Kongorong, Brown must have had the ball-on-a-string.
The visitors are certain to allocate Ethan Maney as the tagger on Brown owing to his fitness, nous and experience.
Maney spent almost three hours shadowing Hatherleigh coach Tom Hutchesson in round three and is up for the challenge.
Hatherleigh v Nangwarry
Hatherleigh has consistently fielded strong sides for the past decade while Nangwarry is re-building with some quality leadership and recruits.
With the home ground advantage, the Eagles should remain unbeaten and the Saints still without a victory in 2024.
I would go so far as to say the Saints are a 10 goal better team than five years ago as they are wasting few possessions.
If returning ruckman George McMasters can win the centre contests, skipper Joel Virtanen can spear a 40metre left-foot pass to Andrew Hyland on the lead.
The big Hatherleigh Oval suits Hyland as it is like Edwardstown Oval in suburban Adelaide where he has played much of his footy.
Hyland is deceptively quick and agile and might yet sing the victory song at 5pm on Saturday.
Tantanoola v Kongorong
Both the Tigers and the Hawks have played good footy in patches so far in 2024 but have lacked the consistency to secure a win.
At their best, it has been at a finals standard but it has yet to be seen for four quarters.
Of the two upcoming combatants, Tantanoola looks more likely to win and not just because of the home ground advantage.
It has been within striking distance of its opponents Glencoe and Robe at three-quarter time.
