Millicent v Casterton Sandford


Millicent are set to take on Casterton Sandford this Saturday in the Saints’ Limestone Coast Football Netball League home opener at McLaughlin Park.

Both sides are coming off great wins last week and were the two top teams with the biggest wins.

The Cats’ win over reigning premiers West was a surprise to most while the Saints’ victory over the newly joined Penola was reminiscent of the Saints of old.

Both were dominant with 40+ point wins.

This will be a tough challenge for the Cats as the Saints have one of the best records at McLaughlin Park.

Last season the Saints played at home eight times and only had their colours lowered once, so Casterton will have their work cut out for them.

Millicent’s Jacob Carger looked great last week and even got on the end of two goals.

He will definitely be someone the Cats will have to contain on Saturday.

Up forward young Harry Gibbs was another crucial piece in the Saints’ success, kicking five goals in some pretty windy conditions in Penola last week.

He will be another the Cats will have to keep their eye on.

Michael Krieger and Alastair McCrae both had solid games for the Cats last week, each kicking four goals.

They will be looking to repeat that scoring again this weekend.

Another couple who are sure to be big for the Cats will be Diarmid Cleary and Ed Pritchard who were both reliable and will certainly be on the Saints’ radar for Saturday’s match.

This will definitely be a ripper match as two great sides go at it but I think the Saints will just be too good for the traveling Cats come game time.

South Gambier v Penola


South Gambier will kick off their 2025 campaign this Saturday as they take on Penola at Blue Lake Sports Park.

The Eagles are coming off a tough round one loss to a quality side in Millicent while the Dees will head into this one fresh and ready after the bye.

The Eagles had flashes of great play last week and will look to be more consistent this Saturday.

A good overall match up to watch this week will be the return of Penola’s Brodie Foster.

After moving from South to Penola a couple of seasons ago it will be interesting to see Foster up against his old club where he kicked many goals.

Another player out for a big game will be Penola’s Sean Munn.

Moving from Kybybolite, Munn brings a lot of experience and that showed last weekend as he was the side’s best player.

For the Dees to get the win it will start in the midfield battle with last year’s league medallist Emerson Marks and Mitch Sims.

Both will be key in South’s ball movement and are sure to pose a tough challenge for Penola.

I think the Dees will get the better of Penola in this one but there’s no doubt the Eagles will put up a great fight.

West Gambier v North Gambier


Reigning premiers West Gambier will host North Gambier this Saturday at Malseed Park as the Roos look to get on the winners’ list after a tough round one defeat.

Both had very different results last week with the Tigers securing a tough win over the Doggies while the Roos were pumped by the Cats.

Last year West repeatedly got the better of North, winning three out of their four match ups with one of those wins coming in the first semi final.

The Tigers looked very good last week, despite a one goal final quarter which let the Doggies back into the match, while the Roos struggled from the opening quarter to the final whistle.

The Roos will need to make a big statement this week and expect Andrew Stone and captain Jesse Pfitzner to have another solid game while the Roos will be looking to get a bit more out of Jack Casey who only kicked one goal.

The Tigers will attempt to continue the solid play of Sam Stafford and Toby de Wit up forward.

Both were great on Friday night as Stafford kicked six while de Wit registered two.

The Tigers young guns of Jonty Collins and Darcy Arthurson will also cause problems for the Roos on Saturday as they too have started the season well.

The game could go either way on Saturday as these are two evenly matched sides.

However if both play like they did in round one then the Tigers should come out with a win.