AND the big question this week is: can the nominally second-best team in the league knock off the CFMNL’s unbeaten ladder leaders?
On paper, perhaps. On turf, maybe not so much.
The Mallee Eagles get to host Woorinen at Lalbert Recreation Reserve and that’s got to help, but the red-hot Tigers don’t seem to be in any mood to skip a beat on their way to a potentially fourth flag.
Prior to the interleague break, both sides racked up impressive victories.
The Eagles topped Tooleybuc-Manangatang by 11 goals while the Tigers dished out a 121-point football lesson to battling Balranald.
So, that tells the average punter basically nothing, but the first meeting between the sides this year makes the picture a wee bit clearer.
In round four, out at Woorinen, the hosts jumped out to an early lead which was hauled back to five points at halftime before the Tiges roared back again to claim a 17-point victory.
Henry Thompson, Jose Miliado, Lachlan and Matthew Gardner and Robert Rush numbered among the black and gold’s best that day while the McGregor clan, which includes Harry and Tom, Harrison Allen, Isaiah Bull and Brent MacLeod rose to the occasion for the Eagles.
They will all be called upon this weekend in a clash which will go some way into deciding whether Woorinen are runaway premiership favourites or that the Eagles are legitimate title contenders and a notch above Cohuna and Nyah Nyah West United, who lurk a game behind them on the table.
Tip: Woorinen by 19 points.
