IT will be a classical eight point game in every sense of the word when fifth placed Koondrook-Barham hosts fourth placed Tooleybuc-Manangatang Saturday afternoon.
With reigning premiers NNW United finding form last weekend and breathing down their necks, the loser is likely to find themselves outside the top five come 5pm Saturday night.
With both clubs sitting on three wins from the first five rounds, there will be little margin for error Saturday afternoon, with Koondrook-Barham coach Marcus Demaria fully aware of how much is at stake for his side against the Saints.
“It’s a very important game in the context of the season for both both sides and will probably go a fair way towards the way the season pans out come the end of the year as well,” Demaria told The Guardian this week.
“It’s definitely an important game for us, we’ve seen gradual improvement every week and hopefully it’s the same again this week, I see some further improvement.
“Hopefully we can come away with a win, especially being at home in front of our supporters.”
It’s fair to say after a couple of seasons in the finals wilderness, both clubs are on an upward trend in 2025, with more than just bragging rights now at stake.
The Raiders will be without young guns Harry Bremner and Ryan Bassett, with the pair both on Bendigo Pioneers duties this weekend, while key defender Isaac Corvo is expected to miss with a hamstring strain.
While the home team will be far from full strength, it will be a similar story for the Saints, who will be missing league leading goal scorer Connor Nutting after straining his hamstring in his team’s 98-point win over Swan Hill last weekend.
The loss of Nutting will undoubtedly hurt Tooleybuc-Manangatang’s ability to kick a winning score, with Harry Maher likely to miss another couple of weeks with injury and Elliott Chalmers also in doubt to play.
The Saints’ ability to score and score quickly has been one of their great strengths, especially with Nutting kicking 22 goals for the season, but while his absence will leave a gaping hole in his team’s line-up, it’s in the midfield where Tooleybuc-Manangatang coach Brad Morris expects the game to be won and lost.
“The big focus is on the middle; you look at their (Koondrook-Barham) strengths and it’s with their midfield, I feel they have a couple of key onballers in there and we’re the same,” Morris said.
“We have a lot revolving around our midfield, we like to win the territory battle and get that initial drive out of there and service our forward line pretty well and they’re exactly the same.
“It’s going to be interesting with some of the head-to-head encounters in the middle and they will probably go a long way to determining the game.”
The midfield battle will certainly be an intriguing one, with both clubs possessing some high end talent in that critical area of the ground.
Benji Neal and Lee Dale have been revelations for the Raiders’ engine room since coming to the club this season, along with the returning Jack Thomas, with Patrick Goble and Jack Shannon elevating their games as a result both around the contest and across half back.
Tooleybuc-Manangatang have a similarly talented and deep midfield, with Josh Domaille rediscovering the form which made him one of the Central Murray’s most impactful onballers two years ago.
Blake Grant is another key player for the Saints, as is Sebastian Rogers, with talented youngsters Rylee Taylor, Rydar Morris and Julian Muir providing plenty of run and carry off the wings and up forward.
The other key focus for the visitors will be who gets the job of quelling key forwards Kye Attwell and Kyall Parker, with both players capable of turning a game on its head with a quarter of brilliance.
Similarly, Tooleybuc-Manangatang ruckman Connor Mcdonald potentially holds the key for both teams success, with Mcdonald a key factor in the Saints’ ability to get first use around the contest.
Demaria knows that while he needs a big contribution from his stars, that is not what is going to determine the result, with the Raiders coach hoping to see an even contribution across the board Saturday afternoon.
“I guess for us, it’s just improving all aspects of our game even though we know it’s not going to happen all at once,” Demaria said.
“It’s about gradual improvement in terms of our offense and defensive structures and then getting that extra 10 to 15 percent out of our local lads, because we’ve been relying on too few.
“In the second half (last week), I questioned a few guys to ensure that they stepped up and I challenged them a little bit and they did.
“So as long as we get that sort of output from our fringe players, we can do anything.
“It feels like they (Tooleybuc-Manangatang) rely heavily on 10 or so players, where as we need to make sure that we’re getting output from our whole 22 players for us to be competitive.
“I think if we can get contribution from our 22 then we give ourselves every chance of winning.”
Tip – Koondrook-Barham by two points.
KEY MATCH-UP
Jacob Barrington v Connor Mcdonald
IT’S fair to say Raiders big man Jacob Barrington is going to be in for a big afternoon on Saturday.
While Barrington is a strong competitor and a very good tap ruckman in his own right, he’s going to need to be at his absolute best if he is going to nullify the influence of the joint reigning Jack Betts medallist Connor Mcdonald.
Mcdonald has started this season as he finished last, as the Central Murray’s most dominant big man, and if Koondrook-Barham are to stop his impact on the game, it might mean throwing Reagan Hamilton onto the Saints’ big man to try and double team him.
THE BURNING QUESTION
How can Tooleybuc-Manangatang replace Connor Nutting in the short term?
IT’S hard to replace somebody who has kicked 22 goals in just four games, especially when it’s a player as dynamic as Nutting.
While they may not have another player that plays in the same way, they do have somebody capable of kicking a large bag of goals – and he’s playing across half back.
Josh Williams has been in sensational touch since his move to the Saints’ defence this season and is a key reason why they have started the season with three wins from four matches.
But with Nutting out of the team, it might be time to return the 2023 league goal kicking runner up to the goal square – at least for one week.
