No room for QAFL cat naps at Salk Oval

Posted on Friday, 15th August, 2014

By Beth Newman

PALM BEACH v BROADBEACH

Forget September, QAFL finals start tomorrow for Broadbeach, Cats coach, Wayne Petterd says.

With the Cats facing Palm Beach and Labrador in the final two home and away rounds, there’s little room for error as they vie for a home final.

“We start our finals campaign now,” he said.

The Cats have learned from their Rd 8 drubbing at the hands of the Lions and with the weather looking ominous for the hard-running Cats, Petterd has opted for some bigger bodies.

Cats Captain, Matt Fife, returns to the side for the game, along with Southport’s Ben Wells, youngster James Holland and Matt Spencer.

“We’ve had opportunities to have a look at a lot of players at a senior level,” he said.

“They’ll give us a bit more maturity around the contest.”

Petterd said his side would look to increase its scoring potency tomorrow, after managing just the three goals against the Lions in their first match up.

Palm Beach feels the level at stake as well and in Matt Derrick’s 100^th game, there’s certainly no lack of motivation for them.

Dylan Troutman has been named in the team, in what would be his first match for the Lions since May, while Bryce Perry-Bolt is also likely to return, while Sam Haslem has been recalled to the Southport senior team.

Both Broadbeach and Palm Beach were slow to start in their previous match ups and the start will be crucial tomorrow.

MORNINGSIDE v UQ

UQ has another chance to measure its improvement in their clash with Morningside tomorrow.
The Red Lions have shown immense progress in the second half of the season and coach, Matt Stewart, said the Panthers game would allow them another chance to see that.

“Our second half of our season has been really important for us to play teams the second time around and measure ourselves,” he said.

“It’s been really important for re-evaluating ourselves.”

Stewart said contested football and strong defensive efforts would be crucial to the match.

“They are very good at contested football, so we need to make sure we win our possessions, contest the ball and stick our tackles,” he said.

UQ will be boosted by the return of Cain Tickner to their side, while Lewis Radford, Tim Davison will miss.

Morningside will be without one of its rudders in the match, with captain Paul Shelton out for the game.

Despite the absence of the Panthers co-captain, coach, David Lake, said the side was focused on continuing its unbeaten run.

“It’s about crossing (the t’s) and dotting (the I’s),”he said.

“We’ve achieved nothing yet.”

Josh Brown will come in for his 100^th game while Bill Pendlebury returns to the senior side after showing showing promising form in the reserves.

SANDGATE v MT GRAVATT

It’s a pretty simple equation for Mt Gravatt when they face Sandgate tomorrow, coach Brad Pollock says.

“Win and win well,” he said.

“Then we’ll almost book a spot in finals. That’s a pretty big incentive for the boys.”

Mt Gravatt sits a game clear in fifth spot, with a handy percentage gap, but a win this weekend would make them unassailable.

Pollock said the weather, with a high chance of heavy rain, could ultimately be the biggest determining factor in the match.

“It’s a bit of an unknown for us, it feels like it hasn’t rained in about two years,” he said.

“The opposition will be the same, though and I think there’s a self-motivating factor in that finals berth, so that’ll be enough.”

Troy Rogers and Sean Yoshiura will return to the Vultures’ side this weekend, a welcome injection of experience in a crunch game.

Sandgate has regrouped since the bye and produced a competitive effort against Palm Beach last weekend, and coach, Ian Carter, said ther were determined to finish 2014 off on a high.

“Our major focus is not just competing this week, we’re going in with the mindset that if we play for four quarters, (we can win),”he said.

Carter said the stability of the line-up this week, which is virtually unchanged, would help the hawks.

“To finally have a bit of continuity and have the majority of the same side certainly does help.”

WILSTON GRANGE v SURFERS

The odds are stacked against them, but Surfers Paradise is still holding hope of a 2014 finals berth, ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Grange.

Demons coach, Beau Zorko, admitted the chances were slim but his side would be doing everything to keep themselves in the running for fifth spot, with two games left.

“We know full well it’s not going to be easy in terms of making a finals appearance, but there’s still a chance,” he said.

“We won’t die wondering.”

“The last two weeks are all about reward for effort and we want to leave nothing in the tank.”

The Demons will bring some experience back into the side, with Jake Ryan in for his second game of the season as well as Southport-listed Nathan Kenny and John Macansh returning to the Demons team , with Regan Finlay, Patty Rankin and Regan Salter out.

“This is probably one of the better balanced sides we have, with a mix of hard-nosed experience…and some fire power up forward,” he said.

The Demons have ended Wilston Grange’s finals runs the past two years, winning consecutive elimination finals, and Wilston Grange playing coach, Matt Trewhella, said he’d be happy to return the favour this weekend.

“It’s been two years in a row for us (they’ve knocked us out),”he said.

“It’s a personal motivator for me and the boys are keen to have some control over who makes finals.”

Zach Templeton will debut for the Gorillas in the match, while Fletcher McIvor will play his first game in two months.

WESTERN MAGPIES v LABRADOR

Labrador coach, Steve Daniel, says his side will need to be switched on from the first bounce when they head to Chelmer on Sunday.

The Tigers’ finals spot its assured but Daniel said they would be wary of the Magpies who went within a kick of beating Broadbeach last week after a nine-goal first term.

“We need to be in the right frame of mind when we arrive there,” he said.

“They caught Broadbeach napping.

“We’re going to treat them with the respect they deserve.”

Dyson Budarick will play his first senior game after overcoming an ankle injury for the Tigers, while Jye Warren and Mick Abbey also come into the side, with Mark Collison and Jake Goldsmith back at Southport.

Buoyed by their impressive effort against the Cats last weekend, magpies coach, Glenn Humphrey was full of confidence ahead of their penultimate QAFL match.

“We’re all set to create a massive upset by knocking off Labrador,” he said.

“We’ve continued to focus on working together and our support for one another and that’s been a big change since the UQ game.”

Blaec Ablett, Tom Ielasi and Chris Judson will come into the Magpies side to face Labrador, with Matt Sondergeld (hamstring), Ben Landry (Redland) and Jake Fuentes out.

Humphrey said his side would be looking to emulate their fast start.

“We will be be looking to come out and hit them with everything we have right from the outset,” he said.

“We’ll put pressure around the stoppages and shut down their run.”

Read or print the Rd 17 Record here.

Michael Conlan – AFLQ CEO (48)