Round 8 NEAFL Preview

By Matt Rossleigh

Hills Eagles vs Eastlake – 2pm Saturday 11 May Bruce Purser Reserve

Coming off the bye Hills Eagles will be looking for its third win of the season when it hosts Eastlake on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles’ two wins of the season both came against Sydney University while Eastlake’s two wins came in round one and four against Belconnen and Sydney University respectively. In the team’s last outing, Jamie Vlatko once again starred for the Eagles as he kicked five goals in the 18-point win over Sydney University. That takes Vlatko’s tally to 20 goals so far this season, averaging four goals per game. Last time out Eastlake suffered a heartbreaking seven-point loss to Ainslie, but the performance of Samuel Mardling will give the team confidence after he kicked a five-goal haul for the second time this season.

Ainslie vs Queanbeyan – 2pm Saturday 11 May Ainslie Football Park

Ainslie returns home after a seven-point victory over Eastlake last weekend. The win was the club’s third win from six matches so far, and the second in a row. Queanbeyan is coming off a disappointing 63-point loss at Belconnen last week, but it was the club’s first loss of the season and the Tigers still sit on top of the NEAFL Eastern Conference. Josh Bennett wil be the one to look out for from Ainslie despite having a quiet game last weekend and kicking just two goals. Those two goals take Bennett’s tally for the season to 27 from six matches. James Kavanagh once again starred for Queanbeyan last weekend, kicking five goals against Belconnen and taking his total to 23 in just four matches.

UWS GIANTS vs Sydney Swans – 9.30am Sunday 12 May Blacktown International Sports Park

The two AFL clubs will meet for the second time this season with the GIANTS looking for revenge after suffering a five-point loss to the Swans at ANZ Stadium in March. The Swans reserves suffered their first loss of the season last week despite leading for three quarters against the Brisbane Lions and Mitch Morton kicking five goals in the 23-point loss. The forward has now kicked 23 goals in his four matches for the reserves this season. The GIANTS return from a weekend off in round seven and the week before had a 91-point victory over Eastlake. Their two losses for the season so far have come against AFL opposition in the Swans and Lions.

Tuggeranong vs Sydney University – 11.45am Sunday 12 May Greenway Oval

In the final game of the round Tuggeranong will be looking to win back to back matches for the first time this season, after a four-point win over Mt Gravatt last weekend. They face a Sydney University team which is the only side not to win a game so far this season but came close in round six in the 18-point loss to Hills Eagles. Sydney Uni is coming off the bye last weekend but will have another chance to post its first victory of the season against a club which has just two wins from the opening seven rounds.