NEAFL Eastern Preview: Round 5

By Ryan Cropp and Matthew Rossleigh

Sydney Swans Reserves vs Sydney Hills Eagles

Top of the table Sydney Swans Reserves take on cross-city rivals Hills Eagles in the curtain raiser to the Sydney-Geelong AFL clash at the SCG on Friday night.  

The Eagles will have to be at their best to match it with the high flying Swans, who are fresh from a 196-point thrashing of Tuggeranong. 

The Swans will lose forward Mitch Morton to their AFL side after his 11 goal haul in round 4, but Tommy Walsh and Jed Lamb will still be out there to put pressure on the Eagle’s back six. 

The Eagles are coming off a narrow 16-point loss against Northern Conference powerhouse  Southport and will take heart from an incredible seven-goal third quarter that showed what a potent attacking force they will be this season. 

They will need to work on playing out the full four quarters if they are to match it with a Swans side that has kicked 68 goals in the opening three games.  

The Eagles were competitive when the two sides met in pre-season a month ago, and with three competitive games under their belts they will be pumped up for this contest.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, as with previous years the Swans look near unstoppable and it will take an effort the ilk of the past two Eastern Conference Finals to get the win here.

Prediction: Swans by 35

Queanbeyan Tigers vs Aspley Hornets

Click here to view the Team Sheets for the game.

Queanbeyan welcome Aspley Hornets to Dairy Farmers Park on Saturday. 

The Tigers produced an impressive 93-point win over Eastlake in their Round 3, and will be jumping out of their skin after a win in the Foxtel Cup Qualifier against the NT Thunder.

Along with the Swans, the Tigers are the only other Eastern Conference side with a perfect record after four rounds. 

The Tigers have suffered a massive blow losing Beau Walker, who went down with an ankle injury in their Foxtel Cup match last weekend. The Tigers will also be without power forward James Kavanagh, which diminishes their forward potency. Look for their midfielders to fill the void and hit the scoreboard in his absence. 

Their Northern Conference opponents Aspley will be full of enthusiasm following their heart stopping last-minute win over Broadbeach last week.  

Former Brisbane Lion Nathan Clarke kicked the winning goal with just 80 seconds remaining after his side had trailed on the scoreboard from opening bounce.  

The Tigers will need to be on their game right until the final siren if they are to see off the determined Hornets side. 

Prediction: Queanbeyan by 5

Morningside Panthers vs. Sydney University

Sydney University will travel to Queensland to face a Morningside outfit that have suffered just one loss from their first four games. 

The Students are winless so far this season but in the past fortnight have shown improvement with competitive losses to Hills Eagles and Eastlake. 

Tim Barrett will be the man to look for in the Sydney University line-up after kicking six goals in his last two games. Despite missing out last week, Adam Campbell had kicked 10 goals in the previous fortnight and will be a threat if he plays.  

Much will depend on how the team goes travelling up to Queensland for the first time this season for the 1pm Saturday afternoon bounce.

Morningside have played all of their games in Queensland to start the season except one – an impressive 35-point victory over Ainslie a fortnight ago. 

The club’s single loss to date was in round two, going down to Brisbane Lions reserves who have been the standout team in the Northern Conference.  

Morningside have spread the scoring around this season, and their forward line has been kicking goals consistently. The ones to look out for are Kent Abey (11 goals this season) and Matthew Logan (8 goals).

In this case the home ground advantage and the added travel may just prove to be a little much for the Student to conquer.

Prediction: Morningside by 24

Belconnen vs UWS GIANTS

Click here to view the Team Sheets for the game.

UWS GIANTS travel to the ACT on Sunday morning to face Belconnen, who will be fresh coming off the bye last weekend. 

After two losses in a row to start the season the GIANTS had a breakout 13-goal victory last weekend against Ainslie.   

The club suffered a heavy loss in Queensland to the Brisbane Lions reserves the week before, but in the opening match of the season went down by just 5 points to the Sydney Swans reserves.

Setanta O’Hailpin will miss this match after being named at full-forward in the AFL side, but former Carlton big man Brett Thornton will fill the gap at centre half forward, with Adam Tomlinson backing up from a solid effort last week to play at full forward. 

Their opponents, Belconnen, have two wins from the first three matches, with big wins over Tuggeranong and Sydney University after a heavy loss to Eastlake in the opening match of the season. 

Shane Harris will be out after injuring his knee in round three, so the Belconnen forward half will be slightly lacking in potency. 

Their back six will have their hands full, but expect Matt Lokan and Lexie Bennett to relish the contest against the Giants strong tall targets. 

Expect a tight contest, however if the GIANTS can replicate the form they found in Wagga they will be extremely hard to stop.

Prediction: Giants by 15

Ainslie – BYE

Eastlake – BYE

Tuggeranong – BYE