VFL & TAC Cup Finals Week 1 Qualifying & Elimination Finals 3 – 4 September 2016 $3.00 Photo: Dave Savell Prime time of the season What a thrilling finale to the home-and-away season of the Peter Jackson VFL we witnessed last weekend. The minor premiership changed hands in the final round with the Casey Scorpions claiming that honour from Collingwood, while Footscray jumped into the double- chance position and Essendon produced a victory to leave Richmond in ninth. This weekend being AFL-free, we look forward to a bumper opening to the VFL Legendairy Finals Series, with Dairy Australia once again supporting the business end of the season at IKON Park, Casey Fields and North Port Oval. The TAC Cup finals also get underway, with supporters able to witness the next crop of elite U18 talent showcase their wares at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday and IKON Park on Sunday. Sunday night will be an historic moment in the TAC Cup’s 25-year history, with the final rankings for the TAC Cup Top 25 players of all time to be announced. It is pleasing to have so many of the nominated 25 players – current and former AFL stars – attending Morrish Medal night when the announcement will be made. For those not lucky enough to secure an invitation, you can be part of the night via our live video stream on taccup.com.au. Good luck to all clubs participating in finals, as well as the off icials that have been rewarded for consistent form throughout the season and will be umpiring our games across each competition. Finally, the end of the VFL season was not a happy one for the Frankston Football Club, which has gone into voluntary administration. AFL Victoria has been briefed regarding the club’s current financial situation and we will work with them through this process to help them move forward. Frankston has made a positive step in addressing its current circumstances, with the future of the club a key priority in their move to hand over to administrators. Steven Reaper AFL Victoria CEO Contents Who’s playing who 4 5 VFL Finals Week 1 preview 34 35 Casey Scorpions vs Footscray 6 7 The VFL’s beaten brigade 36 37 Collingwood vs Williamstown 8 9 VFL weekly content 38 39 Geelong vs Essendon 11 VFL Women’s 40 41 Port Melbourne vs Sandringham 12 13 TAC Cup Finals Week 1 preview 15 Morrish Medal preview Dev League 42 Box Hill Hawks vs Casey Scorpions 16 17 TAC Cup weekly content 43 Port Melbourne vs Williamstown 19 Stats Central 20 AFL Vic News 48 49 Oakleigh vs Calder 21 The Big League 50 51 Geelong vs North Ballarat 56 Quiz 52 53 Sandringham vs Eastern 54 55 Dandenong vs Murray Editor: Ben Pollard [email protected] Contributors: Anthony Stanguts, Kirstie Fitzgerald, Callum O’Connor Design & Print: Rainbow Graphics Photos: AFL Photos (unless otherwise credited) Ikon Park, Gate 3, Royal Parade, Carlton Nth, VIC 3054 Advertising: Rosanna Butler (03) 8341 6021 GPO Box 4337, Melbourne, VIC 3001 Cover: Representatives from the 2016 TAC Cup and VFL minor Phone: (03) 8341 6000 | Fax: (03) 9380 1076 premiership teams: Hunter Clark of the Dandenong Stingrays www.aflvic.com.au (left ) and Jack Hutchins of the Casey Scorpions www.taccup.com.au 1 Television Online VFL Online Website: www.vfl.com.au Twitter: @VFL #PJVFL #VFLWomens Saturday September 3: Geelong v Essendon Facebook: www.facebook.com/vflfooty Sunday September 4: Port Melbourne v Sandringham TAC Cup Online Join the team from 2:30pm. Website: www.taccup.com.au Download the PLUS7 Live app to watch games live or for Twitter: @TACCup #TACCup replays visit: au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7/vfl Facebook: www.facebook.com/taccupfooty Channel 7 will broadcast a Saturday and Sunday final for the first three weeks of finals, then the Grand Final Instagram: @aflvictoria on Sunday September 25. Radio L VFL Live Saturday September 3: Collingwood v Williamstown from 1.45pm I Sunday September 4: Port Melbourne v Sandringham from 2.30pm V Live on Aussie digital, the Red Time Sport iPhone and Android apps, E plus online via vfl.com.au Next week: Semi Finals Casey Radio Saturday September 3: Casey Scorpions v Footscray from 1pm Listen to 97.7FM in Melbourne, online at www.caseyradio.com.au or on the Tune In Radio app on your smart phone. R A TAC Cup Radio D September 3 and 4: ALL TAC Cup Finals I Listen live on the Red Time Sport iPhone app or via taccup.com.au O Girls Play Footy Radio Next game: St Kilda v Melbourne Uni (Sunday September 11) VFL Women’s Game of the Week streamed live via GirlsPlayFooty.com - accessible on your mobile or tablet by downloading the ‘Tune in’ App and searching for ‘Girls Play Footy’. Live at the ground on 89.1 FM. Video Streaming Visit taccup.com.au to watch a live broadcast of the 2016 Morrish Medal from 6.45pm on Sunday September 4. The next video streaming game will be: Sunday September 18: Swisse VFL Women’s Grand Final, 2.30pm Visit vfl.com.au under the MEDIA tab to watch a full list of VFL and VFL Women’s replays from season 2016. 2 www.vfl.com.au 2016 Peter Jackson VFL minor premiers: Casey Scorpions 2016 TAC Cup minor premiers: Dandenong Stingrays www.taccup.com.au 3 Peter Jackson VFL Legendairy Finals Week 1 preview Footscray’s Mitch Hannan 2nd QUALIFYING FINAL Collingwood (2nd) vs Williamstown (3rd) Saturday September 3, 2.00pm, IKON Park The big birds of the competition will be preparing for a battle royal at the contests in this one. The Magpies and Seagulls are in the VFL’s upper echelon for contested possessions and clearances per game, with Williamstown’s midfield brigade of captain Ben Jolley, Michael Gibbons and Willie Wheeler – served by dominant ruckman Nick Meese – part of the league’s no.1 team in those departments. In the teams’ only meeting of 2016 in Round 7, Collingwood eff ectively matched the Seagulls in the contests and walked away with a five-point triumph at the Holden Centre. Skipper Jack Hellier, along with AFL-listers Brent Macaff er, Matthew Goodyear and ruckman Jarrod Witts, broke even with Williamstown’s star quartet and helped Travis Cloke boot four goals. Cloke will be absent this week though, and the Magpies will need to find scoreboard contributions from unheralded forwards like Gus Borthwick, Jordan Collopy and Lachlan Ferguson to counter the potency of Williamstown goalkickers such as Dylan Conway, Ayce Cordy and Sam Dunell. Last week’s return from serious injury of Collingwood tall forward Michael Still will help, but his opportunities will depend on what happens in the middle. 1st QUALIFYING FINAL Williamstown’s Sam Dunell Casey Scorpions (1st) vs Footscray (4th) Saturday September 3, 2.00pm, Casey Fields The Scorpions enter this clash having lost their last 11 finals – including four straight-sets exits – since winning an elimination final in 2008. Adding to nerves will be the fact the club’s four losses in 2016 have come at the hands of the teams placed second to fift h, including a defeat to Footscray in Round 15 at VU Whitten Oval. That day, the Bulldogs came from 30 points down at the last break with a strong wind to pip Casey by a point. They conceded plenty of possession to their opponents but laid 36 more tackles to keep prolific Scorpions Alex Neal-Bullen, Jack Trengove and Viv Michie panicked. Casey loves to handball through traff ic and sweep the ball forward to goalkickers Liam Hulett, Tim Smith and Sam Weideman, and the Bulldogs will again need pressure kings like Mitch Honeychurch, Liam Nash and Jordan Russell to bring the heat. On the other side of the ball, Footscray has struggled with conversion in attack this year and will need to manufacture goals from a mobile forward group containing mid-sized options such as Bailey Dale, Nick Jamieson and Mitch Hannan. 4 www.vfl.com.au Essendon’s Nash Holmes 2nd ELIMINATION FINAL Port Melbourne (6th) vs Sandringham (7th) Sunday September 4, 2.40pm, North Port Oval This match will be a contrast in styles between two teams currently lacking their best form. Port has lost to contenders Williamstown, Collingwood and Geelong in its last five games, while the Zebras have dropped six of their last seven. The first of those losses was to the Borough by 22 points at Trevor Barker Beach Oval in Round 15 when Port shocked Sandringham with a nine- goal-to-two first quarter. The Borough had a clear edge in the middle that day, dominating contested possessions and clearances on the back of hard-nuts Tom O’Sullivan, Toby Pinwill and Matt Arnot. The Zebras have the likes of Myke Cook and Kade Answerth to provide resistance at the coalface, but their strength instead lies in the ability of players such as Eli Templeton and Elliot Le Grice to regularly hit targets by foot and set up easy shots on goal for their forwards. Meanwhile, the Borough’s disposal eff iciency ranks second-last in the VFL, highlighting the importance of the skilful Damian Mascitti. His teammates can sure win the ball, but can they then use it to good eff ect? 1st ELIMINATION FINAL Geelong (5th) vs Essendon (8th) Saturday September 3, 2.40pm, North Port Oval The Cats will take heart from when they last met Essendon in Round 16 and won by 78 points at Simonds Stadium.