Jack Kovacic
Port Melbourne has won just one of their past four so with their place in the finals on the line, expect a fired out Borough’s outfit on Saturday. Coburg will be full of confidence after picking up six points from its last two games and will also be eager to have an impact on the finals race and cause an upset away from home.
The Lions got their first win of the season after putting together a four quarter performance which they have struggled with throughout the season so far. The goal for the rest of the season will be to replicate this, with applying pressure to the opposition and limiting their own turnovers big focuses. Ben Allan, Luke Bunker (suspended this week) and Marcus Lentini all had strong games in a midfield which has improved as the season has gone on.
This midfield will have another tough challenge this week coming up against the likes of Isaac Conway and Shannen Lange who are both in good from and will need to be paid close attention to.
Peter McEvoy, Sam Lowson and Hish Kerbatieh have all played their roles inside forward 50 in recent weeks and coach Leigh Adams will be hoping for more of the same against Port Melbourne. The trio has kicked 12 goals between them over the past two games as well as setting up many goals for their teammates.
It will be interesting to see which Coburg defender is given the task of stopping Port Melbourne captain Jordan Lisle. Lisle was the VFL’s leading goalkicker last season and looks set to win that honour again this year having kicked 33 goals in 13 outings. 19 year old Harry Nolan could be given the big job on Lisle after impressing so far in his debut season.
You can see the Lions in action at North Port Oval this Saturday, with the first bounce at 1:30!
Teams
Coburg
B: #9 N.Blair #43 H.Nolan #2 J.Corigliano
HB: #23 J.McDonald #17 L.Dickson #5 R.Exon
C: #37 J.Murphy #33 J.Weightman #36 J.Guthrie
HF: #32 B.Cannolo #12. P.McEvoy #1 B.Allan
F: #3 H.Kerbatieh #18.S.Lowson #20 M.Conn
R: #29 T.Goodwin #8 N.Mellington #42 M.Lentini
23rd man: #24 B.Bernacki
Int: #15 J.Iacobaccio, #30 J.O’Donoghue, #16 J.Fox, #41 M.Kovacevic, #13 T.Condon, #45 J.Sandric, #48 S.Binion, #26. L.Watkins
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne
B: 15. D. Beddison, 21. L. Cook, 3. L. Tynan
HB: 8. D. Van Unen, 48. R. Pendlebury, 22. D. Viojo-Rainbow
C: 9. A. Krakauer, 4. T. O’Sullivan, 18. M. Wooffindin
HF: 5. S. Lange, 7. D. Conway, 28. R. Nahas
F: 11. B. Lloyd, 6. J. Lisle, 32. B. Pearson
R: 2. K. Haretuku, 1. M. Rivett, 35. E. Templeton
Int: 19. A. Anastasio, 13. C. Carey, 20. G. Dickson, 24. M. Hayes, 25. T. Hobbs, 26. A. Spencer, 36. L. Waddell, 29. C. Walker
23P: 16. C. Searle