BY KELLY MASTERS
The team to take on Geelong in round eight has been announced, coming off the back of the 32-point loss to Williamstown at Piranha Park last Sunday.
The Seagulls were able to kick six opening goals in the first term to Coburg’s nil. The Lions responded after quarter time and were able to restrict the impact of the attacking Williamstown, but unfortunately, the Seagulls early foundation proved too costly. Addressing the issues of last week’s first quarter, the group are keen to rectify their starts this week.
As a club that is committed to providing opportunities and developing this young group, it is no shock we have our twelfth debutant of the 2019 season.
Jack Baker will be receiving the number 16 Guernsey from members of the leadership team on Saturday. Recruited from Canberra Demons, the 193cm played 30 games before injury put a hold on his stride. His exceptional form with Macleod in the Northern Football League has seen him earn the Coburg call-up.
Baker was a former member of the GWS Giants Canberra Academy where he was a Captain and has also represented the NSW/ACT Rams in the 2012 National Under 18 Championships.
With an impressive resume, Baker made a name for himself having played 15 games for Belconnen in the NEAFL and was part of the AFL Canberra competition in 2015.
Coburg’s 192cm midfielder, Mitch Podhajski, is Coming into this match after a confidence-boosting performance against Williamstown, which included sturdy ruck work. Podhajski finished with 19 disposals, 15 hit-outs, 13 kicks and a goal to become the deserving ‘Lion Of The Week’.
Luke Bunker appeared to have the ball on a string with 27 Disposals and nine tackles, Tyson Lever displayed how damaging he is as one of the most consistent players so far this season, and Billy Cannolo was Coburg’s only dual goal scorer down forward. Making noticeable impacts each week, we can expect to see these players take their games to the next level against the Cats.
Watkins, Bollinghaus, Reddick, McDonald, and Sandric make up the extended squad for Saturday. We could potentially see Watkins play his first VFL game for 2019, while Reddick and Bollinghaus are a chance of making their Coburg Football Club debut.
Neaves, M.Baker, Smith, Harman, O’Donoghue, Saad, Meagher, Whelan, Cavallaro, Di Lizio, McDonald, and Sandric, will all look to impress representing their local teams over the weekend.
Simington, Guthrie, Noonan, and Fry could all be back up for selection with the next two weeks, although at this stage Braedyn Gillard is still expected to be sidelined anywhere between 4-6 weeks with a Shoulder injury.
As the AFL mid-season draft will occur on Monday night, this could be the last time we see Sam Lowson, Lochie Dickson and potentially a few other high-profile teammates play in a Coburg guernsey.
This week Geelong are coming off a 7-point win at GMHBA Stadium against Collingwood. The Pies held the lead by three points at the main break; however, the Cats worked the game back into their hands, running away with the lead in the third term.
Zac Smith finished with 48 Hit outs and 21 Disposals, Scott Selwood laid 11 tackles while notching up 21 disposals, and Wylie Buzza couldn’t be contained down forward booting five goals and taking six marks in the Cats Victory.
Playing on Geelong’s home turf will be a challenge for the group, but nothing they are incapable of taking on. An AFL affiliated club will not intimidate these young Lions who do not lack any fight when it comes to crunch time.
We encourage our Lion faithful to make the trip down to Geelong to cheer on the red and blue as they take on the Cats at the Cattery.
The game is set to broadcast live on www.gofooty.live, from 2 pm at GMHBA stadium.
#WeAreCoburg
