JUST past the halfway mark of the season a few opportunities to separate from the pack were missed over the weekend, in particular by Mildura and Merbein.
Coming into this time of the year, few would have been brave enough to have Imperials on top of the ladder in their pre-season predictions. However Imperials have well and truly earnt the spot of a flag favourite right now among pundits. With the inclusions of A graders in Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Aaron Laskey, Bryce Hards and Ryley Buntain and the return of home-grown stars Matthew Mazzini and Ben Galbraith they have bolstered a formidable line-up across the ground.
Not only is it these players who have improved this team, it is also the improvement in players such as Jayden Fox, Will O’Donnell and Reagan Scott that has made a huge difference to Imperials’ fortunes this year. Over the weekend a hard-fought win over Mildura was a sign of the maturity in this team in being able to hold out quality opposition in a tight game.
Wentworth and Irymple were both early predictions coming into the season to be around the mark come finals time and both have shown that to be the case after 10 rounds.
Irymple, while they have been a little up and down with their results, they seem to be getting quite a strong rhythm going right now and with a massive statement made over Robinvale Euston at the weekend they are going to be very hard to contain in the back half of the season.
Their coach Jake Thrum came with plenty of credentials and he has certainly shown that in spades. It is his goalkicking that sets him apart and makes him incredibly hard to match up. The usual suspects Dan Coghlan, Zac Wandin and Nick Mee continue to do their thing each week.
There are also youngsters in Alex Hollingworth, Kade Baynes and Riley Ward who are now stepping up each week by having very consistent seasons themselves.
Wentworth didn’t have much noise around them coming into the season, which is exactly how new coach and ex-AFL star Ben McGlynn would have wanted it. McGlynn is a no-nonsense type of person and certainly won’t want much noise to come out of the club and put unwanted attention and expectation on his group.
Jarrod Brander, while having a serious knee concern this season, is still a class above most in the league and is currently a top contender to take out the Tommy Bland Medal as the league’s leading goalkicker. Throw in the likes of Jack Cottrell, back this season from West Adelaide, Andy Wall, Nick Jensen and Wade Hancock, and they have a leadership group more than strong enough to lead a talented young squad with the likes of Tom Sapuppo, Zavier Littore, Tristan Parker and more in the right direction.
Mildura are in an interesting position. They right now are going through a battle just to keep their key players on the park with injuries seemingly coming week after week for the Demons. This is why the game on the weekend against Imps was so impressive.
My advice is do not write off this team just yet as come the back end of the season they will hopefully have a fit and healthy list while having their youngsters gain valuable experience at this time of the year by holding the fort until key troops come back.
Robinvale Euston are in the same position. Injuries to key stars such as Isaac Corvo, Benji Neal and Ethan Gill are not making life as easy as last season. However, with names including skipper Braidyn Turner, club favourites Justin Neyland and Jakob Garreffa still in form and the mosquito fleet of Dion Camera, James Zappia and Joseph Mezzatesta having great seasons themselves, it is only a matter of time before things start to click consistently for the Eagles to make a late push.
In the bottom half of the comp, sides such as Merbein, Red Cliffs, South Mildura and Ouyen United seem to be still a little way off making any real push for the finals this year. The most likely of these clubs to sneak into the top five is Merbein, however the shock loss to South Mildura on Saturday would have absolutely devastated their fan base as this is a loss they would not have seen coming.
My prediction for the second half of the season is that the top five remains the same. I think the order, on the other hand, still changes.
Imps, while they have weapons all over the ground, need to stay fit and healthy as they have very limited depth to rely on should a number of players go down.
Irymple will only get stronger. Their depth is the main key they have. Should they get injuries, it is their production-like process that will have them move in the right direction.
Mildura and Robinvale Euston will be competitive inside the top five, however my flag favourite right now has to be Wentworth.
