THE serious contenders for the SFNL seniors’ football and A Grade netball premierships are emerging just over the halfway point of the 18-round competitions.
Wentworth are the benchmark club in both football and netball, as both of their top-grade sides skate through the opening 10 rounds undefeated.
The formula for success is the same for both Roos teams.
They have strong depth, with an impressive blend of youth and inexperience, along with a consistently high quality of play.
And each has a marquee player in the form of their playing coaches, Wade Hancock and Amanda Edwards.
Hancock is the senior competition’s leading goalkicker with 50 majors in nine games, while Edwards is proving unstoppable in the circle.
She iced 40 of her team’s 56 goals in her team’s win against second-placed Mildura on Saturday.
However, this isn’t just the Hancock and Edwards show.
There’s a stellar support cast in both teams, with young talent coming to the fore.
The Roos’ two biggest rising stars, 14-year-old Sam Cumming and 16-year-old Tom Sapuppo, keep raising the bar each week.
It’s the same with the club’s A Grade netball team. There are any number of young stars shining under the tutelage of Edwards.
The Sharon Watson and Jess McNamara-coach Mildura Demons gave the Roos a good test on Saturday. But ultimately, the relentless nature of the Roos’ attacking forays wore down the Dees.
Sometimes you learn more about a team in a loss. McNamara conceded the Dees need to be fitter to beat the Roos.
If bookies were framing a premiership market for the seniors footy competition, Hancock’s men would be slightly odds-on favourites.
Sitting on the second line of betting would be Irymple, who will only get better when midfield gun Dan Coghlan returns from injury.
The second-placed Swallows cruised to a 108-point victory against South Mildura at the weekend.
Much like the Roos, they have great depth and a good balance of youth and experience.
Just behind the Swallows is Ouyen United, who had the bye on Saturday.
The third-placed Kangas will face a big test of how they’re placed heading into the finals when they travel to George Gordon Oval on Saturday.
It will be fascinating to see how they match up to the Roos this weekend, after getting hammered by 60 points in the sides’ round 2 clash.
The fourth and final spot to make post-season action looks a race between Merbein (5-4), Robinvale Euston (4-5) and Imperials (4-5).
The Eagles were favourites to beat the Magpies on Saturday, but they failed to produce the same excellent performance as they did the round before against the Roos.
At the bottom end of the table, Mildura (1-8) and South Mildura (0-9) will be fighting to avoid the wooden spoon.
