The match of the round will be on Bellevue Oval in Armidale. The New England Nomads are hosting the Narrabri Eagles and the winner of this game will join the Kangaroos at the top of the ladder. The Nomads will be missing a few of their stars due to Uni Holidays but being at home it should not worry them too much. Nomads Coach, Brendan Meehan, has his team firing on all cylinders right now after their unexpected loss to the Eagles in round one. They will also want to win this to give both these teams a 1-1 result going into finals. Talking of finals it is a pretty safe bet that both these teams will play finals and could quite easily play each other in the first week so both will be fighting hard to get on top of the other on the ladder. The Eagles have been a breath of fresh air for the EETAFL this year. They will play finals for the first time in their history and considering this is only their second season back in the competition after two years in hibernation it is a big effort. They should have boom recruit Tim Cooper back in their side for this game and he could be the difference here. Coach Phil Dennis has also been a huge plus for them since he came on board last year. Dennis has the Eagles combining well and they are sticking to his game plana
Prediction: Only because the Nomads don't have to travel they will win by 15 points.
Down at the Cattery the Muswellbrook Cats will be waiting for the Inverell Saints with just a hint of excitement. The first encounter between these 2 teams this year saw the Saints win by 99 points in Inverell. The result didn't show the Cats endeavour and willingness to stick to their game plan under returning Coach Bryce O'Connor. The Saints have welcomed back some old hard nuts in the last couple of weeks and with the return of Mick Corcoran, home on school holidays, they are starting to look like the Saints of years past. The big question is will those players be prepared to travel the 11-12 hour round trip to Muswellbrook. One that will be chomping at the bit to go will be Corcoran before he goes back to school. Corcoran was great in Narrabri 2 weeks ago and outstanding last week against the Bulldogs. Last week I thought the Cats were a good thing against the Eagles down at the Cattery. After beating the Swans and pushing the Bulldogs at the Kennel they would feel that they let one slip last week. There a couple of things going against the Cats here, firstly it has been 5 plus years since they have beaten the Saints. Secondly with only one win from their last 51 games do they know how to win?
Prediction: If the Cats had won last week against the Eagles I would have picked them. So the Saints will win a tight game by 8 points.
The last game at the Kennel in Gunnedah sees the Bulldogs taking on the Tamworth Swans. In the first game between these two the Bulldogs stunned the EETAFL with a comprehensive 10 goal win. The Swans were expected to do well this year and the Bulldogs were expected to struggle. Well I got that one wrong and I am now firmly onboard the Bulldogs bandwagon to make the finals this year. I was very impressed with their game in Inverell last week. Considering they only had 15 players and they played all bar 10 minutes of the game with one less player on the ground then the Saints shows that their Coach Peter Chapman has his men all playing for each other. And it feels like they will be very hard to beat at the Kennel. If they win this game then it is curtains for the Swans as they will open up a 3 game break between them and the Swans on the ladder. Then it is a case of can they get to fourth place and host their first ever home final. The Swans will be very disappointed with their season thus far. They are a proud mob and will be very keen to try and upset a few teams above them before the end of the season. And that should be their goal for the rest of the season and try to influence the finals in that way rather than thinking they can make the finals.
Prediction: The Bulldogs will gain players since they are at the Kennel and they will prove that the 10 goal win in the first round was no fluke and they will repeat that effort.
Last Modified on 29/06/2011 20:25