Victory a tall order
A BATTLE of the giants will take place on Saturday as Grovedale attempts to break Leopold’s stranglehold on recent meetings.
Much will come down to the two biggest players on the field, with former AFL big men Ryan Abbott (Grovedale) and Trent West (Leopold) to meet in the middle.
The two ruckmen have been dominant so far this season, with both the best on field last week.
Abbott collected 17 disposals, seven marks, four clearan
ces and three goals against St Albans according to the TAC Stat Tracker.
Against Lara, West was dominant with 22 disposals, five marks and a goal.
Both performances drew praise from their respective
coaches, with Leopold mentor Jason Tom describing West’s effort as “massive”.
Both men are averaging more than 50 hitouts a game through the first three weeks of the season.
Meetings between the two
GFL clubs have been onesided in recent years, with the Lions winning the past eight by an average of 58.6 points, highlighted by a 122-point thumping in Round 4, 2019.
The last time the Tigers tasted a win over the Lions was in Round 2, 2016, in what was Leopold’s only loss of the home-and-away season as it marched to the premiership.
But it is Grovedale that has had the better start to the season, sitting 2-1 after three rounds with Leopold holding the inverse record.
Grovedale coach Daniel Fraser rated the game as a
“50-50” proposition. His Tigers are set to go in unchanged, with five — Chris Seymour, Cooper Whyte, Mitch Knevitt, Jak Tute and Tom Gillett — of the eight debutants so far this year named in the 22.
Leopold has made three changes, with Kieran Fulton and Jye Cross joining Mitch Patten on the sidelines after he was given a three-week ban for a hit on Lara’s Matt Spence.
Portland youngster Connor Giddings will make his Leopold debut while Max Ruiter and Louis Clifton have been called in for their first match of the season.