ANOTHER round and yet another COVID-19 curveball has been thrown at the VFL with situations in NSW and now Victoria forcing changes to be made. Elsewhere, state leagues will play out as per normal under minimal restrictions.

South Australia (SANFL):

A couple of big clashes to look forward to this weekend with the undefeated Glenelg looking to extend their winning run to 14 when third-placed South Adelaide come to town. The two teams last met in round seven at the Flinders University Stadium where Glenelg was too strong coming away with a 40-point win. Expect Tiger Liam McBean, who leads the league for most goals, to add to his tally, while Bryce Gibbs (South Adelaide) and Luke Partington (Glenelg) could have a nice duel in the centre as the second and third leading ball-winners across the comp.

Fourth-placed Norwood will take on second-placed Woodville-West Torrens at Coopers Stadium with a chance for the home side to draw level on points with the Eagles if they are to win. Both teams come in off a win last week against bottom five teams, but it will be the Redlegs who will need to come out firing after they lost to the Eagles back in Round 8 by 47 points.

In other matches, Adelaide will be looking to close the game between the top five and bottom five with an away victory over the fifth placed Roosters who have won three games on the trot. A key aspect for Adelaide will be trying to stop the likes of Lewis Hender, Dyson Hilder and even Lachie Wilsdon who kicked eight straight last week playing his first minutes up forward for the year.

Port Adelaide will be hoping Adelaide win, which would give them a chance to enter the top five provided they get the victory against bottom side West Adelaide, and ninth placed Central Districts will host seventh placed Sturt on Saturday.

Western Australia (WAFL):

With Round 15 getting underway and the top five separating themselves from the bottom five, it’s a big game for the likes of Peel Thunder and East Fremantle if they both want to narrow the points differential. Peel is hosting second placed Claremont on Sunday, and with the two teams matching up just over a month ago Peel will be confident of putting up a strong fight, having just lost the last game by seven points in Round 10.

East Fremantle meanwhile will take on fourth-placed West Perth who are looking to continue their four-game winning streak at home. Swan Districts and South Fremantle will do battle at Steel Blue Oval with both teams looking to hunt down the top two positions on the ladder. The Swans and the Bulldogs are both looking to make it a hat-trick of victories and this one could go down to the wire. Top of the table Subiaco will take on the struggling West Coast who have only won two games for the season, and a close game could be in the works with Perth and East Perth sitting eighth and ninth respectively facing off at Mineral Resources Park.

Tasmania (TSL):

Round 16 action features the top four teams all coming up against one another. The 12-1 league leaders Launceston will take on the Tigers on their home patch. Goal kicking spearhead Dylan Riley has kicked nine goals in two games this season against the Tigers and will be hunting another bag this weekend.

Clarence will be looking to replicate their round three result against North Launceston where they came away with a 11-point victory, before losing by 34-points when they played at UTAS stadium in Round 10. The Bombers sit one spot above Clarence on the ladder with two games separating them, so a win for the Roos is much needed.

Fifth and sixth placed teams Lauderdale and Glenorchy are playing each other at Lauderdale Oval on Saturday and it’s the home side who desperately need a win to try and make up an eight-point difference between the two teams.

Picture credit: Adam McFarlane