ROUND 13 of the AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division marks a weekend for all teams to work on their own performance, while also keeping an eye on other results as all matches have ladder implications for the fast-approaching finals series.

PENNANT HILLS DEMONS vs. PARRAMATTA GOANNAS
Saturday, July 13 @ 1:10pm
Mike Kenny Oval

Parramatta will go in as raging hot favourites, and can gain a significant gap on the chasing pack if results go its way. However, Pennant Hills will have some experience back en-masse after unavailability last round, and it will much much harder to go through the central defensive core.

The Bombers also should know how to stop or negate the influence of ex teammate Breanna Wade, who has been a key target up forward for the Goannas this year. One has to wonder what the drubbing the rest of the team received last week will have on overall team confidence… especially if the goals start piling on again.

The central play of the UTS Bats last round came straight out through the front of contests, and that is exactly what Amanda Farrugia and the midfielders need to work on to make sure they are competitive right at the top end. Parramatta by nine goals.

NORTH SHORE BOMBERS vs. EAST COAST EAGLES
Saturday, July 13 @ 1:10pm
Gore Hill Oval

It is the biggest test of the year for the Bombers, and what a huge result it could be if they could pull off the victory, giving them a finals opening mini-break. They will have one eye on the UTS result in the huge battle for fifth place and want to believe that they are heading towards finals and building, especially with a tight result against the other competition favourites Manly last week.

However, It is important to remember that that result came very much hampered by a huge mud pit in the middle, and so free flowing play was minimal and much easier to keep tight. In addition to that, the Eagles played the best football seen in AFL Sydney this year in the second half last week, playing exactly the type of football that is North Shore’s main weakness.

The linking play, line running, advantageous spillages and powerful finishing might just be too much, especially if the Eagles come out with the mindset and athletic running enthusiasm they were forced by UNSW to find, and if they come out straight from the jump.

Look out for the fast deck on the astroturf at Gore Hill Oval to lead to enormous pressure on the ball carrier from the Eagles, and if they can get centre clerances, then the match will really show where the two programs are at for the inside contested football game.

Look out if they switch from overall field spread positional containment positioning to getting Brooke Bailey, Caitlin Reid and Summer Hall into the centre from the first bounce. East Coast has nothing to lose and should show the Sydney footy landscape what they can do right from the start, not just in the second half. East Coast by over 50.

ST GEORGE DRAGONS vs. UNSW-ES BULLDOGS
Saturday, July 13 @ 2:30pm
Olds Park

The Dogs can still mathematically make finals if an extraordinary amount of things go their way, and it will have to be by a combination of winning every game from here on in, and a huge percentage boost at best. Depending on which set of players takes the field for the UNSW team, it could be a very long day for the Dragons.

The uplift shown by the Dogs last week was leaps and bounds above what they have been producing all year, and despite their major weakness of converting effort into points on the scoreboard, Olds Park could be raining goals on the weekend.

They have scored 11 points total in the last eight rounds of footy, and all of Sydney footy is urging them on to find the keys to offensive football at the level, both individually and as a whole unit. Watch out for UNSW ruck dominance early and St George will need to bring all of their offensive enthusiasm. The Bulldogs by around 10 goals.

SYDNEY UNIVERSITY vs. UTS BATS
Saturday, July 13 @ 3:25pm
Sydney Uni

The first major finals implication game of the year, and what a cracking and even matchup awaits. The Bats are in a major battle for fifth place and displayed a stunning result last week to rout Pennant Hills. Whilst the result displayed everything their coaches would have dreamed of, it is simply the defining factor in Sydney footy at the moment as to what each individual and team is able to do when faced with opposition pressure bearing down on them.

Last week they did almost as they pleased against the younger Pennant Hills Demons, however this week, on the tight spaces of Sydney Uni Oval, the Students will give no time, no space, and look to hurt them the other way with the footy, and that is UTS greatest weakness.

For the Students, their key is to never let the Bats get outside run on the periphery of the contests, and keep encouraging proactive play, not merely defensive sweeping. If they can find a way to also add burst running out of contests and go through the middle, it will stand them in good stead for this game and the big matchups to come.

Sydney Uni in a tight single-digit contest.