TWO sides who will be keen to get a win on the board play in the second match of a double-header at RSEA Park on Sunday. After South Australia and Vic Metro battle it out for essentially the title, Vic Country and Western Australia will search for their first win of the series, both desperate to not go through the carnival winless.

DETAILS

Sunday, August 11 @ 12:45pm AEST
RSEA Park
Live streamed via afl.com.au

STATE OF PLAY

Both these sides have stiff draws throughout the national carnival this year, playing the three major title contending teams between them. Both sides had to face Queensland and lost, with Vic Country also going down in an all-Victorian clash to their Metro counterparts, while Western Australia has reigning back-to-back champions South Australia coming up in the final game of the national carnival on August 24.

CHANGES

The home side has rolled out the changes bringing back a trio of talls as well as a couple of runners who played in game one for the match. First round prospect Elli Symonds plays her first national carnival game of the year after a delayed start to the season and a trio of Talent League Girls games in the process. Millie Lang comes into the defence after missing game two, while Sienna Hobbs will be a ruck/forward option for Country, essentially coming in with Symonds to replace Gippsland Power’s Zahri Burn.

GWV Rebels’ Olivia Wolter and Bendigo Pioneers’ Lavinia Cox are the other inclusions for Vic Country, with Geelong Falcons duo Rebecca Clottey and Stella Huxtable rotated out of the squad. The latter is a bottom-ager as is Ella Stoddart who is rested alongside Stingrays’ Makhaela Bluhm.

Western Australia on the other hand has made just the two changes, with a host of injuries at the top-end making team selection a little trickier. South Fremantle tall Alira Fotu sat out most of the game after a first quarter knock last week, with Grace Freeman who finished the game after a knock herself the other omission. Layla Firns and Jasmine Bazeley come into the side to provide some more running.

ONES TO WATCH

The midfield is where the star-studded class rises to the top with a stack of AFLW Academy members on both sides. Potential pick one Ash Centra joins fellow top 10 talents Lou Painter and Sara Howley, set to go up against their Sandgroper peers in Zippy Fish and Molly O’Hehir who are both at the pointy end of draft boards. Big improver Lily Paterson had the most touches last week for the Sandgropers and will be equally crucial at the coalface for the visitors.

Vic Country has the upper hand in the ruck with AFLW Academy members Symonds and Zoe Besanko there. Though undersized compared to Kate Newson, the pair are as athletic as talls come and will work over the West Australian combinations around the ground. The Sandgropers do have dangerous forwards who can do serious damage in Olivia Wolmarans and Alicia Blizard who present different challenges compared to other opponents thus far in the national carnival.

The likes of Lang and Sasha Pearce are outstanding in the air and should match them in that regard, but will need to be switched on once the ball hits the deck where the bottom-age duo can really dominate. Likewise up the other end, Vic Country has some contested marking talls in Claire Mahony and Alexis Gregor, with tenacious smalls such as Kayla Dalgleish and Seisia White at their feet.

Western Australia’s defence is arguably it’s deepest line and most rock solid, with East Fremantle trio Taya Chambers, Natasha Entwistle and Tiani Teakle all able to shut down opponents while providing run and carry, with Evie Cowcher a constant intercept marking option. The side’s X-Factor could be small forward Noa McNaughton, while Jemma Reynolds up the other end is dangerous at half-forward and through the midfield.

PREDICTION

Vic Country is closer to full-strength considering the injuries Western Australia takes on the road, though the game looms as the most winnable for both sides considering their tough fixtures. Country will not want to finish the national championships as the only winless side, so a victory is crucial to avoid that. The Sandgropers however know South Australia is next up, so their best chance of avoiding the same fate would be to win on the weekend. Vic Country by 15 points.