SEVEN sides started the 2021/22 M-League Men’s Premier Division season, and just two remain, with St Therese and Netblacks to battle it out for glory tonight. We take a look at the clash, with the first centre pass from 8pm, and a contest not to be missed.

[1] St Therese vs. [2] Netblacks – Court 1 @ 8:00pm

Two sides that have been the most consistent all year in the VMMNA Men’s Premier Division face off, with St Therese taking on Netblacks. Each team has only dropped the one game all season with Netblacks sole blemish coming way back in Round 4 against St Therese, whilst the understrength top of the table side went down to City Heat in the penultimate round of the regular season, before bouncing back to defeat the Heat in the semi-finals. Netblacks have not played an opponent other than Seahawks since January 29, and will have to adjust to the St Therese side again.

Breaking down the lineups, the Netblacks are easily the most consistent and reliable starting seven one can expect. Barring injury or unavailability, the same seven can expect to run out for the final. Over the course of the last month, the Netblacks have utilised some defensive depth as well, giving them options if the St Therese goalers get on top, whilst St Therese has options in each third of the court, and the starting seven is trickier to pin down.

The shooting circle in particular could have a number of possibilities for St Therese, with Connor Lilly always chosen to start, but sometimes thrown into wing attack. His accurate shooting and form should see him get the nod at goal attack though, with Sam Bury more often than not the chosen goal shooter. Tom Hardwick is a player who teams up with Lilly in the shooting circle, but has the versatility to play either goal shooter or goal attack. They will go up against the strength of Jacob Mudie and Jake Schuster who have been consistent all year for the Netblacks.

In the midcourt, two of the best centres in the competition go head-to-head in Riley Richardson (St Therese) and Deepak Patu (Netblacks). Both players would be among the contenders for the league best and fairest, though with Richardson missing a couple of games late in the season, Patu would be favourite. Almost always among the best for their respective sides, expect the winner of this head-to-head to help his side go a long way towards victory. Netblacks have Cameron Powell at wing attack as another star player, making Tristan Comans‘ job tough for the big game. Meanwhile Kai Suzuki-McGauran has the job on Guy Keane, with Chris Cameron another option to come into wing attack.

Talking about tough, the likes of Jake Hederics and Matt Longhurst will have to try and contain the highest volume shooter in the league in Junior Levi. Bordering on impossible to stop once close to the post, the defence will look to chop off the feeds into him and try and force turnovers from the midcourt. Brodie McCleish has proven he can shoot from range if need be, which is valuable given Levi can often be double-teamed to force his shooting partner to put up shots.

From the alternative options, James Sutton is a wing defence who could be used to try and shut down Powell, whilst Nathan Selveidge and Remy Pirihi are defensive possibilities for Netblacks if St Therese start strong. Overall the match will likely come down to the midcourt battle, with the shooting circle for both sides incredibly strong.

POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUPS:

St Therese:

GS: Sam Bury
GA: Connor Lilly
WA: Guy Keane
C: Riley Richardson
WD: Tristan Comans
GD: Matt Longhurst
GK: Jake Hederics

Others: Tom Hardwick (GA/GS), James Sutton (WD), Chris Cameron (C/WA)

Netblacks:

GS: Junior Levi
GA: Brodie McCleish
WA: Cameron Powell
C: Deepak Patu
WD: Kai Suzuki-McGauran
GD: Jacob Mudie
GK: Jake Schuster

Others: Nathan Selveidge (GD), Remy Pirihi (GK/GD/WD)

PAST RESULTS:

Round 4 | St Therese (63) defeated Netblacks (55)

FORM:

SUMMARY:

As mentioned above, the clash will come down to the midcourt battle between the sides, with Patu and Richardson’s battle key. Netblacks have an incredible front third as well, whilst the St Therese balance and versatility is what has see the side do so well this season. Expect Levi to put up a high volume of shots once again, it will be whether Bury, Lilly and Hardwick can stretch the defence enough to counteract it. Being at full strength, St Therese head in as marginal favourites, but this game is expected to go down to the wire, into single digits.