Senior Competition half season review

Photo: Brad Greenshields, Coffs Coast Advocate

After the weekend’s round 8 action the Senior Competition is now at the halfway mark and with a general bye this weekend for the representative fixture there’s a great opportunity to run the rule over the teams.

Sawtell Toormina Saints continue to set the standard in 2018 and hit the turn with an unblemished record following their third win of the season over Coffs Harbour Breakers.

It looked as though this year would be one of re-building the list for the Saints after a mass exodus of key players so rookie coach Brandt Lee has done an outstanding job in fast tracking the development of young players such as Mitch Napier, Hunter and Connor Perks, and the now injured Angus Kennedy-Carvalho.

The Saints won every quarter on Saturday against Breakers and, although there were no score blow-outs, the cumulative effect ensured a comfortable 40 point victory. Sawtell outscored Breakers by six goals to three in the opening term to hold a handy 19 point at the first break and continued to build this lead throughout.

Coffs Breakers have endured a tough premiership defence, struggling to find consistency off the back of a significant injury run. Alex Norman is the latest name to be added to this list after he sustained a shoulder dislocation in Saturday’s match and faces up to four weeks on the sideline.

Sawtell Toormina Saints 15.15 (105) defeated Coffs Harbour Breakers 10.5 (65)

Port Macquarie Magpies have also had an up and down season that has been blighted by injuries but recorded their best win of 2018 when they travelled to Grafton and beat the Tigers.

Aside from the injury toll the Magpies have struggled with player availability which has meant that getting a consistent line-up on the park has been almost impossible. Jesse Schmidt’s return from injury was very welcome, however as he emerged from the injury ward he passed leading player Tom Marmo who was on his way in so the Magpies struggles continue.

Grafton Tigers captain/coach Chris Curthoys has missed the last couple of weeks with a knee ailment and Callum O’Loughlin is yet to return from a hamstring strain. Add to this Luke Stanford being unavailable on Saturday and the Tigers line-up was lacking real experience and leadership.

At full strength Grafton has the capacity to test the other teams but hasn’t been able to get the list together to achieve a positive result.

Port’s opening term of seven goals to one virtually killed off the contest and meant that it was a question of how many.

Port Macquarie Magpies 25.17 (167) defeated Grafton Tigers 7.10 (52)

In the Women’s match, Sawtell Toormina Saints returned to the winners’ circle and reaffirmed their status as premiership favourites having only suffered one loss to date. The Saints have depth and quality across all key positions with players such as Kacee Uikelotu, Tairne Saunders, and Maggie Mills offering plenty of versatility.

After early struggles the Coffs Harbour Breakers season is on an upward trajectory. Whilst they are yet to claim a win their combinations are improving on a weekly basis and they’re starting to hit the scoreboard with much more regularity. The addition of the experienced Katika Adams adds a lot of support to the leadership group of Bella Crawley, Casey Miosge, and Remi Banuelos.

Breakers suffered from a slow start again and need to work out a way to hit the ground running. They won the last quarter for the second match in a row and will take a lot of heart from knowing they can compete with the Saints.

Sawtell Toormina Saints 8.8. (56) defeaed Coffs Harbour Breakers 3.3 (21)

Port Macquarie Magpies had the bye in round 8. As the only team to have beaten Sawtell this season they have the capacity to challenge strongly at the pointy end of the season, with much of their play revolving around the twin talls of Cambridge McCormick and Anisha Burnes.

Next week sees the Senior representative fixtures where the North Coast Force takes on AFL North West in both Men’s and Women’s matches at C.ex Coffs International Stadium. There is a real grudge element to the Men’s match after North West won for the first time in many years and North Coast will be keen to reclaim the plaque.

The Women’s match will be the first official representative clash between the two Leagues and both teams will be keen to take first possession of the trophy.

Senior Representative fixtures – Saturday 23 June

North Coast Masters demonstration match – 11:15am

Women’s: North Coast Force v AFL North West NSW – 1:15pm

Men’s: North Coast Force v AFL North West NSW – 3:00pm