Anonymous
Years ago
Premier League Grand Final Previews
The time has come for the most talked about local games of the season.
Let's start with the women.
North vs Forestville
Admittedly I do not follow this league too closely but I have kept an eye on the finals. North have had an incredible run to be undefeated at this stage, led by import Leah Metcalfe. They have plenty of other options with Sam DeFrancesco and Jo Hill among others providing solid and consistent scoring punch. Forestville gave North all they could handle a fortnight ago and the young squad will take plenty of confidence away from that. Sam Simons has shown poise beyond her years and Liv Thompson is a perennial all star in our league.
North to learn from their last game against Forestville to win by 12. I would be really interested in hearing from others who follow this more closely though.
OK on to the real deal, Southern vs Forestville.
The Starters
Southern: Staude, Johns, Brine, Turnage, Mays
Forestville: Doyle, Teys, Richard, Johnson, Phillips
Both starting groups will play the large majority of minutes. Some interesting matchups in this one with 36ers Doyle and Teys facing off against talented locals Johns and Brine. While the Tigers size could trouble Forestvilles backcourt, the Eagles have speed and veteran savvy on their side. Up front we have some interesting matchups with DJ vs Mays and Turnage. Phillips will battle admirably as he has all season however the Tigers imports will give him something to think about. DJ has been at another level through the finals series and he will be a tough matchup for the Tigers. Staude and Richard both provide steadying influences for their sides and a win in this matchup on either side will help their team win.
Key Bench Contributors
Southern: Burns, Ellison, Dodman, Ficken
Forestville: Harris, Deng, Morphett, Wright
You would have to give Southern the overall depth advantage with a few more guys contributing consistently. Harris, however, is the best 6th man the league has had this year and proved it against last week with an incredible 19 point last term. As good as DJ was, Harris was the real hero of the night. The Tigers will be looking for all their bench guys to pitch in to help cover for Harris' contribution.
My predictions:
- DJ to start strong but struggle a little more than we've seen with Tigers length. Scoring may be down but will still produce across the board.
- Tigers local guards to take it right up to the more heralded 36ers. Doyle is under done but will still be effective in this game.
- Tigers imports to provide the biggest highlights of the night.
Forestville by 3 in the game of the year. Tigers have had a fantastic 3 year run but will be remembered as under achieving with just 1 title. Andy will be remembered as the mastermind behind assembling the best team we've seen in at least a decade.
As everyone else does I have an opinion of the DJ situation. There are plenty of threads already for that. Let's keep this one to discussion on how the game is going to play out or comments during the game itself.
I hope the crowd will be even larger than last year!
