Preliminary final preview

SFL Season 2015 Finals
Week 3 previewed by Ben Harrison

New Norfolk v Huonville
The 2015 SFL preliminary final this Sunday is set up as a mouth watering contest to see who will win out and take the reward to accept the final challenge to stop the Claremont juggernaut which some seem to think may be unstoppable on their way to this season’s SFL Premiership.

Both these teams come into this game in completely contrasting form with Eagles struggling to impact the scoreboard with any frequency in their semi-final, whereas the Lions ended up with 36 scoring shots and nine individual goal-scorers in their corresponding game against Lindisfarne.

As the finals move to KGV in the penultimate week of the season the Eagles will look to their finals superstar Nathan Ross to be re-ignite their season after really being belted by Claremont in the 2nd Semi-Final by 76 points. On the other hand the Lions will relish the opportunity for a Sunday drive to bring their big supporter base out of the Huon Valley after a dramatic finals victory in the 1st Semi-Final following their barnstorming finish to get over Lindisfarne by a solitary point on the back of a 10-goal final quarter after trailing by 44 points at the final change.

The Lions have proven that they have the fitness to run out four quarters and they have plenty of scoring options available and the potential clash between Lions Coach and spearhead Tim “Billy” Lamprill and the league’s best defender in Rohan Heron should be worth the entry fee on its own. But the Lions midfield will need to not only hold Ross, but the classy Mark Horne and Josh Clifford and Huonville’s leader Jordan Lovell will be the prime mover from the stoppages that the Lions look to as the man to give their forwards enough service to challenge the reigning premier.

The game is sure to be a classic battle between these two teams striving to make a Grand Final as the reigning premier could be looking down the barrel at the end of an era as they go up against the emerging Huonville Lions who have really turned around their season after being winless at the bottom of the ladder after four rounds of the year.

So, who gets another crack at Claremont? Well, Huonville has been brave and impressive, but it’s an even braver person who says the Eagles are done with in September and they are likely to get their campaign back on track and set up another Grand Finals appearance.

Prediction: New Norfolk by 36 points