Dogs meet Storm again as finals kick off

STAKES are higher as Golden Square and Strathfieldsaye clash for the second time in seven days when the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football League’s finals start this Saturday.

The Bulldogs and Storm will contest the qualifying final from 2.15pm at Queen Elizabeth Oval.

Winner advances to a second semi-final showdown with the ladder-leading Gisborne on 3 September.

The defeated will face the winner of the elimination final between South Bendigo and Sandhurst in the first semi a day later.

Victorious in both meetings with Storm in the home and away series, Golden Square will be determined to make it victory number three.

The Christian Carter-coached Bulldogs go into the finals on a five-game winning streak.

Three of those wins have been against premiership contenders in Sandhurst, Gisborne and Strathfieldsaye.

A major strength of the Golden Square line-up is its running power and skill through midfield.

Jack Geary, Ryan Hartley, Jake Thrum, Terence Reeves and Hamish Morcom are capable of winning plenty of the footy and setting up scoring chances.

A powerful attack is led by Joel Brett who kicked 92 goals in the regular season and backed up with Jayden Burke and Braydon Vaz who had 53 and 30 respectively, and there’s also powerhouse Tom Strauch.

The Darryl Wilson and Shannon Geary-coached Storm will rely a lot on the play of Lachlan Sharp and James Schishcka in attack, as well as on-ballers Jake Moorhead, Kallen Geary and Callum McCarty and strong defensive efforts to beat the Bulldogs.

Two of the league’s greatest rivals and long-time QEO co-tenants, South Bendigo and Sandhurst will fight to stay in the premiership race on Sunday.

The Bloods beat the Dragons for the Graeme Wright Memorial Cup in Anzac Round on 23 April and backed it up again in the 12th round.

It’s a long-awaited return to senior finals for South Bendigo.

Key players in the run by the Nathan Horbury-coached Bloods include Brock Harvey, Michael Herlihy, Liam Byrne, Kaiden Antonowicz, Will Keck, Sam Langley, Cooper Leon and captain Zac Hare.

The Sandhurst Dragons have felt the heat since they fell to seventh and two wins behind the-then fifth-placed Eaglehawk after a 69-point loss to Golden Square on the QEO in the 14th round.

From there, coach Ash Connick and the Dragons fired up to then win at Eaglehawk, score home-ground wins against Maryborough and Kyneton, and then triumph at Castlemaine.

Stars in Sandhurst’s run include Cobi Maxted at full-forward, James and Lee Coghlan, ruckman Hamish Hosking, Blair Holmes, Noah Walsh, Alex Wharton and Lachlan Zimmer.