BFL premiership race: who will prevail?

WITH five rounds remaining, the race to the BFL finals is heating up.

The top four sides including Geelong Amateur, Torquay, Queenscliff and Drysdale look to be the premiership contenders.

And it’s a hard to pick who might prevail on grand final day.

 

Amateur have been the most consistent team and set the tone early, beating both 2024 grand finalist in the opening two rounds.

Even an unexpected six-point loss to Queenscliff in Round 6 showed they are always hard to beat.

Reigning premier Torquay has come good after losing its opening two matches to Ammos and Newcomb.

They’ve only been beaten twice since by Drysdale and the Coutas and their performances appear to be getting better and better.

 

The Tigers have thrashed Newcomb, Ocean Grove and Portarlington in recent weeks.

After a disappointing start to the year, featuring loses to Newcomb, Barwon Heads and Modewarre; the Coutas clicked in their Round 5 triumph over Ocean Grove.

Six wins in a row followed, including the big scalps of Ammos and Torquay.

A 19-point loss to Drysdale away in Round 11 was unexpected but perhaps suggested more about how well the Hawks are travelling.

 

Coach Ben Carmichael’s men have been brilliant but inconsistent with wins against Torquay, the Coutas and Anglesea among the highlights.

A 43-point loss to Barwon Heads in Round 10 was an outlier among their recent good form.

The battle for fifth place is shaping up as interesting with it looking like a three-horse race between Anglesea, Barwon Heads and Portarlington.

The Roos, who played in last year’s grand final, looked among the most dangerous teams in the competition before they fell to Ammos by 14 points in Round 9.

 

Heavy losses to the Coutas, Grubbers and Hawks followed.

Meanwhile, Barwon Heads has struggled with consistency this season with great wins against Queenscliff and Drysdale but some disappointing losses.

They lost by more than 40-points to the Tigers and Ammos respectively in the past month.

The Seagulls’ run home looks favourable – with Ocean Grove, Newcomb and Modewarre among their remaining opponents – and they remain a finals chance if they can get their game going.

Meanwhile, Portarlington sprung to life after sacking coach Darren Findlay.

 

After announcing Nathan Storer and Mitch Turnbull would co-coach the club, the Demons went on a three-game winning streak against other bottom-five sides.

But then came crashing back down to earth with a 131-point loss to Torquay in Round 12.

The Dees face three of top four sides in their run home which will make a late charge difficult.

Following the league bye, Drysdale host Ammos, Modewarre has Torquay, Barwon Heads lock horn with Ocean Grove, Queenscliff welcome Newcomb and the Demons take on the Roos.