Round 17 2013 Peter Jackson VFL Preview
Northern Blues v Sandringham
Visy Park, Carlton
1pm, Saturday, August 10

LAST TIME THEY MET: Sandringham 20. 10. (130) defeated Northern Blues 18. 9. (107)

With just three rounds to go, the Northern Blues return home to Visy Park for the first time since their Round 11 loss to Williamstown, when they host Sandringham on Saturday afternoon.

The last encounter against the Zebras wasn’t a happy occasion for the Blues as they saw a 38-point lead deep in the third quarter overhauled into a 13-point loss back in Round 5 at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

Sandringham registered twelve separate goal kickers as they piled on 11 of the last 14 goals of the match.

The Blues were left to lick their wounds after a sound beatings at the hands of the Frankston Dolphins down at Frankston last Sunday.

The 13-point loss arguably flattered the Blues who were comprehensively beaten all over the ground in the first three quarters, suffering severe bleeding in their usual areas of strength.

Out-muscled in the contested situations, the Blues lost the contested ball 120-132 and the clearances 21-32, as the Dolphins ran riot particularly from half back.

Yet, the Blues will hope their final quarter comeback, where they were able to pile on eight goals to two, will allow them to carry some momentum when they meet the twelfth-placed Sandringham.

Nick Graham, Tom Bell, Dylan Buckley and Kane Lambert provided some resistance in the engine room all with 23 or more disposals, while Tom Wilson continued some great goal-kicking form.

The Blues say goodbye to Paul Dirago (hamstring), Rob Warnock, Josh Bootsma and Troy Menzel (AFL selection) meanwhile gaining back a big group of Carlton-listed players both from injury and AFL omission.

Andrew McInnes, David Ellard, Andrew Collins return from injury lay offs, while Mitch Robinson and Kane Lucas will look to put in solid performances to earn recalls to the senior side.

The Zebras are in a slump of their own since the two clubs’ last meeting, with Geelong (117 points) and Essendon (43 points) inflicting massive defeats in the past two weeks among the Zebra’s five wins for the season.

But Sandringham pose plenty of threats – as the Blues were made well aware of last time they met – especially in the form of skipper Chris Michaliades and a host of St Kilda players.

Michaliades kicked 3 goals to go with 35 possessions in an inspiring best-on-ground performance, while the forward line of Sam Dunnell, Trent Dennis-Lane and the returning Adam Schneider will present the Blues’ defenders with a great challenge.

Sam Hickey continues some great form and will present Nick Meese and Levi Casboult with a solid challenege as does Zebra’s ball winner Adam Cockie (32 disposals, 8 tackles against Essendon last week), while in-form defender Cameron Shenton claimed the scalp of Essendon forward Stewart Crameri last weekend.

The forecast is set for showers before clearing in the lead up to Saturday, but with Visy Park already a fairly boggy surface, the game could escalate into one very similar to the Box Hill win in Round 14. And very much the opposite of the shootout that was the Round 5 loss.

Player Watch:

Andrew McInnes/David Ellard/Andrew Collins – All three are worth keeping an eye out for given that it is their first game for a fair while for each of them. For Ellard, it’s been a long road since injuring his calf in Round 7 of the AFL season against St Kilda. McInnes returns from two weeks off following his stint in the senior side that came after knee reconstruction, while Collins returns from a foot injury sustained suffered in Round 11 of the VFL. All of shown their wares for the Northern Blues this year and will be looking continue where they picked up from.

Kane Lucas/Mitch Robinson – Are both under the microscope after being victim of the selection axe ahead of Carlton’s clash with the Western Bulldogs this weekend. Lucas plays his first game in VFL this year after a mightily consistent season at the elite level to date, while Robinson has fond memories in Northern Blues colours. His output of 31 possessions (22 contested) and 12 clearances was a vital cog in the Blues’ upset win over Box Hill in Round 14. If the forecast is anything to go by, we might be seeing similar conditions this Saturday. And in that case, expect an elite performance.

Andre Gianfagna – The Northern Blues co-skipper has entered a rich vain of form in the last month, steadily increasing his possession numbers, yet still performing a very satisfactory defensive role. Jumped out of the blocks with 11 first-quarter possessions, last week against Frankston to finish with 21 for the match, his highest numbers in two years. Is likely to be assigned to either Schneider, Dunnel or Dennis-Lane, but with the return of Collins, may be required to perform a more defensive job this weekend.

Northern Blues

B Davies Coulson A. Gianfagna
HB Joseph McInnes O’Keeffe
C Lucas Robinson F. Dale
HF Wilson Mitchell Lambert
F Buckley Mitchell D. Ellard
R Meese T. Bell Graham
Interchange (from)*: McDonald Collins Thomas Currie Valladares Bromley Bransgrove Temay Marcon  

*Final side to be confirmed by Saturday, 10am

Matthew Lodge covers Northern Blues games for Carltonfc.com.au. You can follow him on Twitter:@MatthewSLodge