Eltham or Diamond Creek? Who wins the NFNL Division 2 premiership and promotion
Let’s get ready to rumble … heavyweights Eltham and Diamond Creek prepare for grand final battle. Check out the players to watch, key match-ups and our verdict.
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Let’s get ready to rumble …
The two heavyweights of NFNL Division 2 will go head-to-head on Saturday for a premiership and promotion.
With all respect to the other clubs we probably could have played this grand final a couple of months ago, such was the dominance of Eltham and Diamond Creek.
The Creekers lost one game and won 13 straight to claim the minor premiership – its first since 1981 – with a historically good defence.
The Panthers lost two games, both to Diamond Creek, to finish second, a staggering five games clear of second place.
Both clubs are well prepared to step up to Division 1 with young lists mixed with experience and deep junior pathways.
Each has recruited strongly this season looking to take the next step with the likes of Jesse Donaldson, Billy Bedford, Tim Bongetti, Brenton Keating, Liam Frazer and Dale Marshall coming in.
It’s all to return to top flight football, where both clubs believe they belong, but only one will end a long-running drought
There’s been recent grand final disappointment on each side, Eltham losing a heartbreaking decider in 2019 and Diamond Creek going down to a Harvey-fuelled North Heidelberg in 2017.
The Creekers’ premiership drought dates back to 2005, while the Panthers have been waiting since 2002.
One club will achieve both its dreams on Saturday.
KEY MATCH-UPS
Jesse Donaldson v Jacob Booth
Will we see the two midfield supremos going toe-to-toe? Will Booth play? Donaldson and Booth have been dominant forces throughout 2023 and if one can have a bigger impact on Saturday then it would be shorts odds their team is holding up the cup.
Declan Ayres v Jai Norman
Norman’s return in the preliminary final win over St Mary’s gave Diamond Creek an immediate offensive spark. The big forward straightens the Creekers up and allows the likes of Jayden Walker, Ryan Pingree and Sage Dicello to create havoc elsewhere. Ayres can stop all that with his intercept-marking prowess and ability to get a late spoil in.
Finnbar Maley v Nick Barro
Young Barro will win the best-on-ground medal if he can win the ruck duel one-out against Eltham’s pairing of Maley and Tom Goodwin. It will be a tall task with Maley is supreme form in the three games he’s played since returning from VFL duties. The Northern Bullants gun has kicked two goals and been rated best-on-ground in all three.
Jason McCormick v Nathan Searl
McCormick was the difference in the Panthers’ semi-final win, kicking three last quarter goals and will be looking to repeat that effort. The Creekers have a plethora of defensive options but Searl could be the man to shut down one of Eltham’s most dangerous players.
Daniel Horsfield v Andrew Elward
The two young bucks going head-to-head would be a great match-up to watch. Both give their team plenty of dash through the middle and line-breaking capabilities, which will be critical in what is expected to be a defensive wrestle.
X-FACTOR
Jackson Weatherald
The Panthers co-captain has been limited to nine games this season but is fit and firing at the right time of year. We named Weatherald as the X-factor last season but unlike 2022 – when he played the grand final after two months out – he’s got a couple of good finals under his belt. A leader in defence who will also be relied upon to rebound and kick-start Eltham’s attack with his kicking skills.
Ewen Macpherson
With Footscray’s loss in the VFL semi-finals, expect Macpherson to slot into the Creekers line-up. The classy onballer only played three home-and-away games this year but one of those was against Eltham in Round 15 and critically he was named best-on-ground. Would be a massive inclusion for the big game and add some real grunt and ball-winning ability to Diamond Creek’s midfield.
EXPECTED LINE-UPS
Both teams have decisions to make on Thursday night with a number of players to be elated or disappointed. Eltham has a seemingly settled line-up and if it were to go in unchanged from its semi-final victory it would be the first time all season. However, Tim Bongetti does face a couple of selection questions. Given the premium set to be place on goalkicking does Matt Byron come in to give the Panthers more firepower? The forward was best-on-ground in the reserves’ semi-final win with five majors and he kicked eight in his previous match.
The situation is far more difficult for Andrew Tranquilli with three big guns in line to return, meaning potential disappointment for preliminary final winners. Jacob Booth, Ewen Macpherson and Tarwin Rennie are all up for selection. Booth and Macpherson look certainties while Rennie could still have to prove he is fit enough for a grand final. Macpherson was best-on-ground in the Creekers Round 15 win over Eltham and is available following Footscray’s loss in the VFL semi-finals.
COACHES’ SAY
Tim Bongetti (Eltham): We know both defences have had great years, so it’s going to be won in the midfield. If you can win the ball and get good looks going inside 50m. They have a great team defence, they’re well structured and get across to help each other out really well, so we’ll need to be clean going forward.
Andrew Tranquilli (Diamond Creek): It’s going to come down to who’s composed early and can take advantage of their emotions. Being able to control the ball, so it will come down to bringing the heat at the source. It’s not just about being defensive but knowing Preston, it can be beautiful sunny day but there’s one end that has an advantage. It will be important to take advantage of those opportunities and then damage limitation going the other way.
VERDICT
Don’t expect a shootout at the PCO Corral.
While they each have offensive weaponry, Eltham and Diamond Creek are built on defence.
The Creekers conceded just 689 points in the home-and-away season – that’s a ridiculous 38 points per game – and the Panthers weren’t far behind with 757 points against.
No club in Division 2 comes close to that in the past decade and likely long before that too.
Recent history tells us that whichever teams scores more than seven goals wins the game.
In the past five meetings one team has kicked seven or more goals and won and each time the losing team has kicked seven or less.
Eltham’s 10.11 (71) in its semi-final victory was the highest score Diamond Creek has conceded since the 2022 semi-final against Lower Plenty.
The Panthers haven’t given up 10 goals to an opponent the entire season, not once. The best was St Mary’s 9.13 in Round 11.
Of course, all that said, it’s going to be a beautiful sunny day on Saturday so all that could blow up.
In the end if Booth, Rennie and Macpherson all play … DIAMOND CREEK BY 10 POINTS
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