Live stream: Round robin to decide who progresses to Herald Sun Shield intermediate final

The Herald Sun Shield has changed up the girls division two semi-finals in a move which will test the fitness of the top teams. Watch the semi-finals LIVE from 10am, Tuesday.

Maribyrnong College and Avila College have progressed through the Herald Sun Shield division two grand final after topping a wet and wild semi-finals lightning carnival.

Maribyrnong went undefeated in their three games at Casey Fields while Avila College scored two wins.

The rain affected day saw the contesting four teams play three games each with two 15-minute formatted halves constituting the games.

In the clash between the two newly formed grand finalists, Maribyrnong defeated Avila by seven points, 2.2 (14) to 1.1 (07).

Poppy Watson scored the winner for Maribyrnong with a sublime snap from the boundary which snuck through for a stellar goal in wet conditions.

Another close encounter involved Padua College defeating Mt Lilydale Mercy College, 3.2 (20) to 2.6 (18).

Kennedy Boundy kicked her second goal in a row in the last half of the game to put her side up by a point with three minutes left.

They managed to hold onto the lead and win by two points in a nailbiter.

It was Padua’s first win on the day while Mt Lilydale went winless in the finals action.

The Grand Final will be played in a fortnight between Maribyrnong and Avila who took the top two spots in the semi-final round robin.

WATCH THE REPLAYS

PREVIEW: New format set to shake up Herald Sun Shield finals

A new format is set to shake up the Herald Sun Shield division two intermediate girls competition for this season.

For the finals series, which kicks off on Tuesday, organisers have introduced a round robin format to determine who will reach the grand final.

Originally there were five schools entered in the competition with Maribyrnong College, Avila College, Padua College, Mount Lilydale Mercy College and St Monica’s College involved.

This prompted the organisers to hold a round robin to make the five teams battle for the two spots on offer in the grand final.

“Because we have more than four schools involved and there are only two spots we had to create another option,” AFL’s Nick Hulett said.

“So we’re having a lightning carnival with the five teams and all of them get the opportunity to play.”

On Monday the competition changed again with St Monica’s withdrawing but the format has remained the same with each team to play each other once.

All matches will be held over two 15 minutes halves with teams getting limited breaks between contests.

The top two on the ladder after the games will qualify for the decider.

Mount Lilydale Mercy College team co-ordinator Danni Webb said teams would need a fast start to make sure they are not chasing the match towards the end.

For her team it could be a challenge with the year-9 and year-10 students coming together for the first time to compete in the tournament.

“Our nine and 10s play separately, they have never played together,” she said.

“So we expect them to get better as the day progresses.”

The College will represent the Eastern independent Schools and have been the powerhouse in recent years according to Webb.

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It’s also been an AFL women breeding ground with five players drafted to the competition from the school.

Webb said the past two years and not being able to play has been disappointing, so it is good the current girls team get the chance to play.

“We have a proud history of girls football,” she said.

“We’re excited about playing the Herald Sun and the history it has.

“These girls have seen other girls play at other years.

“We’re pretty excited and want to do well.”

Webb said to look out for Brylee Anderson who recently represented Victoria in the School Sports national titles for her age group in Queensland.

She added code hoppers Teagan Bethune (netball and Victorian state player), Chelsea Gardeniers (netball) and Natasha Harrison (tennis) had also shown plenty of skills and could be ones to look out for.

The school will be looking to stop Padua who finished runners up in 2019.

The College took out the Southern Independent Schools by 47 points over Balcombe Grammar recently to qualify for the finals.

Their coach Emilio Di Paolo said the team did well after being attacked early by a ferocious opposition.

Padua were able to overcome their rivals as the game went on.

Caulfield Grammar School took out the last Division 2 Intermediate competition. Padua, who finished as runners up, will be aiming to go one better this time around. Picture: Caulfield Grammar

Year-9 student Siena Shelton kicked six goals in the contest and is someone to look out for.

Di Paolo, who was there in 2019, won’t be coaching as he is on long service leave.

Looking to stop Padua and Mount Lilydale Mercy College will be Maribyrnong College and Avila College who are also competing at the event.

Maribyrnong will represent School Sports Victoria (SSV) with the College selected after their 2018 win in the SSV.

This year’s competition has not been finished yet for the schools.

The College said the midfield is their area of strength.

“We’ll focus on our own game to run and carry the ball and use the outside run to attack,” Maribyrnong coach Martin Walsh said.

“We’ll structure up to benefit us to do that.”

Walsh added he needed to make sure the team had enough interchanges option to allow multiple players to run through the middle to combat the short and sharp matches.

The coach said Alex McBride-Loane, Sierra Grieves and Piper Dixon were the trio to look out for.

All three have represented Victoria at under-15 school sport level with Dixon and McBride-Loane doing it this year.

McBride-Loane was also selected in the All-Australian team.

“She’s a developing tall and very good above her head,” Walsh said.

“She’ll play centre half back and maybe in the ruck.

“She can read the flight of the ball fantastically and is really good at ground level and dominant in getting the ball.”

The focus for the College is on winning but the importance of the day is about getting the girls noticed.

“Our Academy is about development,” Walsh said.

“If we win this awesome but if we can get these girls in front of recruiters that is more important.

“The more girls we can get drafted (into AFL women) the better for us.”