Sam Stening can hurt teams badly in a very short period of time
It was a mixed bag for Stening in the opening term of Collingullie-Wagga's clash against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes. He started off fairly shaky missing three set shots in front of goal that would usually be his bread and butter, however he recovered nicely to have the Demons up by 23 points at the first break. Stening kicked three goals in a three-minute period to give his side the edge in a fairly scrappy opening term at Crossroads Oval. The two-time defending Stewart Fraser Medallist is known for his ability to kick large hauls of goals in games, but what possibly flies under the radar is his ability to turn it on and be completely unstoppable for short bursts. He finished the game with five goals and the Goannas made a concerted effort to limit his influence during the final three quarters, however Stening showed he doesn't need long at all to have a huge impact
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Ed Perryman is far too dangerous to leave unmanned
The Goannas played with an extra man in defence for large chunks of their game against the Demons. While good in theory, it meant that the Demons also had a spare man down back in Perryman. Ed racks up a tonne of possessions when he's got someone playing on him, so he absolutely made the most of the rare opportunity to roam free across half back. He was able to intercept a number of the Goannas forward surges and usually sent the ball back up the field with interest. Perryman is one of the elite players in the competition and he proved on Saturday just how dangerous and influential he can be if he's left unchecked.
Coolamon are much better than originally predicted
I'll be the first one to put my hand up and admit that I underestimated what Coolamon could achieve this year. With so much change over the off-season and a new-look side, I believed they would be fighting for a finals spot and would most likely just miss out. I was wrong, they are better than that. Much better than that. The Hoppers are far from the finished product, but after their first two performances it is fair to say they should clearly be a finals team this season. Coach Gavin McMahon has got them playing a strong brand of footy and how they structure up will cause headaches aplenty for opposition coaches this season. A big test awaits this weekend at home against the Demons, however the Hoppers won't be lying over without putting up one hell of a fight.
Griffith will be okay this season once they put it all together
The Swans haven't exactly started the season with a bang as they did last year, however all the signs are there that once they put it all together they will be a good football side. It's taking some time for their new recruits to gel with the rest of the team, however they have been among the best players in both of their games so far this season. The Swans were poor first up against the Goannas, however they responded nicely against Leeton-Whitton creating 31 scoring opportunities. While they only grabbed a 50-point victory, it was a nice stepping stone for the Swans to continue their climb into the season. The have the bye in round three before facing Narrandera and Turvey Park in the following weeks. After those two games we should be able to figure out whether they'll be any big danger to Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong and the Demons.
Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong have multiple avenues to hit the scoreboard
Whatever the game, whoever the opposition, one guarantee from the Lions is that they will find a way to kick a winning score. Last week, Jack Powell,Tom Banuelos and Dan Foley combined for nine goals, but against Narrandera they only managed to kick four of the Lions 14 goals. That's because Jack McCaig and Tom Sase had their lick of the ice cream and kicked six between them while Matt Hamblin in his return also managed to hit the scoreboard in a positive manner. One of the most dangerous aspects of the Lions side is their ability to throw a myriad of different looks inside forward 50 at their opposition. Coach Sam Martyn has a luxury of options and it means that he can easily revert to backup plans if things aren't falling their way in a tough contest.
