Bull Shark AFL sides will be looking for wins this weekend to cement their respective ladder positions as they head towards the business end of the season.
Bond’s QFA team, currently sitting in third spot, will look to repeat their convincing win of round 6 when they tackle the sixth-placed Robina Roos for the second time this year.
The Bull Sharks QAFLW women, also third, will be hoping to redeem themselves this weekend against fourth-placed Coorparoo who proved too good for Bond in their earlier tussle back in Round 3.
QFA
Bond v Robina
Last time they met:
Bond won 12.17 (89) to 1.8 (14) in round 6 of this season.
The opponent:
The Robina Roos have had their ups and downs this season and although their team aren't flush with talent they are renowned for being hard to beat on their home ground. The ground is an awkward one to play on, very small with large electrical towers running through the middle of the ground above. The ball on occasion hits the power lines causing a stop in play!
Shuffling the magnets:
Following a big win against Coomera in our last game, there will be no major changes for the team this round. The team is in good health with no injuries, and we are looking forward to welcoming back some of our key players in the coming weeks.
Ones to look out for:
Key backs Grant Trew and Ben Holman will be the ones to watch as the rest of the season unfolds. They are our key pillars down the back who continue to get minutes in and grow, making them harder for the opposition to score against.
The Focus:
Our key for this weekend is to remain very disciplined against this opposition. They will be up for a heavy contest on Saturday. Robina’s home oval is a challenge in and of itself. We need to be brave in our execution and work the ball through the middle of the ground. We have started slowly the past few weeks, the plan for this weekend is to get away early and clamp down on their scoring opportunities from the start.
Final word:
With only six games left in the home and away portion of the season, now is the time to tune everything up across the board. We will be looking to enter the finals fully fit and ready to play our own game style, hopefully giving us the opportunity to take it all the way again this season.
With Andy Lovell.
QAFLW
Bond v Coorparoo
Last time they met:
Bond lost 2.4 (16) to 3.4 (22) in round 3 of this season.
The opponent:
Coorparoo are a really aggressive contested ball team. They tackle hard and surprised us with their physicality the last time we met. It was a low scoring affair, but we handed them two goals on a platter. We will be looking to get one back up on them this weekend.
Shuffling the magnets:
Arianna Clarke, who won the best on ground medal in the Queensland v Tasmania game on the weekend, is back and available to play, as is Leah Kaslar. Selection will be difficult coming off the back of last weekend’s massive 95-point win. We are in a good position with our Suns Academy girls available this weekend, it will be the last time we have them in a while due to Queensland state duties. We have as full a list as we possibly can which is a massive positive.
Ones to look out for:
Abby Bevan was terrific last game. She is a tall forward with a lot of power. Maisy Evans’ development across tall forward and ruck continues to be a must watch. Skye White, one of our academy girls had her best game as a tall defender last weekend against Yeronga. We are really looking forward to watching her continued development. Another one of our academy girls, Bronte Parker, was among our best players last match and her work in half forward and through the mid field has been elite.
The focus:
The focus is as always to play our own game, to not let their physicality ruffle us. It is important we focus on our team first mentality, as well as making the ball our focus. Our last game was our best defensively structured effort of season, so we will be trying to make sure we continue to build these defensive mechanisms and attack off the back of the back of it.
Final word:
We have five games to go before heading into finals. It is really important that we continue to solidify our brand of footy and to maintain a really consistent effort from week to week head into the pointy end of the year.
With Andy Lovell.