Round 5 William Buck Premier Men’s Preview
ST BERNARD’S vs OLD XAVERIANS (Saturday 2pm – St Bernard’s College)
Our third VAFA Media broadcast game of the weekend is a tantalising contest between two 3-and-1 teams fighting to force their way into the finals in 2025.
St Bernard’s successfully navigated three away games in the opening month – in fact, they won all three, with their only loss coming to the undefeated Old Brighton in Round 3. It’s a credit to the development of Steve Alessio’s group, who can now challenge anyone, anywhere, after failing to win a game away from the Snake Pit in 2024.
Old Xavs entered the season as a popular pick to rise into premiership contention, and their opening month suggests that may be the case. In the past three starts, they have narrowly fallen to St Kevin’s, come from nowhere to beat Old Haileybury, then completely dismantled Old Scotch with 18 goals to 2 after quarter-time.
Next, it’s a trip to St Bernard’s to test out the plucky Snowdogs, who showed plenty of grit and resilience to prevail over Collegians in a see-sawing final term last week.
Xavs currently boast the #1 Attack in the comp, averaging a whopping 109 points. Its strength is the multitude of scoring options, led by Stirling Phipps-Parsons and Charlie Macisaac. They have five players with 6 goals or more in the opening month.
Xavs’ pressure is helping feed these weapons, with 40 goals coming from Turnovers (compared to just 19 conceded), so ball security will be paramount for the Snowdogs.
Xavs can also score heavily from Clearance, so Steve Alessio’s men will need to be on high alert around defensive-half stoppages.
But the Dogs have some weapons of their own, led by ex-Carlton player Matthew Watson, who delivered a 5-goal breakout game last week and is more than capable of taking a match by the scruff of the neck if he receives quality delivery.
Oliver Liberatore and Luke Di Lizio – who is enjoying a fantastic season and bobbed up with the sealer last week – have also been amongst the goals in the early rounds and can inflict damage within range of the big sticks.
Xavs ranked #2 for Defence, while the Dogs rank #6. Both defensive groups will be heavily reliant on pressure up the field to help them hold the opposition to a beatable score.
It’s a great opportunity for both these teams to continue their rise, while the loser will slide back into the chasing pack.
