Round 7 William Buck Premier Men’s Preview
ST BERNARD’S vs OLD SCOTCH (Saturday 2pm – Snake Pit)
The other two big stories of Premier Men’s so far are the rise of the Snowdogs and the fall of the Cardinals. Now those stories intertwine in a critical game at the Snake Pit.
St Bernard’s went winless on the road in 2024, going 0-9 away from home. Remarkably, they’ve flipped their form around to go 4-0 on the road this season and 0-2 at home. In fairness, their two home games have been against the Top 2 teams – the Tonners and Xavs – who both comfortably handled the Dogs.
Old Scotch’s brilliant premiership win has delivered the by-product of 15 players being listed on VFL lists in 2025. While Mark Gnatt and the Cardinals see the bigger picture and are delighted to be assisting so many talented players chase their footballing dreams, the reality is that the Cards are digging into their depth when injuries also bite.
This inevitably leads to short-term pain as newcomers are blooded but may ultimately hold the club in good stead by getting games of experience into their next emerging tier quicker than they otherwise would.
Their challenge is to win enough games to remain in the finals race, in the hope they can then get their best line-up on the park come September to mount a back-to-back tilt.
But the first part of that equation is their current dilemma. Two superb wins to open their premiership defence have been followed by four consecutive losses – Collegians 38, Old Xavs 81, Old Brighton 45 and Uni Blacks 5 points after being 43 points down at the half.
Their second-half revival last week provides hope that the Cards are starting to click. Comprehensively beaten in the first half, they stabilised in the third, then came roaring home in the last, only to fall agonisingly short.
Coach Mark Gnatt will be hoping they can start like they finished last Saturday. If so, they will be right in the hunt against the Snowdogs.
If not, their finals equation becomes even tougher. 2-4 isn’t insurmountable, given it’s two games plus percentage out of the Top 4. But to slip to 2-5 and 3 games behind starts to raise serious doubts.
The Cards don’t face the Old Brighton-Old Xavs double until Rounds 13-14. They need to start banking some wins between now and then, particularly over the teams above them. St Bernard’s, Uni Blues, St Kevin’s and De La Salle await over the next 4 rounds.
If they can get over the Snowdogs, it might just spark their season to life.
But that will be easier said than done. Steve Alessio’s team has added valuable pieces to a core that showed exciting glimpses in 2024. Add in the experience of being their second year back in the top flight, plus the confidence of knowing they are much improved and the Dogs are a team to watch in the race for September.
Can they hand the reigning premiers a fifth straight defeat or is this the challenge the Cards need to ignite their title defence?
Find out LIVE & FREE with our live stream from 1.55pm Saturday on VAFA.com.au!
