It is safe to say neither Harvey Brunswick Leschenault or Carey Park would have thought they would be in this predicament, playing each other in the Apprentice & Traineeship Colts Preliminary Final, but that is the reality when they kick off a super Sunday of Mens Preliminary Finals at Hands Oval.
For the bulk of the season the two teams have sat a top of the Premiership ladder, with Carey Park finishing on top, four games ahead of
third place Bunbury, while the Lions finished three games ahead of the Bulldogs.
But the doggies have come good at the right part of the season, and have defeated both HBL in a Qualifying Final and Carey Park in a Second
Semi Final, to leave the Panthers and Lions to fight out the second spot in the Grand Final.
The two teams have met twice in season 2024, with the most recent encounter in round seventeen, when the Panthers won by three points in a match that yielded just eight goals. Earlier in round six, it would be the Lions who were victorious by two points, with neither team winning on their home ground.
Both teams have match winners, and both love to run and carry. The Lions have one focal target up forward in Rohan Grout who kicked 51 goals for the season, to share the goal kicking honours with Busselton’s Tienen Murphy.
The Panthers meanwhile have a mosquito fleet up forward, which the Lions will need to be wary of, with Taj Beauclarke, Max DiLallo and
Taj Houlahan having kicked 82 goals between them, and when you add in Tanner Reid and Tesean Hart, the Panthers possess plenty of
firepower.
With both matches having been decided by less than a goal, this match promises to be a great start to Men’s Preliminary Final Day, with
Extra Time not out of the question to decide who plays Bunbury in a weeks time.
The match commences at 9.15am
