AFL Sydney & AFL Canberra – Men’s Pre-Season Club Invitational Week Two Preview

Written by Sam Zikman (AFL Sydney)

AFL Sydney commenced their collective Men’s Pre-season invitational in style claiming four wins (out of six matches) in week one of the Men’s Pre-Season Club Invitational. See below for a summary of the results from week one;

AFL Sydney Teams	Result	AFL Canberra Teams
Pennant Hills Demons 13.18.96	Defeated	Gungahlin Jets 1.17
UTS AFC Bats 9.10.64	Defeated	Belconnen Magpies 7.4.46
Inner West Magpies 14.8.92	Defeated	Batemans Bay Seahawks 2.2.14
East Coast Eagles 4.2.26	Defeated by	Queanbeyan Tigers 12.15.87
St. George Dragons 11.11.77	Defeated	Tuggeranong Valley 4.7.31
South West Sydney Blues 4.8.32	Defeated by	Eastlake Demons 14.6.90

Fixture – Week Two (Saturday, March 16):

This sets up a massive week two, with places in the finals in week three up in the air for clubs to claim. Let’s take a look at this Saturday’s matches;

Gipps Road Sporting Complex, Greystanes 

11:00am: Pennant Hills Demons vs. Eastlake Demons 

1:00pm: Inner West Magpies vs. Belconnen Magpies  

3:00pm: St. George Dragons vs. Queanbeyan Tigers

Monarch Oval, Macquarie Fields:

11:00am: UTS AFC Bats vs. Batemans Bay Seahawks 

1:00pm: East Coast Eagles vs. Tuggeranong Valley AFNC

3:00pm South West Sydney Blues vs. Gungahlin Jets

Preview – Matchday One:

Stop it – Demons vs. Demons action first up. How good will the match between week one winners Pennant Hills Demons (1-0) and Eastlake Demons (1-0)! The two sides will hit the ground first at Gipps Road, with the winner certain to progress to week three and play in the club invitational finals. However, with the tiebreaker rules placing quarters won higher than percentage (for/against) it will be critical for both teams to not only win the match, but also win all four quarters to ensure a place in the grand final in week three.

The Inner West Magpies (1-0) take on Belconnen Magpies (0-1) second up at Gipps Road. The Magpies of the Belconnen variety had their wings clipped by the Bats last Saturday, in a result which would have raised the eyebrows of many in Canberra having I am sure expected the AFL Canberra Premiers from 2023 to get the job done in week one. The battle of the magpies will be hard fought, with Belconnen seeking redemption and an outside shot at the 3^rd vs 4^th final in week three, while Inner West who dispatched of Batemans Bay last Saturday will be eyeing off a Grand Final appearance next Saturday.

Gipps Road then plays host to the second match up of week one winners, when St. George Dragons (1-0) who proved too strong for Tuggeranong Valley while Queanbeyan (1-0) got AFL Canberra off the mark with a win against the East Coast Eagles. Like the battle of the Demons, the winner of this match will have one foot in the Grand Final while also ensuring a match in week three.

A little further south and the open expanses of Monarch Oval (Bob Prenter Reserve) welcomes the UTS Bats fresh off an upset vs. Belconnen last week. The Bats have drawn the Seahawks in week two. Kevin Dyson and the Bats will be confident in week two, however, having lost two of the four quarters in week one even a victory in this match will likely only provide the Bats a shot at the 3^rd v 4^th final. However, if they get the job done and results fall their way – who knows! We might see the Bats in the pre-season big dance next Saturday March 23 at 2:10pm at BISP.

The final two matches at Monarch feature teams who lost their week one match ups, South West Sydney (at home), Gungahlin, Tuggeranong Valley and East Coast Eagles. Despite week one losses, each will know should a few results fall in their favour along with a strong four quarter performance an appearance in week three is still on the cards.

Big weekend ahead in Sydney with the Under 22’s Summer Series at BISP on Saturday and Sunday, along with Pre-Season Club Invitational matches at Monarch and Gipps on Saturday. Make sure you get down to support your club, or the league this weekend!

Although matches in week two (March 16) will not be live streamed please be sure to check out the scores as they happened on the series PlayHQ page – Click here.

Finals matches in week 3 (March 23) will be streamed live on the AFL Sydney Facebook page.