Kane Latham is back with this week’s GV Division 2 preview. In an awesome piece of segue on the part of yours truly, Joe Kane was the name of the pretty boy, alcoholic Quarterback in the underrated football film “The Program”, starring James Caan and Kristy Swanson.
“The Program” will be the first of many films that we will be reviewing as a part of a new segment here at Gridiron Downunder, where we not only offer up a critique on the movies themselves, but also pick apart the questionable – and sometimes flat out boneheaded – playcalling, strategy, and situational rotations inherent in nearly all of the football games played in Hollywood (and I’m not talking about the Raiders in the 90’s either). “The Program” will be reviewed on this site next Monday.
But enough of me shilling my new column, let’s get back to Kane (is able) and his predictions for this week’s Division 2 match-ups.
Gippsland Gladiators (5th place, 2-5) v Bendigo Dragons (1st place, 6-1)
Last time they met: Dragons 44, Gladiators 6
The Gladiators numbers are dwindling, but their performances and enthusiasm is not. After putting up an admirable performance against the Raiders last week, they will be looking to do the same against the impressive Dragons unit. Unfortunately for the Gladiators, I see this game going much the way of the last time they met. The Dragons have been daunting to say the least, with shut-outs on the Raiders & Silverbacks in their past two games. I see the Gladiators maybe putting one score on the board, through their outside run game, but it won’t be enough, as the Dragons will pile up the points.
My prediction: Dragons 40, Gladiators 6
Northern Raiders (2nd place, 5-2) v Ballarat Falcons (6th place, 0-7)
Last time they met: Raiders 36, Falcons 6
The Raiders took a half of football to get firing last week, but finished off strong against the Gladiators. Their 2nd half was a stark contrast to their first, so I don’t expect them to start the same way. Their D-Line and Linebackers have been great all season, and I expect that to continue against the struggling Falcons. The one shining like for the Falcons has been safety Trek Rimene, who is scoring on special teams and picks, and I expect him to do the same for the Falcons only score this week. The Raiders will pile on some hurt, and the result will be similar to their first encounter.
My prediction: Raiders 30, Falcons 6
