BFNL ROUND 3 PREVIEW | Burra and Roos seek early season redemption

While both can lay claim to being finals contenders this season, both are coming off huge defeats, with the Kangaroos going down to Darley by 96-points in the opening game, while the Burra were dismissed by Melton to the tune of 119-points last weekend.

It makes for two desperate sides going head-to-head to get their season back on track.

East Point will welcome Joe Carmody for his first game in charge. The former Ballarat mentor will look to immediately put his stamp on his team having missed the opening round match with overseas commitments.

Carmody said watching from afar (in fact New York at 1am) in round one, he thought his side wasn't as far away from Darley as the scoreboard indicated.

But he said what did show out was an inability to match the Devils in the contested game.

"It really did look a bit like men against boys at times," he said. "But I thought we missed some chances early, perhaps if we had have gone in five-goals-to-three at quarter, instead of six-goals-to-zip we would have been in the contest."

This weekend, Carmody knows will be a big test against what is sure to be a fired up Burra outfit

"Sebastopol has a lot of quality and I watched that game against Melton last week live," he said. "Melton are very slick, but Sebas is full of quality players.

"I thought Sebas were pretty good in the contested ball, but as soon as the ball was turned over, Melton went bang."

Carmody said it would be a different looking East Point this week with powerful runner Archie Caldow to make his debut, while Jackson Merrett also returns after serving a one-match ban from last year.

"I think there are a lot of things we need to improve on, we know with a young group we'll have ups and down and that certainly was a down in the first game," he said.

"I thought our second half was encouraging, it could have blown out to all sorts of a margin. It shows we have the capacity to play well. We have enough talent on the list, it's about finding that consistency."

Of the outs, Isaac Hucker has a broken foot and will be out long term, Joe Dodd is unavailable, while the Thompson twins will also make their way into the side.

But while East Point and Sebastopol will take centre stage on Saturday night, the match-of-the-round pits two of the early season frontrunners against each other in Melton and North Ballarat.

These two teams each had impressive wins in the previous round but in two completely different styles, with Melton obliterating Sebastopol, while the Roosters outlasted Darley in low-scoring slog fest which wasn't decided until the final seconds.

North Ballarat coach Brendan McCartney said he was thrilled with the way his team handled the pressure of Darley last round.

"We bring a lot of pressure, we have a happy knack of keeping in games, we're going there to create as much pressure as we can to provide a really good contest," he said.

"Melton is very organised at stop plays, they look confident, they are very keen to use each other, share the ball, put speed on the game, that's the sign of an organised and confident team.

"There's elements in what you do some weeks, but this week pressure at the contest is paramount. Every team has things you need to be aware of need to manage.

"You have to be careful not to get too reactive to game early in the year, you can't think 'one team is the world champion, one team is no good' as the season gets marching things change very quickly.

"Clearly though, Melton are a very good team, to see scoring like that, you know they are doing a lot right."

North will be without Tom Bromley-Lynch who has an ongoing knee concern and is likely to miss three or four weeks, while Josh Sparkman is unavailable. Taj McMillan and Max Fawkner will come in as replacements.

Melton coach Troy Scoble said he was excited about another big challenge ahead for his team.

"When I saw the first three weeks of the season, we were really excited about what we had to contend with," he said. "We know that any side than can end up ahead of Darley at any stage must be on the right track.

"I went and watched the first half of their match last week and what I know is they are a great contest side, the inside work is elite.

"The way they toughed it out in hard conditions for both teams was really impressive. It could have gone either way. They are a contested, well organised team, it'll be a terrific contest."

Defender Tom Button will definitely miss with his knee injury and is still waiting on scan results to learn the severity, while Liam Carter remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. Goal kicker Kyle Borg could also be a late out if he gets a call up to Port Melbourne this weekend.

There's a big test in store for Bacchus Marsh when it travel to Darley on the rebound after their last-gasp defeat to North Ballarat in brutal Saturday night contest last round.

Right now as it stands, both teams go into the contest at 1-1 on the season, but Bacchus Marsh coach Dennis Armfield knows this will be an acid test for his new-look Cobras.

"If you're destined to be the best, you've got the beat the best," Armfield said. "This will be a great test for us as a team to go up against a side no doubt ready to bounce back after a tight loss. There's no better challenge for us, but with that challenge, comes a great opportunity."

Armfield said the it was likely that the Cobras would take an unchanged line-up into the contest, with the potential for Ryan Penny to play depending on whether he gets selected for Collingwood's VFL side.

He said making the most of the team's hard work would be a key to this week.

"Being able to react that bit quicker on turnover is something we want to work on," he said. "I think our endeavour, intensity and want to attack the ball is sensational, we can at times go a bit helter-skelter when we can take a bit of heat out of it at times.

"Hopefully we can find that balance this weekend and bring our best against what is as good an opposition going around."

Redan will be looking to get on the board after two narrow losses when it travels to face Melton South.

The Lions have been far from disgraced, going down by four goals to Sunbury and a last-minute defeat at the hands of Ballarat last weekend.

The Panthers are starting the long climb back into contention and know where they sit, but haven't been given any favours by a brutal first two rounds of the season, Melton in round one, followed by an away, night game, against Sunbury.

Redan need this result to go their way just for their own belief more than anything and look to have too much class across the field in this one.

@ Darley Park, 2.15pm Saturday

LAST TIME THEY MET: Round 13, 2023 - Darley 11.10 (76) def Bacchus Marsh 10.4 (64)

KEY TO THE GAME: Darley will be smarting after losing in the 29th minute of the last quarter against North Ballarat last weekend, while Bacchus Marsh is coming of a confidence-boosting away win. But while the Cobras are definitely on the improve, they will run into a side that will be determined to get back ahead of the ledger. Despite no doubt heavy legs after last weekend, Darley should win this well.

PREDICTION: Darley

@ Macpherson Park, 2.15pm Saturday

LAST TIME THEY MET: Round 4, 2023 - Melton 11.7 (73) def North Ballarat 7.11 (53)

KEY TO THE GAME: Without question the match of the round. Two teams coming off vastly different wins last weekend. Melton were gob-smackingly good against Sebastopol, North showed real guts and determination to get over Darley in a wet-weather classic. Can the Roosters get enough score on the board to trouble the Bloods? It's going to be tough, but if any coach can unlock the key to Melton, it's North's Brendan McCartney. A lot needs to go right for the Roosters to win here.

PREDICTION: Melton

@ Melton Recreation Reserve, 2.15pm, Saturday

LAST TIME THEY MET: Round 17, 2023 - Redan 34.14 (218) def Melton South 4.7 (31)

KEY TO THE GAME: Both Melton South and Redan have been incredibly unlucky with the early season draw, having both run into the in-form Sunbury, while the Panthers also had to open the season with the boom team of the competition Melton. Despite the 0-2 start, Redan look the better placed of these two sides and will be keen to get that winning feeling back to the club as they start integrating some of the injured stars into the line-up.

PREDICTION - Redan

@ Eastern Oval, 6.15pm Saturday

LAST TIME THEY MET: Elimination Final 2023, East Point 13.11 (89) def Sebastopol 9.17 (71)

KEY TO THE GAME: What to make of these two after the first two rounds? Both will be absolutely smarting by their last hit-out and will be determined to right the ship very quickly. The Kangaroos will be fresh after a week off, but were Sebastopol really that bad last week or were Melton just that good? This has potential to be an even contest, but one probably leans slightly to the Burra to bounce back, but only just.

PREDICTION: Sebastopol