Football
20 June, 2025
All eyes on clash between one and two
All eyes will be on the game between Ararat and Nhill on Saturday, with the ladder leaders travelling to Davis Park to face the side currently second.
While Ararat hasn't dropped a game all season, Nhill has only lost the one – and it was to Dimboola by 74 points back in round four.
Ararat have lots of momentum, coming off a 100-point win against Horsham Saints last Saturday, while Nhill got the points over Minyip Murtoa by 20.
Both sides have forwards capable of finding the big sticks easily, with Ararat's Tom Williamson currently second in the leading goal scoring, with 28, and Drew Schneider, from Nhill, hot on his tail with 24.
Likewise, both teams have depth when it comes to their players, with Cody Lindsay, Jake Robinson and Ben Taylor delivering good performances for Ararat this season, and Darcy Reid, Daniel Batson and Liam Albrecht leading the way so far for Nhill.
Nhill coach Jake McQueen said they would probably rely on a side similar to last week's to line up against Ararat this Saturday, with just the one change due to player unavailability.
The coach is excited about facing off against the best in the league at the moment, especially at home.
"We are starting to believe in ourselves a bit more and we obviously had a lot of close games last year that built that resilience and I feel like in close games we don't put our heads down," McQueen said.
"We still stand up and have a crack and if it does get tight, I do think we have every chance to beat Ararat and I know they are probably a class above, but we will do everything we can to attempt to knock them off."
While a win would be great, McQueen said he would love to get it infront of a home crowd.
"We have a ripper crowd," he admitted.
"The last three or four weeks, more and more people are coming out which is good to see, older blokes and ladies who haven't been around the club much in the last few years but now we are winning they are getting on board."
The ground itself was also a good advantage, McQueen said, especially against Ararat, with their ground being the biggest in the league and Nhill's one of the smallest.
"For them to come to our ground, I reckon that is a good advantage to us, especially the way we play, which suits a smaller ground."