Jim Gordon previews the upcoming round 10 Mallee Football League matches.

Jeparit Rainbow v Woomelang Lascelles

Jeparit Rainbow will need to quickly regroup if they hope to win this game against the Cats after last week's heavy loss to Beulah. Admittedly the Blues are a very strong side this year and sit undefeated on top of the MFL ladder. Nevertheless the Lakers would have been very disappointed with their effort as they have been competitive lately even without winning.

They will be strengthened for their clash against Woomelang Lascelles with the return of Josh McCleary, Greg McLeish, Ryan Bulluss and Nathan Millward. All were unavailable last week severely depleting the Laker line up. Bulluss and Millard will bolster the Laker midfield and forward line.

Ben Zanker and Adam Schumann will miss due to injury while Luke Werner, Jake Parry and Josh Murphy will have to prove their fitness and could be doubtful starters.

The Cats are riding high after their very good win at Ouyen United. Right from the start they looked like winners and had a star up forward in Corey Kelly who finished with eight goals. Joshua Ratcliffe was another avenue to goal and he kicked five.

The return of McCleary and McLeish will boost Jeparit Rainbow's ruck and forward line. They will have their work cut out for them as they come up against the inform Mark Charleson.

Tom Clugston played well last week. Ironically, the further Jeparit Rainbow fell behind, the better Clugston seemed to play. Another young player Riley Launer made a promising debut.

The Cats will be strengthened by the return of Pierce Liddle and Jamie Church who have been missing for a couple of weeks. Anthony Foott is still out injured.

The Cats have had difficulty beating the Lakers in the past and they won't be taking them lightly. They know that Jeparit Rainbow will come out firing after their a big loss last week. The Lakers have a few recruits yet to play against Woomelang Lascelles so there is a sense that they could be in for a bit of a surprise and will have to play them on their merits. The Cats will need to mind Heath Clugston who is having a very good year.

In an interesting aside, it looks like the Lakers for the second week in a row will have three sets of brothers playing for them. Heath, Simon and Tom Clugston, Lucas and Tyler Edelsten, Shannon and Riley Launer. Jeparit Rainbow will need all of these players firing if they are to have any sort of hope of defeating Woomelang Lascelles.

Hopetoun v Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers

The Devils are slowly gaining confidence after a disastrous start to their season. Last week they had one dismal quarter of football against the Roos, but were able to keep with them for the other three. Unfortunately for Hopetoun, they come up against the Tigers who are brimming with confidence and well rested after the bye.

This is a powerful Sea Lake Nandaly side. Led by Col Durie, they have Wes Harrison in very good form, young Dan McEwan playing well in the ruck and Cliff Ryan kicking goals up forward. Their defence is tight and mean.

Hopetoun's defence will have to be on their game to curb the influence of Ryan and Harrison. Quentin Willmott for the Devils is improving each week while Scott Heath and Dave Baulch have also been in good form in a year when not much has gone right for Hopetoun.

Kyle George is doubtful for this game and Simon Cook has a leg injury. Bryce Wellington may return.

Hopetoun expect a lot from Liam Price. This week they are going to need Price, Cade Wellington, Deek Roberts and Pat Purcell to all be on top of their game to have any sort of a chance to beat the likes of Durie, Darcy Ryan and Bill Barry.

Up forward for the Devils Luke Carr is in solid form and no doubt Steve Lyons, if he plays, will get first crack at him. The Tigers look too strong and accomplished even away from home.

Beulah v Walpeup Underbool

In the MFL match of the day, the unbeaten Beulah host reining premiers Walpeup Underbool. If the Blues can overcome the Roos, they will set up a significant three game plus percentage gap between themselves and Walpeup Underbool on the ladder. The Roos need to win to prove to themselves that they are back on track to defend their flag.

The Roos should regain Chris Chubb this weekend after the ball magnet has missed the past two games. Jeremy Brown is another who is a chance to return, but David Piasente is in doubt after coming off the ground early in the game against Hopetoun with a leg injury.

Beulah should be able to field an unchanged lineup. Shaun Monohan had a great return from injury in his 40+ possessions and four goal outing against Jeparit Rainbow. Dennis Redden is dominating at centre half forward recently averaging over four goals a game. The pace of Micah and Callum Buchanan, Tyler Lehmann and Andrew Hughes will worry the Roos.

Walpeup Underbool will need to start the game a bit better than the last time these two sides played. In an eleven goal to three first quarter, the Blues totally broke the game open out playing the Roos by scoring the first nine goals of the match. The Buchanan brothers were very effective that day. The Roos will need to pay close attention to both this time around.

The Roos will be highly motivated and focussed to win this game. It is a must win for them. Nevertheless, with an even spread of experience and class all over the ground, the Blues should win at home.

By Jim Gordon