Myrtleford’s Dylan Piazza is firming as the favourite to tackle Doug Strang Medal winner Josh Mellington in his playing return.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Albury star has completed one of the longer suspensions involving an O and M player in recent years.
Mellington missed the first six games after he was banned for charging in the grand final.
He received a three-match suspension, while a four-game suspended sentence was invoked from a game in the Goulburn Valley from 2015.
However, the three-week ban was cut to two after an appeal to AFL Victoria Country Appeals Board.
“Through our games last year we had Dylan Piazza on him, he’s a pretty reliable defender,” Myrtleford star Frazer Dale said.
‘You’ll see him go to Mellington through parts of the game, but obviously there’s Matt Dussin as well.”
Myrtleford is desperately searching for consistency after winning half of its first six games.
It produced one of the greatest comebacks after heading to half-time 39 points down.
“It was evident against Lavington, when our confidence was high, that’s our best footy and we know we’re capable of it,” Dale said.
“We just need to extract that confidence and intensity out of some of the younger guys because it is hard week in, week out.
“I know throughout our winning streak last year and in that game against Lavington, when that confidence was higher, it gave them a bit of a lift and we got more output from them.”
Myrtleford blitzed the second half of last year, flying home with a seven-two record to break a decade-long finals drought.
It finished the regular season with four straight wins, including an upset over Yarrawonga.
The general consensus was that the club should be able to continue its climb, particularly with the addition of GV star Tim Looby.
He admitted though after the round three win over North Albury his form didn’t warrant interleague selection, although he was sensational against Lavington.
A loss certainly wouldn’t end the Saints’ season as they’re only a win out of the top five.
However, it would place enormous pressure on the club to topple top three fancies Wangaratta in round nine, in order to head into the second half of the season with a positive ledger.
As well as Mellington, the Tigers will welcome back two other superstars of the league in Brayden O’Hara and Dean Polo.
O’Hara suffered another calf injury against Wangaratta on May 6, while Polo also hasn’t played since then.
