Sport
27 June, 2025
AFL playing with ‘pride’ in round 11 of comp
ROUND 11 sees ‘Pride’ round celebrated across ‘footy in paradise’, with five games over the weekend, kicking off with the Brett White Cup at Cazalys as the Hawks host the Tigers.
The Hawks, enjoying back-to-back home games, will look to improve on their performance after quarter time, when last week a four-point quarter time deficit turned into a 77-point loss.
They will have to fix that against a Tigers side back in the winners’ circle after a great win against the reigning premiers.
The Tigers will see this as a great opportunity to build some momentum into the second half of the season as they fight to secure a double chance come finals.
The ‘beach battle’ bounces off with a real humdinger, as the Bulldogs host the Lions, starting off with the much-anticipated women’s clash.
The upstart Bulldogs have been the surprise of the competition so far, moving from outside the finals to the least number of losses ten rounds in in season 2025.
The Lions will be keen to get one back after the Dogs shocked the competition with their round five victory at Holloways over the reigning premiers.
The men’s clash shapes to be a crucial game for both clubs as they look to entrench themselves in the top four.
Much like their women’s counterparts, the Bulldogs men’s won away at ITEC in round five.
The Dogs have been good at banking wins early in the season, while the Lions have been thrilling at their best, and inconsistent elsewhere, as their 4-4 ledger implies.
This could be a game both teams look back on at the end of the season as a turning point.
Pride round concludes with the Saints hosting the Crocs at Griffiths Park, with two unusual start times.
The women’s game starts at 2pm and sees a crucial clash between fourth and fifth.
The Saints are starting to build and enjoyed a great win in front of their home crowd against the Cutters three weeks ago, while the Crocs are building to a first finals series in their existence.
The winner will go a long way to securing a sought after fourth-placed finish.
The men’s game kicks off at the twilight time of 5.30pm and is impossible to pick.
The Saints are much improved in season 2025 and have produced some of the performances of the season to date (including a ferocious quarter and two minutes against the Cutters) but have lost the last two games against Port by a combined 176 points.
The Crocs, after teetering at 0-3, have peeled off six straight victories to lead the ladder after 10 rounds.
In their last outing, they delivered one of the great left-right goodnight opening halves against the Bulldogs, on the way to a 119-point victory as Kye Chapple kicked eleven.
All these factors make this match-up the men’s game of the round.
