Sport
4 September, 2026
Prelim finals bounce tonight
CROCS, Bulldogs, Tigers, Saints and Cutters in men’s and women’s prime time.
SEPTEMBER is here for footy fans and, with no wildcard rounds to speak of, we are straight into the action in prime time Friday night, with the women bouncing off finals for ‘Footy in Paradise’.
Women’s – Bulldogs versus Crocs
TO start, we have the Bulldogs playing the Crocs in a rematch of last year’s preliminary final at 6pm at Cazalys Stadium.
The Crocs went down by three points in their maiden finals series, so have a great opportunity for some payback on Friday night.
The Bulldogs come into the fixture confident in their recent form – they have two thumping wins in their last three games.
They have also been comfortably better than the Crocs in their three home-and-away fixtures this year, but then again, they were last year too, and that ended up accounting for nothing once finals rolled around.
Women’s – Cutters versus Tigers
THE first preliminary final bounces off at 7.45pm as the Cutters look to win through to their first grand final.
They had the benefit of a finals-like clash last weekend against a gallant Port side to ensure they held onto the crucial double chance opportunity and will hope that this has them primed for the first bounce.
They will need to be ready to go against the only unbeaten side left in either competition, as the Tigers look to book their spot at defending last year’s premiership in two weeks.
The Tigers, as is the case for every team they have faced this year, beat the Cutters comfortably in their fixtures, but these two teams have not played since 13 June. Read into that what you will.
Men’s – Bulldogs versus Saints
THE men’s bracket begins on Saturday with the Bulldogs facing off against the Saints.
Both teams ended the season on 10 wins, but the Dogs secured third with a vastly superior percentage.
Since their thrilling one-point victory over the Cutters in round 16, the Dogs have not been tested on the football field and they will be hoping this means they are fresh and ready to go on Saturday.
A special mention to Josh Butland who, on 89 goals, has the opportunity to hit the magical 100 mark if the Dogs go deep.
The Saints will do well to rip up the form book at training on Tuesday. Far better judges than I could spend days trying to make sense of their victories and losses over the second half of the season, especially their 149-point loss against the Dogs in round 14. I am going to make the huge call now though and say that margin won’t be happening on Saturday.
Men’s – Cutters versus Crocs
WEEK one of the finals concludes with an immediate rematch of the game of the season, with the after-the-siren-goal-to-win Cutters facing the Crocs, who had their shot at a perfect season ruined on Saturday.
The victory will give the 2024 premiers so much belief that they can go all the way after vanquishing the previously indomitable Crocs, but their first objective will be winning through to a second grand final in three years.
While a perfect season would have been nice for the Crocs, the objective for season 2026 remains the same as they look to rectify the errors of last season.
Just about unbackable favourites 12 months ago, they experienced two shock losses typified by poor performances that had barely been seen for a quarter all year.
They find themselves in an identical position this year and all eyes will be on them to see if they have learnt the lessons 12 months on.
