By Will Jeffares
After two weekends of bye-induced breaks, Frankston’s Smithy’s VFL campaign is
set to resume on Friday night, as they take on the Northern Bullants under the lights
at Kinetic Stadium.
Entering the game with a record of 1-1, the Dolphins will be looking to secure
consecutive wins after claiming an impressive 25-point victory against Port
Melbourne on Good Friday at ETU Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Bullants will be searching for their first win of the year after suffering
a 39-point defeat to North Melbourne in Round 1 and, most recently, a 53-point loss
to Geelong on Sunday afternoon to record a 0-2 start.
Both sides faced each other in the pre-season, with the Bullants prevailing by three
points at Kinetic Stadium in a tight affair that saw the Dolphins punished for their
inaccuracy, with the home side kicking 6.17 (53) to the visitor’s 9.2 (56).
Frankston will be eager to put in another impressive performance in front of a
boisterous home crowd and boost their record to 2-1.
The first bounce is scheduled at 7:35 pm AEST.
Players To Watch:
The battle of the midfield looks set to be an intriguing one on Friday night, with both
sides’ engine rooms impressing early in the season.
The Bullants’ midfield duo of Patrick Fairlie and Jean-Luc Velissaris have put up
some big numbers to start the year. In their Round 1 defeat to the Kangaroos, Fairlie
had a whopping 46 disposals while also slotting two majors, while Velissaris
gathered 37 disposals. Both didn’t quite have the same numbers against the Cats
but loom as dangerous personnel for the Bullants.
The Dolphins also have their fair share of midfield talent as well. The midfield trio of
Seb Quirk, Tom Murphy and skipper Trent Mynott will look to build on their fine early-
season form.
Murphy was instrumental in Frankston’s win against Port Melbourne, tallying 29
disposals, while Mynott is averaging 20 disposals across the opening two rounds.
After finishing with 24 and 26 disposals to start the year, Quirk will be looking to build
on his strong form to get the Dolphins across the line.
Head-to-Head History
Frankston will enter the contest hoping to make it four victories in a row against the
Bullants. Since 2021, Frankston has won all three matchups, including a 17-point win
last season in Round 9 at Genis Street Oval. The Bullants’ last victory against
Frankston was in 2019, when the side was known as the Northern Blues during their
affiliation with Carlton, winning by 25 points.
Previous Five H2H:
2023 – Round 9: Frankston (10.11 – 71) def. Northern Bullants (8.6 – 54) @ Genis
Street Oval
2022 – Round 17: Frankston (13.13 – 91) def. Northern Bullants (5.9 – 39) @ Kinetic
Stadium
2021 – Round 10: Frankston (13.15 – 93) def. Northern Bullants (10.5 – 65) @
Kinetic Stadium
2019 – Round 7: Frankston (9.9 – 63) def. by Northern Bullants (Blues) (13.10 – 88)
@ IKON Park
2018 – Round 17: Frankston (6.5 – 41) def. by Northern Bullants (Blues) (18.15 –
123) @ IKON Park
