aboynamedsue wrote:
I suppose we should suspend judgement until we beat a top 4 team....but I think when we bring our 'A' game, our tackling and defensive pressure makes us a very tough opponent for ANY side now....
Gone are the days were teams regularly broke our tackles and we gave away numerous free kicks for illegal tackles. I'm not sure if it's improved technique or attitude (probably a bit of both), but credit to the club for making such improvement in this area over the last 12 months. And our press is one of the more effective in the AFL now.
The challenge is for us to play with that intensity consistently and to sustain it against strong finals hardened teams....
FWIW, I think a key factor in this week's game will be how quickly we move on from yesterday's win and focus on WCE. There's a risk that, even at a subconscious level, the club as a whole will feel it's achieved what it wanted for 2011 (win a home final) and not be TRULY hungry enough to push deeper into September.
I hope that the players aren't buying in to all the 'back slapping' that has gone on for the last 24 hours. It was a very good performance yesterday against a middle-of-the-road opponent - the players got the job done in front of a big crowd and it was fantastic to celebrate our first win in a final for a decade. However, it'll amount to very little - IMO- if we don't put on a good show in WA this week...
In a way, I'm quite glad we're playing interstate. Perhaps going away as underdogs might help bring the players together for the challenge. Of course, the downside is that if we make it through, we'll face the task of a Preliminary Final on the back of a WA road trip.
I like to think that the hunger is there and that we're not on too comfortable terms with ourselves after yesterday. In fact, there's always the possibility that rather than make us complacent, the win yesterday will lift a weight off the playing group, give them a sniff of finals success and open the flood gates to our best football? I really think we're good enough to beat the Eagles in Perth IF we are mentally switched on...
Anyway, FWIW - I don't reckon there will be many changes. The ruck situation is probably the one to keep an eye on....
As well as Warnock did yesterday, I don't think we can expect him to back it up against Cox & Nic Nat without some help. No offence to Setanta (who I don't mind at all as a forward), he's a poor AFL ruckman. So if Kreuzer is fit, I think bringing him in for Setanta is a no-brainer. I know Setanta did OK yesterday, but Kreuzer is simply a better player and I don't think we should fall into the trap of going too tall.
If Kreuzer doesn't come up, you'd look closely at Hammer instead. However, it depends on whether Hammer can go into the centre bounces. If he is playing as a permanent forward (and doing boundrary throw ins) and can't do the centre bounces because of his knee - and I didn't see the VFL game yesterday to know how much ruck work he did - I'd almost be leaning towards sticking with Setanta, simply because he's a better forward.
Davies is another interesting one. He keeps getting picked by the MC when I expect him to be dropped, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with him. Perhaps he'll come into the 21 and Ellard or AJ will be the Sub? Or perhaps Davies will be dropped for a Bower, Tuohy, Lucas or JR? I suspect if Gibbs doesn't come up, then Davies will probably come into the 21 and one of Bower, Tuohy, Lucas or JR becomes the Sub. I'd choose JR...
Great past Jonny
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