Now that we've reached the end of the round, and barring any HUGE upsets in the final week of the H/A season, its fairly safe to assume that the first lot of finals for the Top 4 will be:
Freo vs Swans - Subiaco
WCE vs Hawks - Subiaco
In light of this information, how do we go about beating Hawthorn over here? As our game will likely be held on the Friday night we will be coming off two 6-day breaks, while the Hawks will have faced one. No doubt we will be up against it, but a win here will give us a massive chance to get to the Grand Final.
So, what do we need to do to roll Hawthorn? Obviously we boast the better ruck division, but I expect that they will concede this area of the game to us and try to shark NicNat's taps as best they can. With any luck we will be able to add Wellingham, Butler, McGovern (who I imagine will be rested for the Saints game) and Schofield to our defence, but do they have the moxie to be able to take on the Hawks forward line? For me, the key will be to get off to a blitzkreig start and then just grind the game out - I dont think a shootout will be in or favour, as it could have a detrimental psychological effect to our side (due to lack of finals experience).
If you were Simmo, what would you be doing?
Freo vs Swans - Subiaco
WCE vs Hawks - Subiaco
In light of this information, how do we go about beating Hawthorn over here? As our game will likely be held on the Friday night we will be coming off two 6-day breaks, while the Hawks will have faced one. No doubt we will be up against it, but a win here will give us a massive chance to get to the Grand Final.
So, what do we need to do to roll Hawthorn? Obviously we boast the better ruck division, but I expect that they will concede this area of the game to us and try to shark NicNat's taps as best they can. With any luck we will be able to add Wellingham, Butler, McGovern (who I imagine will be rested for the Saints game) and Schofield to our defence, but do they have the moxie to be able to take on the Hawks forward line? For me, the key will be to get off to a blitzkreig start and then just grind the game out - I dont think a shootout will be in or favour, as it could have a detrimental psychological effect to our side (due to lack of finals experience).
If you were Simmo, what would you be doing?