- Nov 23, 2015
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- AFL Club
- GWS
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- #1
The penultimate round is the second grudge match against Bulldogs this year. Safe to say that both teams will be hugely disappointed with their respective performances and ladder position this year. However, Bevo's team will have the incentive that they nevertheless remain on the cusp of the top 8, and if they win their last two rounds they are a chance of playing finals - albeit from the bottom of the 8. So, they'll be going hard at this game to win and keep their season alive. They are coming off a disappointing loss at home to Freo, but there's no doubt they'll be fired up for this game. GWS had a good win against Essendon after a very disappointing last month, but the trick will be if we can replicate the effort and intensity next week, rather than this round being just a flash in the pan.
The round 14 match was pretty even until half way through the third quarter, when we let them get away to a 5-goal advantage, and while we pulled ourselves together for once in the last quarter, it still saw a 20 point loss. Toby was our star with 7 goals, while Dogs had both Naughton and Weightman kick 5. The big lesson for me is that we need to have a team that matches the opposition, and a player who can negate that pair. They'll have the 3 talls in Naughton, Bruce & JUH, as well as the lively Weightman. The smalls in particular have been our defensive weak point this year, losing a number of games to bags kicked by the likes of Weightman and Lincoln McCarthy. I noted that Haynes played on Matt Guelfi in the Bombers game, and allowed him to score 4 goals (and most were with Haynes directly opposed). Personally, despite the win against Essendon, I think we were too tall. If we play HH down back (and Aleer as well!), then we shouldn't have Haynes as well, but rather get someone like Hamilton in to perform a more close-checking role. Of course, I don't expect McVeigh will change the team in that way.
Peatling will presumably miss with his concussion. Options for a replacement would be Conor Stone after his first game back, or perhaps more likely Tim Taranto coming back in from his own concussion, but possibly playing more of a pressure forward role. I certainly hope that Ash isn't axed to return TT to the team, as was the plan for the Bombers' game. I'm not expecting too many other changes given the W, with McVeigh backing the players to turn up for another game.
I expect that Bulldogs, at home, will be too good for us in this season of frustration. But we can only hope that we take that same aggressive mindset into next week's game, and we send the Doggies to the pound.
The round 14 match was pretty even until half way through the third quarter, when we let them get away to a 5-goal advantage, and while we pulled ourselves together for once in the last quarter, it still saw a 20 point loss. Toby was our star with 7 goals, while Dogs had both Naughton and Weightman kick 5. The big lesson for me is that we need to have a team that matches the opposition, and a player who can negate that pair. They'll have the 3 talls in Naughton, Bruce & JUH, as well as the lively Weightman. The smalls in particular have been our defensive weak point this year, losing a number of games to bags kicked by the likes of Weightman and Lincoln McCarthy. I noted that Haynes played on Matt Guelfi in the Bombers game, and allowed him to score 4 goals (and most were with Haynes directly opposed). Personally, despite the win against Essendon, I think we were too tall. If we play HH down back (and Aleer as well!), then we shouldn't have Haynes as well, but rather get someone like Hamilton in to perform a more close-checking role. Of course, I don't expect McVeigh will change the team in that way.
Peatling will presumably miss with his concussion. Options for a replacement would be Conor Stone after his first game back, or perhaps more likely Tim Taranto coming back in from his own concussion, but possibly playing more of a pressure forward role. I certainly hope that Ash isn't axed to return TT to the team, as was the plan for the Bombers' game. I'm not expecting too many other changes given the W, with McVeigh backing the players to turn up for another game.
I expect that Bulldogs, at home, will be too good for us in this season of frustration. But we can only hope that we take that same aggressive mindset into next week's game, and we send the Doggies to the pound.
