Land of the Giants
Premiership Player
A disappointing night for us at Giants Stadium, but in the end, not that surprising. The Swans have pretty much had the wood on us for the past few years; our last four wins against them have been by only one or two points. Our luck ran out last night.
I thought during the first quarter we weren’t “on”. They moved the ball forward with laser-like precision and their accuracy in front of goal was incredible. In fact, the half-time return of eleven goals and no behinds was their most accurate ever, including the entire South Melbourne era. I always thought that provocative match preview would come back to haunt us!
As Kingsley said in the presser, for them to set up ten of those eleven first half goals from defensive 50 was extraordinary. That was supposed to be our strength. Still, we didn’t give in and stuck to the game plan. Maybe the late withdrawal of Callaghan due to a niggling calf problem threw us off-balance.
Now for next Sunday. Port is another team who’ve had the wood on us for the past few years. Early-season front-runners, they’ve lost their last four matches, having their bubble well and truly burst by Carlton back in Round 18. Their top 2 spot is now very much up for grabs and it’s not impossible, if unlikely, for them to fall out of the top 4 altogether if they keep losing. They just need one more win to secure the coveted double-chance.
We have eight days to recover, so let’s see how we might line up:
FB Buckley, Taylor, Idun
HB Ash, Himmelberg, Whitfield
C Kelly, Callaghan, Green
HF Lloyd, Cadman, Bedford
FF Brown, Hogan, Greene
FOL Briggs, Perryman, Coniglio
IC Ward, Riccardi, Cumming, Haynes
Sub: Angwin
In: Cadman, Callaghan
Out: Daniels (suspension), Keeffe (omitted)
Daniels is out for sure for that clumsy head-high bump on Jake Lloyd, probably for a couple of weeks. Brown can take his place. Despite his goal, Riccardi was subbed out, presumably for being ineffective, so I would start him off the bench. Keeffe didn’t do that much. Cadman kicked three goals in the VFL team that was thrashed by the Swans at BISP yesterday, and will probably get a recall. I would retain Haynes and use Angwin as the sub. And, fingers crossed, Callaghan will be right.
The seven-game winning streak has come to an end, but if we’re honest, we all knew it could not go on forever. Our destiny is still in our own hands. Win at least two of the next three games and we play finals. Win against Port, we have one foot in the door.
Our record in Adelaide has been pretty good recently. Can we prevail and make it five losses in a row for the Power?
I thought during the first quarter we weren’t “on”. They moved the ball forward with laser-like precision and their accuracy in front of goal was incredible. In fact, the half-time return of eleven goals and no behinds was their most accurate ever, including the entire South Melbourne era. I always thought that provocative match preview would come back to haunt us!
As Kingsley said in the presser, for them to set up ten of those eleven first half goals from defensive 50 was extraordinary. That was supposed to be our strength. Still, we didn’t give in and stuck to the game plan. Maybe the late withdrawal of Callaghan due to a niggling calf problem threw us off-balance.
Now for next Sunday. Port is another team who’ve had the wood on us for the past few years. Early-season front-runners, they’ve lost their last four matches, having their bubble well and truly burst by Carlton back in Round 18. Their top 2 spot is now very much up for grabs and it’s not impossible, if unlikely, for them to fall out of the top 4 altogether if they keep losing. They just need one more win to secure the coveted double-chance.
We have eight days to recover, so let’s see how we might line up:
FB Buckley, Taylor, Idun
HB Ash, Himmelberg, Whitfield
C Kelly, Callaghan, Green
HF Lloyd, Cadman, Bedford
FF Brown, Hogan, Greene
FOL Briggs, Perryman, Coniglio
IC Ward, Riccardi, Cumming, Haynes
Sub: Angwin
In: Cadman, Callaghan
Out: Daniels (suspension), Keeffe (omitted)
Daniels is out for sure for that clumsy head-high bump on Jake Lloyd, probably for a couple of weeks. Brown can take his place. Despite his goal, Riccardi was subbed out, presumably for being ineffective, so I would start him off the bench. Keeffe didn’t do that much. Cadman kicked three goals in the VFL team that was thrashed by the Swans at BISP yesterday, and will probably get a recall. I would retain Haynes and use Angwin as the sub. And, fingers crossed, Callaghan will be right.
The seven-game winning streak has come to an end, but if we’re honest, we all knew it could not go on forever. Our destiny is still in our own hands. Win at least two of the next three games and we play finals. Win against Port, we have one foot in the door.
Our record in Adelaide has been pretty good recently. Can we prevail and make it five losses in a row for the Power?
