Originally posted by West Coast Stre
I would expect Gardiner to play on Darcy. I have placed him in the backline for match up purposes but rather than letting the Doggies dictate terms I would place Gardiner (if fit) in the forward line to pull Darcy away from the play with Matera behind him to clean up the crumbs.
I agree about not letting the dogs dictate terms- really the question which needs to be asked is do we trust our midfield to run over the dogs? If the answer is yes (and I damn well hope it is!), then it makes sense to play Gardiner forward and let the dogs respond to us rather than vice versa. Hunter, if match fit, I would definitely like on Rawlings first off, and and I think I would actually give Jako the assignment on Darcy if he starts forward initially- a defensive role on a ruckman in the pocket is probably one of the (few) defensive tasks Glen should be able to handle- certainly, he'll be strong enough to handle Darcy in the marking duels, and thats the biggest thing you have to worry about when ruckmen go forward.
I like Wirrpunda or Morrison on Cooney if he starts forward- he's not noted for his accountability, and if Wirra got on top him early, then he could very well put together one of those game-winning 'crumb everything' performances that he specialises in.
Really though, with Brown out of that lineup that about a 48 point gap for the dogs to make up over what usually happens when we play
