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- Sep 17, 2006
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- #1
The ANZAC Eve game is always a pretty special event regardless of where the 2 teams are on the ladder as fans gather to pay their respects to our fallen soldiers and this week will be not be any different.
The Tigers head into the ANZAC Eve clash full of confidence after a stirring win against the previously undefeated Suns at Marvel where they showed they weren't going to be pushed around by taking it up to the Suns early and then playing some very good attacking footy in the 3rd quarter to open up a lead the Suns just couldn't reel in. Melbourne also will be looking to continue on from a good performance after they got their first win of the season against the Dockers on Saturday to relieve some of the pressure that had been building on them through the first 5 weeks of the season.
We could head into this game unchanged after the performance the team put up on Saturday night, but with Mansell over his shoulder issue/suspension he will come into contention for an immediate return to the side but at whose cost as our small forwards in Campbell Green & Rioli played good games on the weekend combining for 36 disposals 13 tackles 58 pressure acts & 3.2 so unlikely that any of them make way. We could opt to go a tall for a small with Ryan or Faull to make way for Mansell, but coming up against Gawn in the ruck I think Ryan stays in at least for this week and Faull hasn't done much wrong since his debut to warrant his omission. So that would suggest that we go in unchanged which would be a brave move off a short break, but you've got to reward the players that performed and nobody really played poor enough to be omitted.
The game itself should be a cracker as mentioned above both teams come into the game looking at building on the momentum that they have after this weekends games. But the big question will be just how much petrol do we have left in the tank after we looked gassed in the last quarter and the short turnaround while the Dees who are a more mature line up should be better placed to handle that.
With that being the case I believe that this will be a case of us being in the game in the first half before we hit the wall in the 2nd half and will struggle to maintain the same level in the 2nd half which is to be expected when you're fielding one of the youngest and least experienced sides each week, but as mentioned numerous times this year, wins aren't the main thing we're after this year, but the long term development of the side so that we're best positioned to start climbing the ladder and challenging for finals/premierships from 2027 on.
So I'm not heading into this game expecting a win and will be fine with that being the case come the final siren Thursday night, as long as we can see the green shoots continuing to appear then not all is lost. Plus a Melbourne win improves our draft hand as they'll go ahead of us on the ladder so in effect losing is still a win in the Grand scheme of things.
The Tigers head into the ANZAC Eve clash full of confidence after a stirring win against the previously undefeated Suns at Marvel where they showed they weren't going to be pushed around by taking it up to the Suns early and then playing some very good attacking footy in the 3rd quarter to open up a lead the Suns just couldn't reel in. Melbourne also will be looking to continue on from a good performance after they got their first win of the season against the Dockers on Saturday to relieve some of the pressure that had been building on them through the first 5 weeks of the season.
We could head into this game unchanged after the performance the team put up on Saturday night, but with Mansell over his shoulder issue/suspension he will come into contention for an immediate return to the side but at whose cost as our small forwards in Campbell Green & Rioli played good games on the weekend combining for 36 disposals 13 tackles 58 pressure acts & 3.2 so unlikely that any of them make way. We could opt to go a tall for a small with Ryan or Faull to make way for Mansell, but coming up against Gawn in the ruck I think Ryan stays in at least for this week and Faull hasn't done much wrong since his debut to warrant his omission. So that would suggest that we go in unchanged which would be a brave move off a short break, but you've got to reward the players that performed and nobody really played poor enough to be omitted.
The game itself should be a cracker as mentioned above both teams come into the game looking at building on the momentum that they have after this weekends games. But the big question will be just how much petrol do we have left in the tank after we looked gassed in the last quarter and the short turnaround while the Dees who are a more mature line up should be better placed to handle that.
With that being the case I believe that this will be a case of us being in the game in the first half before we hit the wall in the 2nd half and will struggle to maintain the same level in the 2nd half which is to be expected when you're fielding one of the youngest and least experienced sides each week, but as mentioned numerous times this year, wins aren't the main thing we're after this year, but the long term development of the side so that we're best positioned to start climbing the ladder and challenging for finals/premierships from 2027 on.
So I'm not heading into this game expecting a win and will be fine with that being the case come the final siren Thursday night, as long as we can see the green shoots continuing to appear then not all is lost. Plus a Melbourne win improves our draft hand as they'll go ahead of us on the ladder so in effect losing is still a win in the Grand scheme of things.
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