Kick2Kick three writers will provide a preview on the biggest sporting day of the year which will see the Geelong Cats play the Hawthorn Hawks. Most are seeing this game as the re-play of the 1989 Grand Final which is regarded as one of the most exciting and best ever, it saw Gary Ablett snr kick 9 goals and a host of players needing hospital attention afterwards.
The 2008 version could see something similar with Hodge playing with bruised ribs and Buddy Franklin a goal kicking machine. These two teams are easily the best of 2008 and everyone had them in the Grand Final since about round 13.
Jermayns Preview
Hawks are famous for their ‘unsociable football’ and this will be the key. Clubs have tried this before on the Cats (Freo, Port Adelaide) and they got flogged but the difference is that Hawthorn have talent and a game plan that can undo Geelong.
Roughead, Williams, Mitchell, Hodge and Croad are the keys.
- Mitchell will get Ling tagging him but the Hawks will need his 30 odd possessions in the midfield.
- Roughead and Williams are almost more important than Franklin, as Franklin will likely get Scarlett which means Harley, Milburn, Mackie and or Talyor will get these two and they must kick goals.
- Hodge and Croad are the keys down back. Mooney while he does not kick many goals is almost the go to man from the wing to the 50m arc.
For Geelong the keys players are Taylor, Varcoe, Mooney and Lonergan.
- Mooney and or Lonergan need to kick goals, you cannot afford to let the small men kick them all and between them they need at least 6 goals.
- Hodge will probably play on a lesser player like Varcoe so its up to him to hurt Hodge by kicking goals and bumping into his dodgy ribs.
- Talyor will have a big job on either Buddy and or Roughead and he must keep the contest even without too many goals scored, which could free up Scarlett.
I think Geelong will win but it will be a close and high scoring game with the Cats running out winners by 13 points. The Norm Smith medal will be Hodge or Gary Ablett jnr.
Johns Preview
Well its that one day in September and the last game for the 2008 AFL season is the one we always wanted. Both Geelong and Hawthorn are clearly the best two teams this year and then there is daylight and then there is the rest. Geelong have the experience of last year’s win under their belt while the Hawks have little or no finals experience to rely on.
Alistair Clarkson has included Stuart Dew formerly of the Port Adelaide premiership team, and his coolness under pressure could be an extra string to the bow.
With such an evenness across the Cat’s team it was hard for Mark Thompson to drop someone in place of Paul Chapman. David Wojcinski is unlucky to miss out but I can see ‘Bomber’ Thompson’s logic for the selection. In an interview he said that David had been terrific all year but they had too many of the same defender type players. And when you have a proven goal sneak gamebreaker in Paul Chapman, it is handy to have that extra scoring option.
So the line ups for both teams are relatively the same as last week except for the Cats with Chapman in and Wojcinski out.
GEELONG HAWTHORN
Coaches: Mark Thompson Alistair Clarkson
Followers:
B.Ottens R.Campbell
G.Ablett B.Sewell
J.Corey S.Crawford
B: T.Harley M.Scarlett J.Hunt
F: M.Williams J.Roughead C.Brown
HB: D.Milburn H.Taylor A.Mackie
HF: M.Osborne L.Franklin C.Rioli
C: J.Selwood C.Ling C.Enright
C: C.Bateman S.Mitchell J.Lewis
HF: S.Johnson C.Mooney J.Bartel
HB: R.Ladson L.Hodge G.Birchall
F: P.Chapman T.Lonergan M.Stokes
B: S.Gilham T.Croad B.Guerra
Interchange GEELONG: M.Rooke, J.Kelly, T.Varcoe, M.Blake HAWTHORN: S.Dew, X.Ellis, B.Renouf, C.Young
Emergencies: GEELONG: D.Wojcinski, R.Gamble, S.Byrnes HAWTHORN: T.Murphy, S.Taylor, T.Tuck
The line ups are mouthwatering but I can see based on both coaches’ styles that these are not set in stone.
For the Hawks Alistair Clarkson has so many versatile options that if a player fails in defence he could be pushed forward and still have an impact. To have a player of Trent Croad’s athleticism playing at Full Back says a lot about the team Hawthorn has.
Mark Thompson has a midfield that covers from his half-back line to his half-forward line. To have such a big engine room is a luxury that no doubt ‘Bomber’ Thompson is aware of.
This game is going to be tight and I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of the third quarter it is still close. I’m actually predicting that it won’t be high scoring as people think. Both Hawthorn and Geelong have exceptional defenders and together with plenty of run in their midfield’s, easy scoring options won’t be available too often.
Geelong’s experience in the crunch times will see them prevail…but man this could be a cracking game.
SunCity_Royal’s Preview
It’s a game of numbers. Two teams. Two dreams. One game. For one, the chance of a premiership double, and a place in the record books. For the other, a chance to win their first since 91.
On this final weekend of September, two giants of the game will clash. The son of a past legend, and the emerging legend they call Buddy. It’s a rematch of the 1989 grand final which saw the Hawks reign supreme. Now almost 20 years on, the man who experienced defeat will watch from the stands as his son tries to add to his trophy cabinet. Two dreams, two different stories, only one will prevail. Only one will be crowned victorious.
Hawthorn has had a stellar year, but their focus is too buddy-centred. Generally if Franklin isn’t getting his hands on the ball, the Hawks seem to struggle. If he fires on Saturday then Geelong will be under a lot of pressure. Mathew Scarlett will probably get the matchup on Buddy, but I’m not sure if he will be able to shut him down. They will also need to keep an eye on Roughead, Campbell Brown, Mitchell, Bateman and Luke Hodge. The Hawks have a lot of firepower and are coming into the game in fantastic form.
Geelong isn’t the team everyone thinks they are. Although they won by 30 points against the Dogs they were far from convincing until the final quarter. They were sufficiently helped by the umpires, and if the Bulldogs had of kicked straight it would be a Hawthorn-Bulldogs grand final. And the Bulldogs didn’t miss because of pressure; it was just a poor display of kicking. The pressure the Dogs applied to the Cats was astronomical and Geelong struggled to break the Dogs. The tackle count went against the Cats and if Hawthorn can apply the same pressure then they will be premiers. Geelong are over rated and are in need of their second upset of the week, the first being the shock win of the Brownlow by Adam Cooney. Ha-ha take that Gary Ablett!
I hope Hawthorn wipe the floor with Geelong and I think they just might. I’m not confident though but I’m just hoping that Geelong crash and burn in similar fashion that the Power did last year.
Your preview
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September 26th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I actually thought D.Wojcinski was very unlucky as I thought he was a different style of player than the others, would think his pace would be a real assest. I would have dropped Milburn (he got towered up last week) personally…
So would Scarlett go to Buddy??
>>>Hawthorn has had a stellar year, but their focus is too buddy-centred. Generally if Franklin isn’t getting his hands on the ball, the Hawks seem to struggle.
They did not struggle last weekend with Williams and Roughead getting 9 goals between and Buddy only one. I expect Buddy to start on the wing to shake Scarlett and then go forward.
Also SunCity_Royal good spot about the Cats game plan breaking down with pressure, they lost against Collingwood and were also out tackled. Expect some good hits, bumps and great tackles by the Hawks.
I hope we do get a rematch of the ‘89 GF with the game bringing as much excitement, goal kicking ability and a close game. I hate blow out Grand Finals….
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