Geelong v Western Bulldogs
Last time these two teams met Geelong 19.17 (131) defeated Western Bulldogs 10.10 (70), round 16, 2008, at Skilled Stadium.
Western Bulldogs have named an unchanged lineup that saw them beat Sydney by 37 points. In that game we saw plenty of the Bulldog’s characteristic run and hardness against the ageing legs of Sydney’s midfield.
The Bulldog’s will have to rely on Jason Akermanis to put his money where his mouth is and step up to the plate. In years gone by Jason has been able to back up his outlandish claims with his talent so it will be interesting to see how he goes. Brad Johnson and Robert Murphy will also have to provide the firepower up front.
The Cats should be nice and relaxed after a week’s rest from playing. The first week they demolished St Kilda with their hard rebounding out of defense. Paul Chapman seems certain to sit out another game with hamstring soreness, and if they win will he be able to squeeze himself into the line up for another GF berth?
I’m not too worried about the Bulldog’s defense line because most of Geelong’s attack comes from their pacy midfield. But how will the WB’s midfield of Josh Hill, Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross cope with the class and speed of Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel with good support from the rest?
Geelong by 40 points
Hawthorn v St Kilda
Last time these two teams met St Kilda 18.11 (119) defeated Hawthorn 13.11 (89), round 16, 2007, at Telstra Dome and in recent meetings the Saints have had the wood over the Hawks.
St Kilda have included Luke Ball and Jarryd Allen has been omitted. Meanwhile for the Hawks Xavier Ellis is in and Cameron Stokes is out with hamstring tightness.
After easily disposing of the Bulldogs in week one of the finals, the Hawks should be well rested. In their last encounter with the Saints the Hawk’s midfield over possessed. Sam Mitchell even admitted that was his worst game and under the pressure of defeat, an argument broke out between himself and Luke Hodge.
So there is a question mark maybe over Hawthorn’s ability to deal with defensive pressure but I think Alistair Clarkson would of learnt a lot from that game. the tall towers in Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke were given too much room to lead into and Stephen Milne was then able to feed off them.
I think Clarkson will counter this time by dropping someone back into that hole, like Luke Hodge. On the rebound from this area the Hawks should be able to target Roughhead and Franklin, who complement each other very nicely.
Hawthorn by 28 points
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September 19th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
For the Dogs and Saints to win everything has to go right and everything go wrong for the Cats and Hawks..
The Dogs will need HUGE games from Cross, Cooney (major disappointment these finals), Murphy, Hahn and Aker the mouth. I think that while they may be able to match them in the midfield, they will need to kick and run it quickly into their forward line otherwise Harley and co will eat them for breakfast and ensure they go into their 2nd GF.
The Hawks imo lack in defense and their ruck and the Saints strongest points imo is their ruck (King and Kosi) and their forward line with Riewoldt, Kosi and small men of Schidner and Milne.
I think it will remain a re-match of the 1989 GF however
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