Interesting to note… when Dogs lose the contested possession count they lose the game. Even when they’ve won the uncontested possession count in those games, they’ve lost. Here’s hoping our boys can maintain the rage tonight
Brown and Stringer (as brilliant as he is) are chest mark or nearly nothing
Bags decent for his size i guess
Begley not especially good in the air
Townsend has pretty good hands I think probably better than Brown or Stringer
Laverde not amazing but I think at least equal to Brown
The rest are a nil all draw I think, obviously havent seen Cahill yet but Begley doesnt give him much too Have to beat)
Also what snelling and Cahill lack in the air they will make up for at ground level compared to the snails they are “replacing”
This is a critical point - contested possessions are our weakness and Shiel is one of our best at it so his loss in a big loss.
It has to start with Phillips buffeting English, like he did Grundy, and giving our mids best chance to get their hands on the ball first.
If McKenna doesn’t come up, I would love to see Dylan Clarke in for this very reason.
I wouldn’t be disappointed though if Francis came in - our best match up on Bont when Bont goes forward - and Redman ends up spending some time in the midfield.
If we can play the way we played against Collingwood, and Hooker goes forward if needs be Hooker not Hurley. Hooker is a better kick for goal than Hurley I think. If we can get some early goals on the board it will set us up and not them. If our kicking is bad like it was against Collingwood 11 points, we’ll have our work cut out for us. Go Bombers. Rip’em apart.