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The Doctor is out on the road so he's asked to post his diagnosis of this cracking game:
Originally posted by The Doctor
Get ready folks for the blockbuster of the season - this should be an exhilarating game!
MATCH:
Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs
Saturday May 31st, Aurora Stadium, Tasmania.
2:10pm (local time)
FORM THIS SEASON:
Bulldogs - 7 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss
Hawthorn - undefeated as at round 9
They have handed out floggings to Melbourne and Collingwood. They gave Adelaide a 7 goal belting and secured narrow wins (2-3 goals) against middle of the road teams such as; Port, Kangas, Tigers, Lions and Freo (before they were a laughing stock).
Last week they overcame a surprisingly determined and competitive Melbourne side who led for much of the game.
Impressively they have won everywhere from Tassie to Subiaco and they won these playing morning, noon and night.
PLAYERS MISSING:
Hawthorn Injury list
Lewis?
Hodge
McGlynn
Guerra
Bulldogs Injury list
West
Higgins
LAST MEETING: Round 21, 2007
W Bulldogs 5.3 8.3 10.6 10.7 (67)
Hawthorn 1.7 6.9 13.14 22.19 (151)
W Bulldogs: L.Gilbee 3, L.Darcy 2, D.Giansiracusa, A.Cooney, J.Akermanis, W.Skipper, F.Ray
Hawthorn: L.Hodge 6, J.Lewis 4, J.Roughead 3, B.Dixon 3, L.Franklin 2, R.Campbell, G.Birchall, C.Brown, C.Young
BEST:W Bulldogs: West, Eagleton, Giansiracusa, Cooney, Cross, Gilbee, Lake, Johnson, Boyd
Hawthorn: Sewell, Mitchell, Hodge, Lewis, Crawford, Franklin, Brown, Birchall, Young, Guerra, Gilham
Crowd: 32,734 at Telstra Dome on Sunday, 26th August
The Dogs were on top early then got obliterated. This game was played at the height of our much publicised late season fade out. The finals bound Hawks got on top after ¼ time and seized control of the midfield and dominated after half time. We were crap. Aside from that game the Bulldogs won in 4 of their previous 5 encounters. This includes beating them earlier in the season at the MCG. We won it by 17 without playing all that well.
PLAYERS UNDER THE PUMP:
Bulldogs
Cam Wight – struggled against the Roos and maybe time for a rest. No ideal matchup for him so I query who he would play on.
Gilbee - needs to lift.
Williams - maybe he was rushed back too soon but in time will become an important player. I'd like to see him in the midfield at some point, knocking over some Hawks.
We need another runner for this gaame, so I hope we'll see one of Harbrow, Ward or Stack for Wight or Williams.
Hawks
No real standouts - most Hawthorn players have credits in the bank although one or two would make way for Lewis and/or Hodge if fit.
STYLE:
The Dogs and Hawks are the highest scoring teams in the comp. Each have excellent midfields and forwards with arguably middle of the road defences.
I like the way Hawthorn play. They play a tough, uncompromising style and like to get good numbers around the ball, especially between the 50m arcs. They back each other up strongly and their attack on the ball is fierce. They also like to attack the man and are prepared to test the resolve of the match review committee with their physical approach to the opposition.
One thing they do better than anyone is attack through the middle of the ground. Their midfielders and half backs will swarm like bees to the contest area, not necessarily the contest. They excel in the stoppages where Mitchell and Sewell are in the competitions elite at clearing the ball. When they win possession the Hawks will handball their way quickly through traffic in any direction until they find runners such as Bateman and Young in space then deliver to their killer bees, their wonderful key forwards, Franklin, Roughhead and Williams.
They defend the middle corridor very well with this swarm when they lose the ball. They are quite prepared to concede the boundary and flanks often forcing teams to go wide. Dopey teams will then try and chip their way around the boundary to get through. Meanwhile the Hawks will take their midfield swarm into the back half if it gets that far and make it difficult to get easy shots on goal. Goals against the Hawks are hard earnt.
Despite the quality of the Hawthorn midfield they do not kick many goals. Buddy, Roughie and Willo kick all their goals. Could this be their Achilles heal? If we can contain 1 or 2 of them we should win. Another thing about Hawthorn is they don’t seem to have much versatility either especially if Hodge is missing. On the other hand we can fling our players almost anywhere if we need to change the shape of the game.
The Dogs have obviously improved in the stoppages. Hudson is our key man to stop the Hawks from getting first use. We need a big game from him. We will also need to run harder than we have at any other time this season and be prepared to kick long and back our forwards to win their respective battles.
KEY DUELS:
Boyd v Mitchell
Disconnecting Mitchell from the rest of his team mates looms as possibly the most important match up decision for our match committee. Mitchell is the queen bee of the Hawthorn midfield and needs someone who can not only go with him and negate his influence but a player capable of hurting him the other way. Boyd is our man but he must be disciplined and not get caught ball watching or Mitchell will give him the slip. Don’t think Addison or Callan are ready for this one yet.
Cooney v Sewell
This match up probably works in reverse to the one above for Hawthorn. Cooney will be there biggest concern. Sewell is a great tagger and has a terrific work ethic and discipline. He is also very proficient in the clearance dept. Cooney however has been able to shrug off tags and is one of the competitions leaders in winning the contested ball. Even if he can’t he can go forward and become a danger man.
Lake v Roughead
Old fashioned big marking forward vs old fashioned big marking full back. Possibly the most exciting duel of the game. For us to win we need to beat 2 of their 3 key forwards. I’ll back Lake on the basis of good consistent form over a long period and the benefit of extra experience in big games. Who gets Williams will be interesting. I’d go with Hargrave first up.
Addison v Bateman
This may surprise some and it may not happen but I would like to see it happen. Bateman is a great runner and the Hawks chief distributor to their forwards. I’d like to cut this supply line off and Addo would be my man for this important task.
Morris v Franklin
How do you stop a man who can do almost anything? You can’t, but you can make it bloody difficult. Morris will stick to him like glue as we know. He will probably get beaten as Franklin will still kick 4.6 on a bad day but he will be our most accountable and most likely to curb his impact on the game. In the first meeting last year Franklin wiped the floor with Wight in the first ¼ before Hargrave and Lake popped over for a visit. Perhaps a solid physical work out early could unsettle him. It’s a pity we don’t have Grant there to cut off the angles or be third man in. So will Rocket look to play a loose man in the Buddy zone? The Hawks go through Buddy a lot so it wouldn’t surprise me if he does. If that’s the case I expect it will be a good ground level player like Gilbee as Franklin is arguably as good on the ground if not better than he is in the air.
Murphy v Gilham
Gilham is vastly underrated and like Murphy is a clever user of his body in a contest. He may not be the first choice for Murphy, this task may go to Croad or Brown. I’d be happy with either of those two as I think we would get the advantage. Gilham, however, has good footy smarts and will be tough to beat in the air. He is also a highly effective user of the ball so we will need Murphy to apply plenty of defensive pressure. This would be a fascinating battle.
WHO WILL WIN & WHY?
If this was at Telstra and no Hodge I’d be backing the Dogs by 20. The Hawks though have a lot of momentum at the minute and play Aurora very well. I expect them to get the points in a tight one if Lewis and Hodge play. Having said that I don’t fear them that much, and the Dogs will pip them if they are missing Lewis and Hodge.
And as the season wears on I expect them to increasingly feel the pressure. While they have a great first 22 I don’t see much experienced depth and a few injuries will wobble them.
For us to win we have to effectively shut Mitchell down and reduce the effectiveness of Bateman. This will dry up the supply to the Hawk forward line but it’s a huge ask. This match should be a pearler.
MATCH:
Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs
Saturday May 31st, Aurora Stadium, Tasmania.
2:10pm (local time)
FORM THIS SEASON:
Bulldogs - 7 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss
Hawthorn - undefeated as at round 9
They have handed out floggings to Melbourne and Collingwood. They gave Adelaide a 7 goal belting and secured narrow wins (2-3 goals) against middle of the road teams such as; Port, Kangas, Tigers, Lions and Freo (before they were a laughing stock).
Last week they overcame a surprisingly determined and competitive Melbourne side who led for much of the game.
Impressively they have won everywhere from Tassie to Subiaco and they won these playing morning, noon and night.
PLAYERS MISSING:
Hawthorn Injury list
Lewis?
Hodge
McGlynn
Guerra
Bulldogs Injury list
West
Higgins
LAST MEETING: Round 21, 2007
W Bulldogs 5.3 8.3 10.6 10.7 (67)
Hawthorn 1.7 6.9 13.14 22.19 (151)
W Bulldogs: L.Gilbee 3, L.Darcy 2, D.Giansiracusa, A.Cooney, J.Akermanis, W.Skipper, F.Ray
Hawthorn: L.Hodge 6, J.Lewis 4, J.Roughead 3, B.Dixon 3, L.Franklin 2, R.Campbell, G.Birchall, C.Brown, C.Young
BEST:W Bulldogs: West, Eagleton, Giansiracusa, Cooney, Cross, Gilbee, Lake, Johnson, Boyd
Hawthorn: Sewell, Mitchell, Hodge, Lewis, Crawford, Franklin, Brown, Birchall, Young, Guerra, Gilham
Crowd: 32,734 at Telstra Dome on Sunday, 26th August
The Dogs were on top early then got obliterated. This game was played at the height of our much publicised late season fade out. The finals bound Hawks got on top after ¼ time and seized control of the midfield and dominated after half time. We were crap. Aside from that game the Bulldogs won in 4 of their previous 5 encounters. This includes beating them earlier in the season at the MCG. We won it by 17 without playing all that well.
PLAYERS UNDER THE PUMP:
Bulldogs
Cam Wight – struggled against the Roos and maybe time for a rest. No ideal matchup for him so I query who he would play on.
Gilbee - needs to lift.
Williams - maybe he was rushed back too soon but in time will become an important player. I'd like to see him in the midfield at some point, knocking over some Hawks.
We need another runner for this gaame, so I hope we'll see one of Harbrow, Ward or Stack for Wight or Williams.
Hawks
No real standouts - most Hawthorn players have credits in the bank although one or two would make way for Lewis and/or Hodge if fit.
STYLE:
The Dogs and Hawks are the highest scoring teams in the comp. Each have excellent midfields and forwards with arguably middle of the road defences.
I like the way Hawthorn play. They play a tough, uncompromising style and like to get good numbers around the ball, especially between the 50m arcs. They back each other up strongly and their attack on the ball is fierce. They also like to attack the man and are prepared to test the resolve of the match review committee with their physical approach to the opposition.
One thing they do better than anyone is attack through the middle of the ground. Their midfielders and half backs will swarm like bees to the contest area, not necessarily the contest. They excel in the stoppages where Mitchell and Sewell are in the competitions elite at clearing the ball. When they win possession the Hawks will handball their way quickly through traffic in any direction until they find runners such as Bateman and Young in space then deliver to their killer bees, their wonderful key forwards, Franklin, Roughhead and Williams.
They defend the middle corridor very well with this swarm when they lose the ball. They are quite prepared to concede the boundary and flanks often forcing teams to go wide. Dopey teams will then try and chip their way around the boundary to get through. Meanwhile the Hawks will take their midfield swarm into the back half if it gets that far and make it difficult to get easy shots on goal. Goals against the Hawks are hard earnt.
Despite the quality of the Hawthorn midfield they do not kick many goals. Buddy, Roughie and Willo kick all their goals. Could this be their Achilles heal? If we can contain 1 or 2 of them we should win. Another thing about Hawthorn is they don’t seem to have much versatility either especially if Hodge is missing. On the other hand we can fling our players almost anywhere if we need to change the shape of the game.
The Dogs have obviously improved in the stoppages. Hudson is our key man to stop the Hawks from getting first use. We need a big game from him. We will also need to run harder than we have at any other time this season and be prepared to kick long and back our forwards to win their respective battles.
KEY DUELS:
Boyd v Mitchell
Disconnecting Mitchell from the rest of his team mates looms as possibly the most important match up decision for our match committee. Mitchell is the queen bee of the Hawthorn midfield and needs someone who can not only go with him and negate his influence but a player capable of hurting him the other way. Boyd is our man but he must be disciplined and not get caught ball watching or Mitchell will give him the slip. Don’t think Addison or Callan are ready for this one yet.
Cooney v Sewell
This match up probably works in reverse to the one above for Hawthorn. Cooney will be there biggest concern. Sewell is a great tagger and has a terrific work ethic and discipline. He is also very proficient in the clearance dept. Cooney however has been able to shrug off tags and is one of the competitions leaders in winning the contested ball. Even if he can’t he can go forward and become a danger man.
Lake v Roughead
Old fashioned big marking forward vs old fashioned big marking full back. Possibly the most exciting duel of the game. For us to win we need to beat 2 of their 3 key forwards. I’ll back Lake on the basis of good consistent form over a long period and the benefit of extra experience in big games. Who gets Williams will be interesting. I’d go with Hargrave first up.
Addison v Bateman
This may surprise some and it may not happen but I would like to see it happen. Bateman is a great runner and the Hawks chief distributor to their forwards. I’d like to cut this supply line off and Addo would be my man for this important task.
Morris v Franklin
How do you stop a man who can do almost anything? You can’t, but you can make it bloody difficult. Morris will stick to him like glue as we know. He will probably get beaten as Franklin will still kick 4.6 on a bad day but he will be our most accountable and most likely to curb his impact on the game. In the first meeting last year Franklin wiped the floor with Wight in the first ¼ before Hargrave and Lake popped over for a visit. Perhaps a solid physical work out early could unsettle him. It’s a pity we don’t have Grant there to cut off the angles or be third man in. So will Rocket look to play a loose man in the Buddy zone? The Hawks go through Buddy a lot so it wouldn’t surprise me if he does. If that’s the case I expect it will be a good ground level player like Gilbee as Franklin is arguably as good on the ground if not better than he is in the air.
Murphy v Gilham
Gilham is vastly underrated and like Murphy is a clever user of his body in a contest. He may not be the first choice for Murphy, this task may go to Croad or Brown. I’d be happy with either of those two as I think we would get the advantage. Gilham, however, has good footy smarts and will be tough to beat in the air. He is also a highly effective user of the ball so we will need Murphy to apply plenty of defensive pressure. This would be a fascinating battle.
WHO WILL WIN & WHY?
If this was at Telstra and no Hodge I’d be backing the Dogs by 20. The Hawks though have a lot of momentum at the minute and play Aurora very well. I expect them to get the points in a tight one if Lewis and Hodge play. Having said that I don’t fear them that much, and the Dogs will pip them if they are missing Lewis and Hodge.
And as the season wears on I expect them to increasingly feel the pressure. While they have a great first 22 I don’t see much experienced depth and a few injuries will wobble them.
For us to win we have to effectively shut Mitchell down and reduce the effectiveness of Bateman. This will dry up the supply to the Hawk forward line but it’s a huge ask. This match should be a pearler.
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