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Bruce Matthews From: Herald Sun May 30, 2012 12:00AM
NEW Rising Star favourite Mitch Wallis will have that fleeting fame put to the supreme test against Sydney at the SCG on Sunday.
The 19-year-old and his fellow midfielders know they must excel in the contested-ball contests being drilled into every Western Bulldog if they are to claim their first top-eight scalp this season.
Wallis has leapt to the top of the Rising Star market with online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au after his 24-possession game against Geelong that earned 108 Supercoach points, boosting his average to an impressive 88 after just 13 AFL games.
Backman Patrick Veszpremi, more than anyone, knows what confronts the Bulldogs as he prepares to face his former Swans teammates for the first time.
"It will be a really good challenge. We're up there in contested footy and that's one of the key factors at the SCG,'' Veszpremi said.
''We're not going to change anything, so hopefully our young mids and old mids can get in there first and we can fix up the other areas.''
The Bulldogs' hard-nosed approach to the ball and the ball carrier is still a work in progress under coach Brendan McCartney.
"The belief is still pretty strong. It's like anything, you get extra belief in a way if you do knock off one of those top eight teams,'' Veszpremi said.
''But at the moment, we're pretty level and have been since Round 1 and we're just keen to keep going forward and improve on the areas that we need to," .
Ruckman-forward Ayce Cordy, a late withdrawal last Friday night, is ready to go, along with defenders Easton Wood (hamstring) and Dylan Addison (suspension).
Cordy's return would give McCartney more options with another tall Jordan Roughead.
"We did our review on Monday (of the loss to Geelong) and talked a lot about that last kick going inside 50 and about defensive pressure around the ground to win the footy back," Roughead said.
"Something we're priding ourselves in at the moment is contested footy. We're going all right in that department and really are going to have to again because Sydney like to play a congested style. So we're going to have to get our hands on it inside."
NEW Rising Star favourite Mitch Wallis will have that fleeting fame put to the supreme test against Sydney at the SCG on Sunday.
The 19-year-old and his fellow midfielders know they must excel in the contested-ball contests being drilled into every Western Bulldog if they are to claim their first top-eight scalp this season.
Wallis has leapt to the top of the Rising Star market with online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au after his 24-possession game against Geelong that earned 108 Supercoach points, boosting his average to an impressive 88 after just 13 AFL games.
Backman Patrick Veszpremi, more than anyone, knows what confronts the Bulldogs as he prepares to face his former Swans teammates for the first time.
"It will be a really good challenge. We're up there in contested footy and that's one of the key factors at the SCG,'' Veszpremi said.
''We're not going to change anything, so hopefully our young mids and old mids can get in there first and we can fix up the other areas.''
The Bulldogs' hard-nosed approach to the ball and the ball carrier is still a work in progress under coach Brendan McCartney.
"The belief is still pretty strong. It's like anything, you get extra belief in a way if you do knock off one of those top eight teams,'' Veszpremi said.
''But at the moment, we're pretty level and have been since Round 1 and we're just keen to keep going forward and improve on the areas that we need to," .
Ruckman-forward Ayce Cordy, a late withdrawal last Friday night, is ready to go, along with defenders Easton Wood (hamstring) and Dylan Addison (suspension).
Cordy's return would give McCartney more options with another tall Jordan Roughead.
"We did our review on Monday (of the loss to Geelong) and talked a lot about that last kick going inside 50 and about defensive pressure around the ground to win the footy back," Roughead said.
"Something we're priding ourselves in at the moment is contested footy. We're going all right in that department and really are going to have to again because Sydney like to play a congested style. So we're going to have to get our hands on it inside."
love Mitche's work along with young Libba very promising and deserves teh rising star award if he keeps his game up.
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