That would have been the question posed by the coaching staff when discussing how to stop Hawthorns scoring options. Franklin, Roughead, Gunston, Rioli, Puopolo etc, etc et..bloody...c
Clearly is has to be midfield pressure stopping supply or at least pressuring it to the point of it impacting upon the quality of the delivery, which (bar 15 mintues against Essendon) we have done particularly well over the last month.
Can we do it against Hawthorn? I hope so, in fact I believe we can. Can we do it for long enough to win the match? That will be difficult and conditions will be similar to those we faced when playing Sydney. Many saying we beat Sydney at Sydneys game.
Westhoff is a big, big loss. We cant afford to bring in Renouf in the forecast conditions and Trengove, as he did last week, wont be available to pinch hit in the ruck. All hands required on deck down back.
The ommision of Hombsch was the most interesting for mine. He looks nearly ready for a rest, but he is on the emergency list? So was he left out based on form? Tough call, he didnt have a great one against Essendon (subbed out for P.Stewart) but not many of the back half did, in the first half of that match.
Tough contest coming up against the Hawks after their masters (Geelong) gave them another lesson last week. They'll be pissed, the Hawks.Look for them to be really physical early against our young midfield group.
I think we can push them, but the gap between a top 4 and middle of the ladder side will show in the end. Perhaps...
Hawks by 18 in a wet,dour slog.
