Rd 5 2008 Centrals v North @ Adelaide Oval (ANZAC DAY)
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:42 pmI know North Adelaide still haven't played their round 4 game yet, but for Doggies fans, who do we think will be back in the league team for the ANZAC day clash at Adelaide Oval ? I've made a couple of points below which I reckon will make for interesting discussion ?
Not only would you say the selectors have a few tough decisions to make, but there will also be a few guys that will consider themselves unlucky to miss out after contributing in the win over the Redlegs last saturday night. Obviously young Matty Westhoff was good up forward on debut with 3 goals, as was Cameron Faulkner in his first senior appearnace since coming back home from the Western Bulldogs. I think that Cam deserves to keep his spot based on his efforts of last week.
If his shoulder is fine, then clearly Daniel Schell comes straight back into the line up. I would have thought he needs to slot back into CHB after having a pretty good record on North's CHF Clint Alleway, including last years GF ? If Sponge is okay with his knee, does this mean Matty Westhoff finds himself back in the 2's at Luke's expense ? He would be very unlucky if that was to be the case. I think Sponge will miss the game and be back the following week, just to make sure he gets it right in an attempt to play the rest of the year out uninterupted.
If Sponge does come in and the weather is nice and dry, we could try and expose North down back with a really tall forward line of Cowan, Havelberg, M.Westhoff (and who knows, possibly even his brother Justin if he has another shocker with the Power ?!!) The good thing with Dan Havelberg though is having the versatility to send him down back if this option wasn't working or even if there was a mismatch in our defence ? Could be an option, but who knows... ?
Surely, our veteran Luke McCabe would need to have a run in the 2's first to test out his ageing hammies ? I wouldn't complain if the ex Hawk did come straight back because of his experience, but he hasn't played in about a month now and it would be pure match fitness he'd be lacking so a run in the ressies would have to be the best option ? If he did come in, it would probably be at the expense of Lee Spurr. Regardless of this though I think young Spurry will be playing in the early game anyway. I think there is some guy called James Gowans to come back into the team for his first appearance of the year ??!!
Then there is Noodles who is back from his honeymoon and would surely have to be considered for selection after playing in the reserves last week. In saying that though, I think Leigh Westhoff has probably done enough to date on his wing to not lose his spot, so Noodles may come in either come in as crumbing forward or interchange player ? Maybe for Chad O'Sullivan, but I reckon Sully is just easing back into form after a interrupted preseason so I think he at least deserves a spot on the bench ? Whatever decision(s) the match commitee make, no doubt, they will be in the best interest of both team balance and match ups against our opposition, North Adelaide.
Good luck to those gentleman who have to make the final choices, I'm sure there will be a few unlucky guys, like I mentioned above that wil miss out. I guess the one positive is that our depth will improve through the proceeding grades underneath with quality players coming back through the lower grades. Depth has clearly been a big key to the majority of our success in recent years.
Bring on Friday 25th April I say, can't wait to get down to the pristine Adelaide Oval to see our legends and heros of the past with the Anzac diggers, then hopefully our 2 mighty Doggies outfits can show the same kind of strength and determination to get another win on the board. I really do reckon that our boys lift that extra notch for these games and obviously the North boys wouldn't have played in one of these special days before so I reckon our experience on all levels will win out on the day. Or so I hope at least... !!??
GO U DOGGIES...
Big Phil...
Not only would you say the selectors have a few tough decisions to make, but there will also be a few guys that will consider themselves unlucky to miss out after contributing in the win over the Redlegs last saturday night. Obviously young Matty Westhoff was good up forward on debut with 3 goals, as was Cameron Faulkner in his first senior appearnace since coming back home from the Western Bulldogs. I think that Cam deserves to keep his spot based on his efforts of last week.
If his shoulder is fine, then clearly Daniel Schell comes straight back into the line up. I would have thought he needs to slot back into CHB after having a pretty good record on North's CHF Clint Alleway, including last years GF ? If Sponge is okay with his knee, does this mean Matty Westhoff finds himself back in the 2's at Luke's expense ? He would be very unlucky if that was to be the case. I think Sponge will miss the game and be back the following week, just to make sure he gets it right in an attempt to play the rest of the year out uninterupted.
If Sponge does come in and the weather is nice and dry, we could try and expose North down back with a really tall forward line of Cowan, Havelberg, M.Westhoff (and who knows, possibly even his brother Justin if he has another shocker with the Power ?!!) The good thing with Dan Havelberg though is having the versatility to send him down back if this option wasn't working or even if there was a mismatch in our defence ? Could be an option, but who knows... ?
Surely, our veteran Luke McCabe would need to have a run in the 2's first to test out his ageing hammies ? I wouldn't complain if the ex Hawk did come straight back because of his experience, but he hasn't played in about a month now and it would be pure match fitness he'd be lacking so a run in the ressies would have to be the best option ? If he did come in, it would probably be at the expense of Lee Spurr. Regardless of this though I think young Spurry will be playing in the early game anyway. I think there is some guy called James Gowans to come back into the team for his first appearance of the year ??!!
Then there is Noodles who is back from his honeymoon and would surely have to be considered for selection after playing in the reserves last week. In saying that though, I think Leigh Westhoff has probably done enough to date on his wing to not lose his spot, so Noodles may come in either come in as crumbing forward or interchange player ? Maybe for Chad O'Sullivan, but I reckon Sully is just easing back into form after a interrupted preseason so I think he at least deserves a spot on the bench ? Whatever decision(s) the match commitee make, no doubt, they will be in the best interest of both team balance and match ups against our opposition, North Adelaide.
Good luck to those gentleman who have to make the final choices, I'm sure there will be a few unlucky guys, like I mentioned above that wil miss out. I guess the one positive is that our depth will improve through the proceeding grades underneath with quality players coming back through the lower grades. Depth has clearly been a big key to the majority of our success in recent years.
Bring on Friday 25th April I say, can't wait to get down to the pristine Adelaide Oval to see our legends and heros of the past with the Anzac diggers, then hopefully our 2 mighty Doggies outfits can show the same kind of strength and determination to get another win on the board. I really do reckon that our boys lift that extra notch for these games and obviously the North boys wouldn't have played in one of these special days before so I reckon our experience on all levels will win out on the day. Or so I hope at least... !!??
GO U DOGGIES...
Big Phil...
