Geelong v Adelaide
Simonds Stadium – Saturday 28 July – 1:45PM
Adelaide will be looking to consolidate a top two position when they travel down to Simonds Stadium to take on Geelong.
A win for Adelaide this week would all but clinch a top two finish for 2012, given the incredible blessed draw they have to finish the season.
The Crows have been in great form the last couple of week, disposing of an injury riddled Eagles line up last week with relative ease.
Geelong meanwhile reignited its season last Friday night with a vintage performance to demolish Essendon. The Cats needs to display the same intensity in order to get past the high-flying Crows.
The win maintained a vital gap ahead of the chasing pack, with both North Melbourne and Fremantle gunning for the last two positions in the eight.
Simonds Stadium hasn’t proven to be the fortress it was in previous seasons, with Geelong recording several unconvincing wins at the ground this year. Geelong will look to rectify the situation this Saturday with its newly found vigor.
Kurt Tippett will miss this week after his much-publicised third concussion in five games. Luckily for Adelaide, young gun Taylor Walker returns from suspension to lead the Crows attack. Andy Otten will also miss with a knee concern, replaced by Luke Thompson.
Geelong will welcome back important duo Jimmy Bartel and Allen Christensen for this crunch match. The duo come in for star defender Matthew Scarlett after receiving a week for a back handed whack while Jordan Murdoch has been omitted.
The loss of Scarlett will mean Tom Lonergan and Harry Taylor will have to be at their very best in order to curtail a very potent Adelaide forward line that has shown the capability to find goals from multiple sources over the past few weeks.
Adelaide however will need to be wary of Tom Hawkins, who began to re-find some touch last week.
Indeed, Tom Hawkins may be the decisive factor in the result of this game.
Prediction: Geelong by 1 point
Teams
Geelong Cats
B: Joel Corey, Tom Lonergan, Corey Enright
HB: Harry Taylor, Josh Hunt, James Kelly
C: Andrew Mackie, Taylor Hunt, Mathew Stokes
HF: Jimmy Bartel, Tom Hawkins, Steven Motlop
F: Paul Chapman, Josh Walker, Mitch Duncan
Foll: Trent West, Joel Selwood, Steve Johnson
I/C: Jackson Sheringham, Allen Christensen, Billie Smedts, Cameron Guthrie
Emg: Mitch Brown, James Podsiadly, Jordan Murdoch
In: Jimmy Bartel, Allen Christensen
Out: Matthew Scarlett (Suspension), Jordan Murdoch
Adelaide
B: Luke Thompson, Ben Rutten, Michael Doughty
HB: Nathan van Berlo, Daniel Talia, Brent Reilly
C: Bernie Vince, Scott Thompson, David Mackay
HF: Jason Porplyzia, Josh Jenkins, Matthew Wright
F: Richard Douglas, Taylor Walker, Ian Callinan
Foll: Sam Jacobs, Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane
I/C: Graham Johncock, Brad Symes, Jared Petrenko, Brodie Smith
Emg: Shaun McKernan, Richard Tambling, Tom Lynch
In: Taylor Walker, Luke Thompson
Out: Kurt Tippett (Concussion), Andy Otten (Knee)
