_Mike_
Super Moderator
- Aug 10, 2009
- 34,804
- 34,287
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Other Teams
- Tottenham, Montreal Canadiens
- Moderator
- #1
Team Changes for 1st Semi Final
GWS
Veteran Steve Johnson is one of two inclusions for Saturday night’s do-or-die semi-final against the West Coast Eagles at Spotless Stadium. Johnson returns to the side and will play his 25th final after missing last week’s loss to the Crows. First-year player Taranto will also come in to make his finals debut.
Last year’s number two draft pick, Taranto returns to the team for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in round 14. As revealed earlier in the week, ruckman Shane Mumford (foot) and Jeremy Cameron (hamstring) will be sidelined for the remainder of the season with injury.
WCE
Experienced utility player Sharrod Wellingham will get the chance to rekindle his senior career after being named in the West Coast Eagles team to play in Saturday’s sudden death final against GWS at Spotless Stadium. The inclusion of Wellingham at the expense of rookie Luke Partington is the only change to the team that won the nail-biting extra time elimination final against Port Adelaide last Saturday night.
Partington has played the last six games in succession, but makes way for veteran Wellingham, who has played just one of the last eight games. Partington was listed as an emergency with tall defender Will Schofield and midfielder Chris Masten.
Match Preview
The Eagles pulled off one of the great finals victories when they toppled Port Adelaide in extra time last week, but they'll need to move on quickly and get ready for another tough road trip. The Giants will have an extra two days to recover from their disappointing finals opener against the Crows, and the loss of star goalkicker Jeremy Cameron for the rest of the year with a hamstring injury only adds to their pain and it will force them to reshuffle their misfiring forward half. Shane Mumford's absence in the ruck is also a massive blow to GWS' hopes. A straight-sets exit would be disastrous for the Giants and they'll be keen to recapture their form on their home deck.
What happened when they last met?
Round 22: GWS 12.9 (81) d West Coast 9.6 (60) at Spotless Stadium
Inspired by an outstanding 43-possession game by midfielder Josh Kelly, the Giants kicked the last three goals of the match to hold off the plucky Eagles.
GWS' key strengths
1. The Giants might use Harry Himmelberg as a defensive forward to try and nullify All Australian marking machine Jeremy McGovern, after he played a similar role on Jake Lever last week.
2. With Jeremy Cameron missing, the Giants will go in with a much shorter forward line, and look to prove too mobile for the visitors at ground level.
3. Running machine Tom Scully will go to West Coast gun Andrew Gaff on the wing after helping curb his influence at Spotless Stadium last month.
WCE's key strengths
1. Adam Simpson sent tagger Mark Hutchings to Dylan Shiel in round 22 and Josh Kelly ran riot, so he might find himself with Hutchings for company this week.
2. All Australian Elliot Yeo had a fascinating duel with Toby Greene the last time these teams met, and should get the job again after he racked up 30 disposals in round 22.
3. With GWS ruckman Shane Mumford ruled out with a foot problem, Nathan Vardy and Drew Petrie will be looking to get dangerous inside 50 as often as possible to make the Giant accountable.
Stats that matter
1. In both clashes with the Eagles this season the Giants did enough in the final quarter to get home. In round 10 they kicked six goals to five and then in round 22, they booted four goals to one. In the most recent game Josh Kelly was the star with 43 disposals, one goal and eight clearances.
2. The Giants have struggled to score in their last two games and after averaging 91 points per game in rounds 1-22, that has dropped to 54 in the last two weeks. GWS is now ranked seventh for scoring this season, just ahead of the Eagles equal ninth.
3.The Giants remain the best clearance team in 2017, they're ranked first averaging 42.2 per game, and are second for centre clearances. The Eagles have struggled in centre clearances, they're ranked 15th overall and last of the remaining finalists.
4. GWS will be playing in the second week of the finals for the first time. In 2016 the Giants won straight through to a preliminary final and they are aiming for just their second win in a final. West Coast has won five of 12 knock-out semi-finals, their most recent was in 2012 losing to Collingwood.
5. To win the Eagles will need to go against history; since 2000, under the current finals system the eighth-placed team has won consecutive finals only once, when North Melbourne did it in 2015. If the Giants lose they will be the second fourth-placed team in the past three seasons to be eliminated in straight sets.
6. On the back of his epic game-winner in extra time last week, West Coast midfielder Luke Shuey has risen to a career-high 15th in the Schick AFL Player ratings.
Coach's words...
Leon Cameron: "That's the difference in the game, we started well, but we're really disappointing in the second quarter. I'm confident we can fix it, it's been two one-quarter hits in the last two weeks, so we can't shy away from that," he said after last week's loss to Adelaide.
Adam Simpson: "To do that we did in the last couple of minutes, it's a massive step forward for us as a club and for what we're trying to achieve. I couldn't be prouder, these types of wins go down in history," he said after last week's extra-time win over Port Adelaide.
What the "experts say"
Prediction:
After a heart stopping win with a kick after the siren the Eagles travel to Spotless Stadium to take on the Giants who were well down on form against flag favorites Adelaide. With the inclusion of Stevie J adding potency on the forward line GWS will need to overcome the absence of key players Cameron and Mumford. With a dry ground and sunny 22 degree forecast the conditions at Spotless play to GWS' speed. The Eagles will be hoping to see their form carry them to a Preliminary Final against Richmond however my prediction for this game is the Giants by 28.
Forecast for the rest of Saturday September 16
Summary
Min 12
Max 22
Partly cloudy.
Possible rainfall: 0 mm
Chance of any rain: 10%
Sydney area
Partly cloudy. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h in the morning then turning southwesterly 25 to 35 km/h in the afternoon.
Last edited:
