Analysis Finals opponent - Best to worst outcomes

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A likely qualifying final against Sydney at ANZ beckons.

My initial thoughts were the larger ground will be of benefit to us as opposed to the smaller confines of the SCG.

Thoughts?
 

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A likely qualifying final against Sydney at ANZ beckons.

My initial thoughts were the larger ground will be of benefit to us as opposed to the smaller confines of the SCG.

Thoughts?
It's actually the opposite of that. After the recent redevelopments the SCG is larger than grounds like Adelaide Oval and Etihad, whilst ANZ is the smallest ground in the competition. It's basically just as narrow as Kardinia Park, but 10m shorter.
 
It's actually the opposite of that. After the recent redevelopments the SCG is larger than grounds like Adelaide Oval and Etihad, whilst ANZ is the smallest ground in the competition. It's basically just as narrow as Kardinia Park, but 10m shorter.
wow really? didn't realise they had altered it. We haven't been there in some time.

Has Sydney played there this season?
 
wow really? didn't realise they had altered it. We haven't been there in some time.

Has Sydney played there this season?
Most people think ANZ is a bigger ground because it's has more crowd capacity, but the playing area is actually really tight. Sydney haven't played there since 2015. We were hoping there'd be a late ground switch to the SCG but I can't see it happening.
 
In all likelihood it's looking like the Swans in Sydney first week, does anyone give the Eagles a hope over in Adelaide on Friday night? A West Coast win would leap frog us up to third and Geelong to second (assuming we both win our games) and all of a sudden the result would be an MCG qualifying final.

An Adelaide win (as expected) wouldn't make much difference to anything, unless they win by 10 goals plus and the Swans only win by a little, Sydney would likely stay top, for me it's going to be either a trip and ANZ to play the Swans or the Cats at the G as I can't see us dropping the Collingwood game nor the Cats dropping the Melbourne one down at Geelong.

I absolutely give us a hope in both scenarios


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ANZ is perfect. I am happy with anyone anywhere.

Adelaide in Adelaide will be the hardest game.

Which is why people hoping that Geelong lost to Brisbane or lose to Melbourne this weekend clearly haven't looked at the consequences. We want the Eagles to knock of Adelaide this weekend and Geelong to beat Melbourne so that we get the Cats at the MCG in F1. I think we are a good chance to beat them there. Adelaide in Adelaide on the other hand....
 
An interesting point is that if it does turn out to be a Sydney vs Hawthorn game the loser will most likely have to play GWS and that isn't a game I would feel confident winning, for either team, as GWS can be tricky.

I would argue that GWS at ANZ would be a tougher ask than at MCG though.
 

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Friday night Adelaide v West Coast is a massive game.

If Adelaide lose, then Hawks are playing for a home final.

If Adelaide win, then Hawks are playing for either an away final against the $wans or home final against $wans or Geelong depending on other results.
 
I'm very happy to play Sydney week 1.

Like all top 4 teams this season their lineup very patchy in quality.

In big games they rely on Buddy to bail them out (ala Hawks 2012) and Frawley has a good track record of holding him.
 
Friday night Adelaide v West Coast is a massive game.

If Adelaide lose, then Hawks are playing for a home final.

If Adelaide win, then Hawks are playing for either an away final against the $wans or home final against $wans or Geelong depending on other results.

Adelaide won't lose to WC at home with WC missing Nic Nat unfortunately. Can't see any of the sides above or around us losing.
 
This entire scenario as it stands could still be good for us...

The Hawks have had two issues this year - a comparative lack of scoring, and a tendency to lapse. Can't fix the first one without the focus of the second, because we rely on more complictated systems of play to get the ball to a multi pronged group of small forwards, than say a Tony Lockett style "bomb it and he'll do the rest" setup...

Compared to other sides, we might be walking into a finals series in better shape than we initially look, especially if we get a good workout against Collingwood. North and WC gave it to us, but if you look closely at Geelong, Adelaide and Sydney, all will cruise into the finals with nary a sweat, and two of them will get the advantages of a top two finish, most likely the interstaters. This is not ideal preparation for a finals series, and I often point to the overly easy run Geelong had in 2008 for two months up to the GF as an example of any team needing constant edging on at the right times to achieve the best results on the big day...

Last year, it took a little sabbatical from each player after the QF debacle to reestablish focus and commit to the flag. I'm hoping (not predicting!) last weekend's hiccup could be the factor that eats away at each Hawk and makes them totally focussed on bringing home the prize - because our experience really is the only thing we have over any other team in the finals...!
 
Although I agree our list of experienced players has taken a huge dent without the likes of Rough Lake Hale Suckling last year being replaced with Sicily OBrien Brand Hartung and now someone like Fitzpatrick coming in for Ceglar. And add Shoey and Spangher to that list because I can't see them coming in to make an impact. That a quarter of the team and a huge gap to fill IMO. Will be interesting to see how the young guys handle the finals pressure as so far they have generally gone missing in the past few rounds.
 
Sheahan reporting on 360 swans finals will be moved last minute to scg, FFS!


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The SCG is their home ground though after all so there is more then a reasonable argument for them to host finals there, if we do end up with the Swans week 1 then it shouldn't matter to us where the game is played, we have won at the SCG in the last couple of months and we had a really good win over them at ANZ last season, slightly different sides this time around but we still should be able to approach both with a reasonable degree of confidence that we can put up a good performance


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Analysis Finals opponent - Best to worst outcomes

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