I feel we have a great chance this week given the confidence of the young group and the perceived vulnerability of the Saints at the moment. Kozi would be dropped in a hearbeat given his pathetic form at the moment but because they are playing us the Saints may keep him in to run him into a bit of form against average opposition This is the sort of attitude that I want to exploit and turn around on teams that under-estimate us.
Similarly the Saints kicked the majority of their score off the boot of their midfielder with Montanya kicking 5 alone. If we can give their midfield something to think about and stop their spread we could not only shut down their forward supply but also their goal kickers. The ruck is where the game will be won or lost this week IMHO and perhaps bringing in an in-form Browne as our second ruck could be a viable option...
As an aside, we have an interesting scenerio at the moment with the amount of players all playing well who specialise in specific positions on the ground. Both Morton and Post had excellent games for Coburg yet it is not easy, for mine at least, to slot them straight back in. Our forwardline at the moment we have - Riewoldt, Astbury, Griffith, Nahas and Nason. I would say Morton's position has been taken by Nason at the moment but given Nason's superior defensive game Morton is struggling to return. Morton is the better goal option IMHO but Hardwick values forwards defensive efforts, such as what Jack has been able to provide while still being extremely offensively dangerous, higher than pure scoring potential.
Post find himself in a similiar situation. He has been played as a power forward and had success on the weekend in that role yet we as a team are attempting to groom Griffiths and Astbury in that role to support Riewoldt as KPF. If Post was to come in he would need to take the place of one of these two young forwards which is a possibility but only if the coaches move Astbury down into the backline.
Another challenge is with Connors. If Lids' move to the backline is to be a long term positional change like he suggested in a recent interview then who will move out of the backline to accomidate Connors imminent return?
Stripes