As winners of four of their past five matches, Footscray Bulldogs coach Ashely Hansen is confident that his side enters their First Qualifying Final with Box Hill on Saturday with a good chance to reverse the result of their Round 1 encounter, when the Bulldogs went down by 13-points.
”You take some elements from our previous meeting such as certain match ups or strategies that were employed, but more specifically we look at their form line from the last month to generate a profile of how they are tracking as a group and which individuals are being influential,” he said.
The Bulldogs welcome back co-captains Jordan Russell and Mark Austin, whose leadership Hansen said is vital to how far his young team can go in 2015.
“Both are quality leaders and integral parts of the team. They will not only provide us with their football ability but game knowledge to help our young members through the various phases of the game.”
Despite fears of a ‘drain’ of the VFL side as flagged by Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge following the AFL side’s win over North Melbourne last weekend, only Caleb Daniel, Brett Goodes and Fletcher Roberts have been recalled for senior duty.
Robert’s role will be filled by Michael Talia returning from injury, and Hansen expects the transition to be seamless.
“Michael has played some terrific football at AFL level so to be able to replace Fletcher with a like for like player is a great asset to have within the club. I’m 100% confident he can come in and do the job asked of him.”
“In any case, we pride ourselves on having the two teams, one club mantra and that filters through to game day when each player knows the role and contribution we require for the team to be successful,” Hansen said.
“This doesn’t change depending upon personnel, so we will be ready to go come Saturday at 2pm.”
A win will see the Dogs through to a preliminary final in two weeks’ time, and a loss will result in match up with either Essendon or Casey at North Port Oval on Saturday week.
