Land of the Giants
There’s some big boys in the Giants forward line, that’s for sure.
Jon Patton stands 198cm and weighs 103kgs, Jeremy Cameron is 196 and 93 and Rory Lobb is 202 and 102. Factor in Shane Munford, who we will probably wander forward at some point as well, and you can expect at least two of the ‘big boppers’, as Jonathan Brown likes to call them, down there at all times.
So, how do we expect to cover them? With injuries and suspensions, the Dogs defence is as undermanned as it’s ever been, but you can bet Luke Beveridge remains confident in his 18-man defensive system.
And why not, the Dogs are holding their opponents to 66.7 points per game.
Put the Moz on’em
Of course, there’s always the possibility that one gets off the leash, something all three Giants forwards are capable of. If that happens and an adjustment needs to be made, there’s a good chance the runner will be sent out to Dale Morris.
How’s this for Moz’s match up chart this year: According to Champion Data, last week he spent the majority of his time on 195cm Jesse Hogan, the week before, 172cm Eddie Betts, prior to that 188cm Jack Zieball and before that 199cm Josh Schache.
You can see where we going here. He’s been covering the tall and the short of the AFL his whole career and will be there if called upon this weekend.
Spotless record
For the second week running the Dogs will play away from Etihad Stadium, a challenge that Luke Beveridge seems to relish.
The Dogs won and won well last week against the Demons at the MCG and now face what’s slowly becoming one of the biggest tasks in footy, the Giants in Sydney. GWS have won by an average margin of 83-points in their two games in the Olympic Park precinct this year, putting up 24.14 and 22.17 against the Hawks and the Suns respectively.
Still, any team that wants to go deep into September need to win away from home and you can bet the Dogs are up for the challenge and can’t wait to land at Kingsford-Smith and get on with this one.
Orange crush
For the third week running, the Bulldogs are facing the AFL’s newly-crowned highest scoring team, a stat boosted by big wins over the Power, the Saints, the Hawks and the Suns, and their average winning margin is second only to the Eagles, so when the win, they win big.
The Dogs won’t be interested in getting into a shootout, which means Steve Johnson’s name could be on top of the whiteboard of players that’ll need to be slowed down. It’s certainly not a case of stop Stevie J, stop the Giants, but according to Champion Data, the former Cat has 74 score involvements to his name in 2016, which places him third in the AFL overall.
That’s 30.3% of Greater Western Sydney’s goals the 33-year old has had a hand in.
Simply put, the less the mercurial Johnson touches the ball the better.
