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Saturday’s feast of football kicks off with what could be a season-defining match at AAMI Stadium as Adelaide hosts Geelong. We’ll bring you all the action from 1.15pm AEST, so make sure you join in the conversation with your thoughts as the match goes on.
Round six was a massive moment for the Adelaide Football Club in 2012 with their impressive win against the Sydney Swans at the SCG.
They stuck with the Swans for most of the contest before breaking away in the final quarter, then survived a very late onslaught from the home team to keep them in touch with a top-four spot.
Geelong, on the other hand went through the motions against Melbourne to win by 43 points at Simonds Stadium.
The Cats didn’t set the world on fire – they haven’t in many of their games this season. But they’re class got the home in the end.
Today could answer many questions about the two sides today.
For Adelaide, their run-in towards their bye in round eleven is treacherous. After today’s game, they’ll play Carlton, the Pies and Fremantle in Perth.
No surprise to see Scott Thompson getting plenty of ball, but his being ably supported by Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane and Nathan van Berlo.
While up forward, the power forward duo Kurt Tippett and Taylor Walker are complimenting each other well. Having said that, they aren’t combining for plenty of goals – if one kicks a bag, the other seems to falter.
If both of them kick a few today, that could give them a huge boost against the Cats.
The loss of Shaun McKernan is a slight inconvenience, but a straight swap for former Essendon fringe-player Josh Jenkins will give Sam Jacobs some help in the ruck.
One of the big keys for the Crows though won’t necessarily be on the ground, but up in the coaches box. Former assistant coach of Geelong, Brenton Sanderson, is the new coach of the Crows. He’s taken them to a 10-1 record in 2012 (including NAB Cup).
The big key he brings to today’s game is knowledge of his opponents. He will know the Cats players inside out – knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Never underestimate this, especially when you have such a talented line-up on your side.
For Geelong, we know how good this side can be.
We know how good their midfield is with Joel Selwood (returning this week), Paul Chapman, James Kelly, Joel Corey… the list goes on and on.
We know how good their defence is with Josh Hunt, Harry Taylor, Matty Scarlett, Andrew Mackie and Tom Lonergan.
I just don’t think we’ve seen these two departments at their best so far this season.
The key stat for the midfield is generally the contested possession count. Through six rounds, the Cats are still yet to win the hard ball get stat in a match – highly unusual for Geelong. However, their tackle count has been high at around 79 a match.
The defensive unit is on target for giving up more points per game since 2006 – they currently average giving up around 85 points a game, while having the smallest differential to their average points for record (12 points)
But in the whole scheme of things, the Cats have had a tough start to the season and have four wins under their belt. You can’t really knock that.
What’s been most impressive for Geelong for mine has been up forward with the double-act of James Podsiadly and Tom Hawkins. Hawkins especially.
Since round 17 in 2011, the big Tomahawk has 41 goals next to his name from 15 games. His marking has been outstanding and his around the ground work rate has been top class. No doubt his breakout game was last year’s grand final – it’s great to see him continue that into 2012.
The over-riding question though if Geelong don’t win today will be simple – has the fizz gone out of the Geelong juggernaut?
We’ll bring you live updates as they happen and we want to hear from you too. Jump on and have your say through what should be a great way to kick off your Saturday – join us from 1.15pm AEST for the Crows and the Cats.
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