2012 AFL Finals Series: Hawthorn vs. Adelaide



The depleted Adelaide Crows are unsure who to play on Hawthorn star Lance Franklin in the preliminary final



Lance Franklin
COME AT ME- LANCE FRANKLIN IS PROVIDING ADELAIDE WITH A SERIOUS DILEMMA AHEAD OF THE PRELIMINARY FINAL.HERALD SUN
INJURY-HIT Adelaide will consider throwing a young defender with only two games to his name this year on Hawthorn superstar Lance Franklin in the preliminary final.
Luke Thompson
ADELAIDE MAY LOOK TO DEFENDER LUKE THOMPSON TO STOP HAWTHORN SUPERSTAR LANCE FRANKLIN. GETTY IMAGES
"(Andy) Otten (192cm) is another player who could certainly come back and play on a tall.
The Crows have been rocked by injury, although forward Jared Petrenko is still considered a chance to play despite his tears at the final siren on Friday night after hurting his shoulder.

Daniel Talia is gone and Sam Shaw has done his hamstring, which has left very little in the pantry with Ben Rutten not believed to have the pace to go with Franklin.

Adelaide assistant coach Dean Bailey yesterday threw up Luke Thompson, who stands 194cm and played just his second senior game for the year on Friday night.

"We have lost young Shaw, the options are you have Truck (Rutten) down there and Luke Thompson - a young defender who in his second game I thought played well," Bailey told SEN Radio.

"Because we've lost Talia, who is probably our No.1 key defender, we are going to have to mix and match a bit."

The former Melbourne coach said cutting the supply to Franklin will be the best way of stopping Franklin.

"You don't want to leave your backs one on one when you're playing on someone like Buddy," he said.

"You've got to have help somewhere else to come from.

"But we don't want too many blokes behind the ball so we're kicking it back to them, so there is a delicate time of when you can the extra player back."

The good news for Adelaide is Petrenko may be a shock selection against the Hawks, a day after believing his season was over after injuring his shoulder in the final minutes against Fremantle.

"I'm not sure whether it popped out and then popped straight back in," Bailey said.

"After the game he was obviously very disappointed.

"But post-game when he had it taped up and iced up, he seemed to be a little bit more understanding of it.

"So I don't know how bad it is today - those things will probably wait until Monday."

Bailey was hopeful the 22-year-old would get up for the preliminary final.

"Sometimes in those situations when you stretch the ligaments, you can tape it and play," he said.

"He is a seriously tough competitor, so you never know - he might just find a way to turn up next week.

"Right at the end of the game was disappointing for him - that was the shock factor for him."

The Crows won their way through to the preliminary final despite a lower than expected crowd at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.

Over 44,000 attended the qualifying final the previous week, but they could manage only 31,000 against Fremantle.

Higher ticket prices have been cited as a reason, but the AFL said today they did not believe that was the reason.

Bailey was left scratching his head as well.

"I really don't know...(if it is because of) ticket prices, I'm unaware of that," he said.

Hawks are Adelaide's last hurrah

Rohan Connolly
Published: September 16, 2012 - 11:04AM

While they might have finished the regular season first and second on the ladder, the first two weeks of finals have managed from a perception point of view to make that gap seem a lot larger.SOME preliminary finals shape as clashes of titans, others more like a David and Goliath affair. It's fair to say Saturday's Hawthorn-Adelaide clash falls into the latter category.
Hawthorn is now a very warm flag favourite, at the peak of its powers and with close to a full list from which to choose as it tackles the two victories still required to deliver an 11th premiership.
The Crows, in contrast, have had trouble adapting to the greater intensity of September, particularly early, and having lost first Daniel Talia and now Jared Petrenko and Sam Shaw, have some serious personnel issues.
A comfortable win to the Hawks is already being widely anticipated. A win for Adelaide would be one of the bigger upsets preliminary final weekend has seen.
HISTORY LESSON
Adelaide doesn't play at the MCG often, and when it does, not so well. The Crows' win over Melbourne three weeks ago was its first on the ground in three years and in seven attempts. Hawthorn loves the 'G, having won 10 of its past dozen outings.
The recent history between these two doesn't provide much encouragement for the visitors, either. Though they've met only once this season, just on five months ago, back in round three, Hawthorn romped home by 56 points, by some margin Adelaide's heaviest defeat this season.
The Hawks racked up 21 goals that afternoon, shared among 13 goalkickers, had an outstanding defender in Josh Gibson, and got great contributions not only from their biggest names but the likes of Liam Shiels, Matt Suckling and Luke Breust.
Adelaide stayed competitive for a time, but in echoes of its loss to Sydney in the qualifying final, continued to burn what scoring chances came its way, Kurt Tippett a main offender, and Taylor Walker held goalless.
X FACTOR
No real surprise here. It's Hawthorn dynamo Cyril Rioli who has the greatest potential to shape, or more likely, break open the game.
The super-quick Hawk with amazing reflexes and vision is a tackling machine, who this season had nearly twice as many as just about any other forward in the competition. He's the key to his side's defensive pressure and capacity to lock the ball in its scoring zone.
And as he's proved time and time again, he's a player capable of changing the course of a game with either the chasing down of an opponent in space, or creating a goal for himself or a teammate out of seemingly nothing. Rioli will do a lot more with fewer numbers than any other player on Saturday.
TACTICS
Hawthorn's modus operandi is well-known. The Hawks not only win the ball more than just about anyone, but use it much better, their army of long and precise kicks lethal by foot and able to pick their way through the tightest press or zone.
Hawthorn ranks No. 1 in the AFL for effective kicks, and its ability to patiently pick out targets in the clear is underlined by its top ranking for uncontested possessions and uncontested marks.
But the Hawks have also got their hard game back with a vengeance this year, finishing the regular season in joint first with Adelaide for wins at the clearances. Their scoring capacity is also greater with less dependence upon key targets such as Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston an important addition to the mix besides Breust's development and the likes of Paul Puopolo.
Adelaide has been terrific in the contested ball, but has struggled at the pointy end of the season to convert that supply into meaningful attack, ranked 17th for uncontested possession. They rely on clean and efficient delivery to key forwards Walker and Tippett, and under more pressure and opponents who have been able to clog their forward 50, have tended to bomb the ball inside 50, making scoring a laborious exercise.
Hawthorn will be doing its utmost to slow Adelaide down, close its space and enable key defender Ryan Schoenmakers plenty of time and support from the likes of Gibson to make life as difficult as possible for the Crows' key targets.
And it's when the ball rebounds from the Adelaide defence that the fun and games might start, Franklin set for a real pay day if he can find room against a back line that, without Talia and Shaw, has Ben Rutten to hold the fort, but seemingly not a lot else.
PREDICTION
This has been a wonderful year for Adelaide and its first-year coach, Brenton Sanderson, whatever happens on Saturday, the Crows climbing from 14th to the top four. But this assignment looks a bridge too far. Hawthorn is a genuine heavyweight in near peak form, virtually at full strength and on its own patch.
It would take something truly remarkable for Adelaide to stop the Hawks' juggernaut now.
Hawthorn by 36 points.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/hawks-are-adelaides-last-hurrah-20120915-25ze7.html

2012 AFL Finals Series: Sydney vs. Collingwood



Magpies 'coming good at right time'

Updated: 18:36, Sunday September 16, 2012

Magpies 'coming good at right time'

Collingwood have improved markedly in the past three weeks, and have more to come ahead of the AFL preliminary final, says Magpies coach Nathan Buckley.
Magpies coach Nathan Buckley believes his side has improved 10 to 15 per cent per match over the past three weeks, and can improve further in the preliminary final showdown with Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.
Collingwood's hard-fought 13-point semi-final win over West Coast at the MCG has lifted them to within a victory of the grand final.
And despite just a six-day break ahead of the preliminary final, they have an excellent recent record against the Swans - beating them in their past 11 meetings.
'We think that one has us building to where we want to be,' Buckley said.
'We still feel there's some upside in us. The last three weeks have been 10 or 15 per cent (improvement) on top of each other.
'Now we've got to go again.
'Internally we could feel the difference in the way we played against Essendon, against Hawthorn and now.'
The Magpies' up-and-down season and slow burn over the past month was encapsulated perfectly in Saturday night's 10.13.73 to 9.6.60 win.
Trailing by 23 points early and struggling, the Magpies lifted their tackling pressure in an enthralling second quarter, before Dale Thomas lit up the match with three goals in six third-quarter minutes to swing the match Collingwood's way.
Yet again they fell behind in the fourth term before more guts finally led to glory.
Buckley felt Thomas' contribution was important and timely after a difficult season marred by niggling injuries.
'Like the club itself, Dale's been scrutinised and criticised fairly heavily over the last period of time,' Buckley said.
'Great quality, (he has) a great deal of pride in his performance, he's the type of guy who loves the big stage and has always played well in finals.
'He and the club would have liked to have had a smoother season.
'But sometimes it's not about where you start, it's where you finish.
'We believe over the last two or three weeks, we've played as good footy as we have all year, and it's a good time to be doing that.'

Special bond pushing Sydney's bid for a premiership


Sydney Swans
KIEREN JACK, JARRAD MCVEIGH, RYAN O'KEEFE, JOSH KENNEDY AND LEWIS JETTA BEFORE TRAINING AT THE SCG. PICTURE: SIMON BULLARD THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
MEET the secret to Sydney's success - the engine room, or heartbeat, of the Swans.

They are a blend of young and old, enthusiasm and hard-edged finals experience.
Elder statesmen Ryan O'Keefe, Jude Bolton and co-captain Jarrad McVeigh have combined with rising stars Josh Kennedy, Lewis Jetta, Dan Hannebery and Kieren Jack to give the Swans one of the most dominant midfields in the AFL.
They are crucial to next Friday night's preliminary final at ANZ Stadium.
Last weekend, this band of brothers beat the competition's top-ranked team for contested possession on their home turf in Adelaide.
"The young guys provide the excitement and Pebbs (Ryan O'Keefe) and Jude (Bolton) bring the experience and calm heads under pressure," McVeigh told The Sunday Telegraph yesterday.
"When you see guys like Jetts (Jetta), Josh (Kennedy) and Dan Hannebery running around and playing well, it gives you excitement and you want to produce as well for your team.
"To bring that together as a group is a big reason why we're playing well."
Underlining their success is the fact Kennedy, Jetta and Jack have all been shortlisted for the All-Australian team.
But it's not just the star trio which have catapulted the Swans towards a grand final.
"Our depth in general has improved," Jack said. "That been a result of young blokes coming in setting high standards. Luke Parker and Jetts have gone to another level.
"You know what you're going to get from the older blokes like Ryan O'Keefe and Jude Bolton, but the next younger tier has stepped up.
"Our midfield is a lot more complete. Even our interchanges, we get Josh Kennedy and Ryan O'Keefe coming off and Luke Parker and Craig Bird and myself coming on.
"There's not much difference between our best and our worst midfielders.
"Our defenders talk about being a group within a group and we gave them some stick when we first heard that, but it's true and the midfield is a group within a group as well.
"We lookout for each other, we look after each other and when you see guys like Jetts and Luke Parker doing what they are doing at a consistent level, it is inspiring."
With a preliminary final looming on Friday night, even the slightest gains in performance could be the difference between success and failure.
"We're confident," McVeigh said. "We had a light week this week and then we'll ramp it up for Friday night."