PLAYER MATCH-UPS

When you look through both teams for Friday nights game, as you would imagine there is not much in it. However, on current form, you would have to say we have the Bulldogs covered in most areas.1) Hayne v PattenBoth great players, both in fine form. Patten has Hayne covered in experience, but that is about all. Patten wont make alot of mistakes, but I am pretty confident that we can limit his damage. On the other hand, Hayne is killing it at the moment and is a massive danger to them.2&5) Grothe/Burt v El Masri/GoodwinI feel that they will be scared of our wingers, whereas the only thing that scares me about theirs is that we can't give El Masri too many penalty shots - he doesn't miss. Goodwin is a good finisher, but can't create too much on his own. Grothe & Burt are in excellent form and will cause havoc all night long - particulalry Grothe.3&4) Reddy/Wright v Morris/IdrisAssuming that Inu doesn't play, their centres are definitely more dangerous than ours Reddy has been in outstanding form and Wright probably had his best game last week, but Idris and Morris are by far their biggest dangers. If Kimmorley is allowed to get the ball wide to these two, we could be in trouble. Our defence has been 1st class, so hopefully we can shut these two down early, before they get too much space.6&7) Mortimer/Robson v Roberts/KimmorleyAgain, I think they have a slight edge here, but only very slight. With Kimmorley's injury, he will be a bit gun shy early so really shouldn't have the same impact he normally does. He will throw a lot of passes and is unlikely to run the ball too much. We must put him on his ass at every opportunity, without giving stupid penalties away. Robson hopefully to be solid and no kicking. Mortimer will be right and will be dangerous as always.8&10) Moi Moi/Cayless v Hannant/HodgsonThis is where we might actually win the game. Hannant has been outstanding all year and Hodgson is tradesmanlike, but our boys are hardened. If we can keep Hannant quiet (Moi Moi did it really well in our last meeting) then these boys will pave the way for our backs to fire.9) Keating v EnnisEnnis has been really good for them all year and is as big a danger to us as Kimmorely is. Keating has been getting better every week and hopefully can keep Ennis in check.11&12) Hindmarsh/Smith v Ryan/WarburtonSome would say that Ryan and Hindy cancel each other out - but not me. Hindy is much more inspirational for us and Ryan has dodgy hands, can drop passes when he is off. I like our second row pairing with Smith to really step it up this week. His form in the last 3-4 games has been top notch.13) Lowrie v StaggBoth excellent defenders, perhaps Stagg is better with ball in hand, but only marginal. Lowrie has been great for us the last 3 weeks.14-17) The Bulldogs don't offer a lot off the bench. Presumably Holdsworth will be there in case of any injuries to Kimmorley, which makes him a waste. Only Gordon coming off the bench has an impact. Whereas with the Eels, obviously Mateo is a real key for us off the bench. Add in Mannah who has really impressed me the last few weeks and Big Joe and KK, I believe that we have more firepower.Sorry for the length of the blog, but it makes me feel a bit more confident looking at these matchups that we can take them on Friday.Parra by 10.

"Luai inked what could ultimately be a $6 million, five-year deal but it's since emerged he has an option to leave the club after just two seasons. “He's got a clause next year that if he chooses he can pull out the following year, but he's shown no…"

"I think thats the problem. He is too good for NSW cup so we are trying to jut fit him into the NRL team somehow . But in reality he is not a 6 or a 9. Just a fullback right now. During the recent pre-season Papalii only spent time training with…"

"The chances of him being our 6 next year are very low, if he was a serious consideration he would be playing 6 now with dylan at centre. I'll be very surprised if he is our starting 6 next season unless he gets a lot more time there this season. "

Replies

Eeldarado September 21, 2009 at 4:08pm

Agreed Nick!!!

We have these guys covered!!!

If the forwards can lay a platform down like they have done against the Titans and the Dragons we are there!!!!
Stewie September 21, 2009 at 4:21pm

I guess
Ryot Wilson September 21, 2009 at 5:27pm

Does grothe need to jump?

I'm most concerned about their morris goodwin combination on Wright and Burty. Burty is solid, but jono is yet to prove himself although he did cover well last week.

The dogs looked pretty bad against Newcastle, without much direction in the forwards, Hannant is a great player but he's no leader. We need to smash Ennis and Kimorley, I would look to see Hindy or Lowrie running wide at Kimmorely and Ben smith probably lining up Ennis.

Also Joey Johns reckons we have them on his blog today.,
ElDoughan September 21, 2009 at 6:12pm

nah morris and goodwin play on their left hand attack = our right defence which is reddy, grothe, robson
this means that in the air it will be grothe vs goodwin and burty vs elmasri , both which really cancel each other out tho idris on burty is a worry so id be sending inu back on 5 tackle in our redzone
- Ryot Wilson > ElDoughan September 22, 2009 at 12:45pm
  
  Last time Idris lined up against Reddy,
jamesy September 21, 2009 at 6:39pm

moi moi vs hannett part 2. can't wait for that! hannett will be having nightmares!
Bourbon Man September 21, 2009 at 7:48pm

I think another tactic which DA will no doubt employ is kicking in behind Jamal Idris. The big bloke turns slower than the USS Ronald Regan and should Hayne drift across to our left wing he'll no doubt have the Dogs' defenders concerned about what he might do. Should Patton be out of position fractionally, I'd be taking the option of kicking behind Idris regularly!
- Eel in the East > Bourbon Man September 22, 2009 at 11:00am
  
  I agree Boubon Man, whilst Idris is destructive and tough to stop one on one, he is not the fastest bloke around. If Mortimer plays, then I would love to see him kicking behind Idris for Grothe and Reddy to chase. If Morts is out, I dont think Robson has a good enough kicking game to make this play work.
  
  Hindy, Smith, Mateo and Lowrie need to run at Kimmorley at every opportunity. He is a tough bugger, but even he will be a little nervous about getting re-injured.
  
  Boys, the further this week has gone, the better I'm liking our chances...
- RealEel > Bourbon Man September 22, 2009 at 8:28pm
  
  Idris has also been caught in no mans land in defense a couple of times late in the season. I'd love to see Hayne take advantage of this.
1Eyed Eel September 22, 2009 at 11:18am

Firstly nice blog!

I actually differ from you guys. I think when you match the teams up like this, you'd say the Dogs are the stronger side. We win fullback, wing, bench impact - they win centres, halves, hooker. I think the forwards are pretty evenly matched. So really, they hold the advantage in the key positions.

What you can really see is given the two teams strengths how it relates to their style of play. Bulldogs rely on a very structured game, clever kicking from their halves and aim to put their centres through gaps. We go for second-phase play that brings our fullback and wingers into the game.

I do agree with you that the bench is where we look to have an advantage