Dogged By A Recent Rough Trot, Eade Hopes It's Not All Final
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday September 12, 2008
THE apparent formality of deciding which teams will lose to Geelong and Hawthorn in next week's preliminary finals creates - for the non-aligned - all the excitement of a Davis Cup dead rubber. It is the Western Bulldogs versus Sydney and St Kilda versus Collingwood, both at the MCG. But it could be Peter Luczak versus Tomas Berdych on indoor clay.
That appraisal might overlook the type of unexpected lapse that took Geelong to the brink of defeat against Collingwood in last year's preliminary and the fact Hawks superstar Lance "Buddy" Franklin's goalkicking can be as reliable as a $3 Rolex - factors that will give the semi-final winners hope of causing momentous upsets next week. There is also a reasonable expectation that the victors (perhaps even the vanquished) tonight and tomorrow night can bow out of the finals race a step or two short of ultimate glory without suffering major damage to their reputations - with one significant exception.Having lost just one match by round 15, anything short of a top-four finish would be a disastrous, potentially morale crushing result for the Western Bulldogs - a proposition upon which everyone from the chairman to the boot studder has this week concurred. Coach Rodney Eade went as far as to say the season would be wasted if his team lost tonight.Even worse, given its still strong reliance on a number of ageing players, there is a chance the Bulldogs could suffer the rare fate of having the premiership window slammed shut - if only temporarily - in the same season it was prised so wide open.The improvement of gun youngsters such as Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen, as well as an attacking game style, had injected the surging Dogs with youth. However, as their slump has deepened - six defeats in eight games - the importance of veterans Jason Akermanis, skipper Brad Johnson, Crows recruit Scott Welsh and midfielder Scott West has been more evident as their contributions diminished.Eade even said Welsh had been no certainty to play tonight, the memories of the five goals he kicked against the Swans in round 18 - and the lack of a suitable replacement - saving a player who had kicked just four goals in the past five games.As the vultures hover, the structural weaknesses that had been covered so effectively from April through early July have been laid bare."If we could get a power forward, maybe a tall defender ..." Eade joked when asked what he might add to the team this week.If he is aware of his list's limitations, what Eade does not know is how his team will respond to the massive pressure they face, both from the knowledge that their reputation is on the line and from an experienced Swans line-up more capable than most of testing their nerve and, particularly with their key forwards (Barry Hall, Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe), stretching their resources."People say you've got to be positive, and I think you do," Eade said. "But 'positive' is sometimes about masking things as well. It is about fluffing it up, and this week it is more about meeting the challenge."We've got an enormous challenge against a team that is a proven finals performer that's back in form and that would certainly rate their chances."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
