1. Hold onto your hats
If you like your footy tight, Saturday night’s clash with the Roos could be for you.
Check out the margin over last four contests: 23, 16, 13, 3, with the most recent one going to the Dogs in round 3.
So, if you’re elderly or don’t handle stress well, it might be worth checking in after the game to see how it went rather than watching live. But whatever you do , don’t expect a Round 17, 2011 style shoot-out, rather it’s more likely to be one of those games commentators like to call ‘dour struggles.’
In fact, in the four matches the Luke Beveridge and Brad Scott have faced off as coaches, no side has kicked more than five goals in the first half. But it should be close.
Get your rest.
2. Shane’s 50th
After six games in three seasons with the Swans, Dogs defender & social media influencer, Shane Biggs will suit up for his 50th game in the red, white and blue this weekend.
It’s been a fair journey for the 25-year-old. Biggs didn’t play TAC Cup, instead going via the Eastern Football League, before landing at the Bendigo Bombers in 2011 and doing enough there to catch the eye of the Swans who picked him up as rookie in 2012.
Two years later he arrived at the kennel along with pick 39 and the rest is history.
He’s a barometer in a lot of ways, our man, and when he’s up and running so are the Dogs, so here’s hoping he gets it going on Saturday night.
Congratulations, Biggsy. Here’s to many more.
3. Momentum
With just one win out of the last five, it’s no secret that the Dogs are desperate to get back on the winners list. The good news is, with the closeness of the competition this season, ground can be made up pretty quick.
Robert Murphy talked about it on radio on Wednesday – it’s about momentum.
‘’Because this season,” he said, “if you can get the momentum, get enough wins and get the momentum at the right time of the year you’re a chance.“
And the extraordinary tightness of the ladder supports this theory. Get this: there is one game separating 11th placed Dockers and the fourth placed Power. No doubt, it hasn’t been a great five week block, but all is not lost. Not by a long shot.
High stakes, plenty to play for. That’s why we love the footy.
4. Big Dogs back in
Luke Beveridge made just the two changes this week, replacing injured pair Lin Jong and Tom Boyd with 394cm and 205kg worth of Tommy Campbell and Jack Redpath.
Ruckman Campbell gets his first opportunity since we last saw him in Round 5 against the Lions, and the 54 hitouts and 20 touches he picked up in the VFL last weekend will give him some confidence when he faces off with North’s quartet of big boppers in Jarrod Waite, Ben Brown, Majak Daw and of course, Todd Goldstein.
Also back in is Big Red, who we know can kick a bag and as one of the more popular Dogs getting around the kennel, gives his teammates a lift just through his presence.
So, welcome back fellas. Go well, and Go Dogs.
