We tale a closer look at a couple of things to keep an eye on during Saturday night's clash with Geelong.
Jordan and Pippen come to town
Former Cats great Cameron Ling compared the Patrick Dangerfield/Joel Selwood combo to Chicago Bulls pair Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on the weekend. Too far? Maybe. But there’s no denying the two of them have been outstanding contributors to Geelong this season. But, do you know who else has a pretty impressive one-two punch? Us.
When Marcus Bontempelli and Jake Stringer are on their game they’re as good as anybody in the competition. That said, neither side have won a flag in their current form and the Bulls won six, so there’s a bit to play out here.
It just leaves one question: Who’s Jordan and who’s Pippen?
To be the best, you have to beat the best
Saturday night footy, two versus four. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Equal on points, only 11% separate the two sides on the AFL ladder. One important differential, though, is form against the top eight sides. The Cats are 5-1 against the League’s best while the Dogs are just 2-3, with wins against Adelaide and West Coast offset by losses to Hawthorn, North Melbourne and the Giants.
But each of those games were eminently gettable and with only three matches remaining against top 8 to come, a win over flag-fancies Geelong would be an excellent way to go into the bye weekend.
#bont50
Has there been a better half century at Whitten Oval? It seems like yesterday that a baby-faced Bontempelli was taken at pick #4 in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.
Fast forward to now and Bont is ranked fifth in the AFL Player Ratings, a system designed to measure a players’ past 40 games. Not only that, he’s already written himself into the record books at the youngest winning captain in VFL/AFL history when he led the side to victory over West Coast in Round 11 in place of injured captain Easton Wood.
Speaking to westernbulldogs.com.au earlier in the week, assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa paints a picture of a driven, yet beloved figure who knows what he wants and is ‘dragging his teammates along with him.’
Well done Marcus, here’s to many, many more.
Contested animals
If you like your footy rough and tough, we highly recommend you get to the ground this Saturday night.
We all know the Dogs excel at the contested ball game, and the Champion Data numbers back this up. The Dogs are averaging 24 more contested possessions than their opponents so far in 2016, placing them significantly ahead of the second-place Swans. But the Cats have put in some big efforts over the past fortnight, recording plus-27 and plus-30 against Greater Western Sydney and North Melbourne respectively.
Unsurprisingly, Dangerfield and Selwood are both ranked in the top 10 individually but Marcus Bontempelli and midfield mate Tom Liberatore aren’t far behind.
Is it Saturday yet?
