COLLINGWOOD v HAWTHORN
Jon Anderson writes in the Herald Sun that Collingwood midfielder Sharrod Wellingham is seriously under-rated, perhaps more so than any other player in the competition. And it's not just Anderson who believes that, but also GWS assistant coach Mark Williams. And if to prove his point, Wellingham then went out and got 37 touches against Melbourne the week after the comments by the Port premiership coach.
When told of the praise from Williams, Anderson reported that Wellingham was delighted. "It's very, very nice to hear that from a fellow No.21 at Collingwood," Wellingham said. "I see his name on the locker all the time so it's a real honour. I would love to notch up 100 games like he did."
The Herald Sun also ponders the question on how the Hawks will stop Dale Thomas, the premier Collingwood runner, who has served a two-match suspension and will be playing his first game for a month. A number of options are canvassed, but eventually Isaac Smith is nominated as the best match-up because he has the pace and endurance to match Thomas and can hurt him going the other way.
While Mike Sheahan tips a win for the Pies, he devoted a piece to Hawk superstar Lance Franklin, liking what he saw as the Hawks trained at the MCG on Thursday.
"He looked pretty good, too, for a bloke who had prompted such alarm twice during the previous couple of weeks. The Buddster is ready for action," he wrote.
Last week, it was Buddy's knee. This week, it was Buddy's guts as he battled a bout of gastro. In The Age, former Hawk great Robert DiPierdomenico was asked about Franklin and the September stage and it resulted in one Hawk great giving the other an almighty gee-up.
"If Buddy has been sitting on the toilet all week, I wouldn't worry about that," Dipper said. "We're talking finals. We are talking September, and we're talking about the MCG. It is football's biggest stage and what every player plays for.
"The goals that Buddy kicks, not just the standing still, but the ones along the boundary that we don't expect anyone to kick, that's what Collingwood has to stop and what Hawthorn needs to win."
Also in The Age, Robert Walls tips the Pies, but lists the ways the Hawks can spring the upset. He suggests Hawk coach Alastair Clarkson's strategy might be to slow the game down and keep the ball away from the Pies. If they don't have it, they can't score, seems to be his reasoning.
"There's a lot the Hawks need to do right in order to win. They have won nine of their past 10 games and won't be intimidated by the Pies. In 2008, they played the grand final on their terms and by midway through the third quarter, the Cats had had a panic attack and lost it. Can history be repeated?" he asks.
GEELONG v WEST COAST
AAP's Roger Vaughan writes that Geelong is back in another preliminary final, but that 2010, when Collingwood crushed the Cats, seems an eternity ago. He spoke to six-time All Australian Matthew Scarlett, who said the difference between the Cats of '10 and '11 is chalk and cheese.
"I know going into last year's finals we had a few distractions and a few off-field things - it doesn't help," Scarlett said.
"This year, everything has gone to plan and we're peaking at the right time of the year, which is a good sign. I'm really confident the boys will play well."
The Age notes that the emergence of Trent West as second ruckman at Geelong has been particularly beneficial for one particular player - Tom Hawkins.
Hawkins has squeezed out Cameron Mooney for a tall forward berth in the Geelong side, and has started playing his best footy without being encumbered by second ruck duties.
"I think it was an experiment we needed to have, and it was probably pretty good for him," Cats football manager Neil Balme said of Hawkins's ruck stint. "But it's also proven hard to be a key forward and second ruck at the same time, that's what we find now."
Also in The Age, there is a profile of West Coast hard nut Beau Waters, the player who most resembles the way Eagles coach John Worsfold used to go about his footy.
A hard man, with a long list of injuries to show for his craft, Waters is the player the Eagles expect to let the Cats know they're around on Saturday.
"The way he plays, it's no surprise," said former West Coast recruiting manager Trevor Woodhouse. "He's just fearless. You see very few people with the ability to back into a pack and actually not flinch. Even if they mark it, they'll generally flinch a little bit. But he just goes back as if nothing's coming."
"He'd do anything it took to help the team. He's got that hardness of body; he makes sure they stay hit when he gets them," added former teammate Adam Hunter, who once had Waters over for a spot of telly watching only for Waters to feast on Hunter's goldfish when he wasn't looking.
In the West Australian, Carlton coach Brett Ratten says that West Coast's best chance of beating the Cats is for their tall forwards to take marks and kick goals and for an even spread of scorers.
"If Mark LeCras gets two or three (goals), Jack Darling gets a couple, Josh Kennedy gets his two or three, Quinten Lynch gets his two or three ... they probably also need, which they didn't get against us, both Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui to get one or two.
"That might really just give them a good spread of goal kickers, while marking the ball will reduce Geelong's rebound. If they can mark the ball inside 50 and even forward of centre, I think it will have a big bearing on the game."
ELSEWHERE
- Kevin Sheedy has expressed the hope that Fremantle gets raided by rival clubs as payback for the sacking of Mark Harvey, writes the SportsNewsFirst website.
- Rodney Eade will get an interview for the St Kilda coaching position, reports The Age, while others in the frame include Gold Coast and former Geelong assistant Ken Hinkley, Hawthorn assistant Leon Cameron, Collingwood's defensive coach Scott Watters, Carlton's Alan Richardson, Sydney's Leigh Tudor and current Saints assistant and club great Robert Harvey are likely to be sounded out, along with others.
- The AFL believes its new distribution arrangements, to be outlined to clubs on Monday, will allow some of the less-financial clubs to become more competitive, reports The Age.
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the AFL or the clubs.
You can follow Ashley Browne on Twitter @twitter.com/hashbrowne
