West Adelaide still searching for gun forward to add to the mix

ANDY Collins reckons his West Adelaide defence can stand up. It just has to, he says, given the Bloods have made it this far with so little fire power in attack.

Final Press conference

ANDY Collins reckons his West Adelaide defence can stand up. It just has to, he says, given the Bloods have made it this far with so little fire power in attack.

“We make no secret — we’ve got a really good six-man defence, a pretty strong midfield group and we still haven’t discovered a forward in our footy club in six years,” Collins said.

“If I ask (North Adelaide coach) Josh (Francou) who he thinks might kick our goals, I’m hoping he might give us some advice.

“I might ring up the Eagles this week and see if I can borrow (Andrew) Ainger and (Nick) Salter.”

West faces North in Sunday’s SANFL preliminary final needing to recapture the suffocating defensive strength that has been the hallmark of Collins’s game style at Richmond.

On average, the Bloods conceded just 65.3 points a game during the minor round, but were also the weakest scoring side in the top-five, averaging 84.1 points a game.

They were horribly opened up in the first quarter by defending premier and overwhelming flag favourite Norwood in Sunday’s second semi-final, raising questions about West’s reliance on its backline.

The Bloods’ stopping ability will be tested again by uncertainty surrounding skipper Ryan Ferguson, who remains in doubt for Sunday’s shot at the 2013 grand final after suffering concussion against the Eagles 18 days ago.

Collins said the club would not know until later this week whether the versatile key defender would be available, but the Bloods would not jeopardise his health.

“He’s still not running. It was a big hit,” Collins said. “It was his second concussion for the year.

“I think being a father of two now he understands a little bit, as we as a club and football industry understand, that concussion is a bit more serious than it once was and it needs to be respected.

“We really want Fergie out on the park, his leadership and skill are essential to us — but we’re not going to put an individual’s health at risk.”

North Adelaide is facing its own race against time, sweating on key forward and Adelaide goalkicker Lewis Johnston overcoming his ankle injury.

“Who knows?” Francou said. “I got a call from Lewis at 3.30 last Friday afternoon, up until then I was really confident he was going to play.

“I spoke to him this morning, and we probably won’t know until he’s assessed by their (Adelaide’s) doctor, which will probably be Thursday or Friday. Having said that, I’m pretty confident he’ll play.”

The Roosters have charged into this weekend’s preliminary final after eliminating Central District and Woodville-West Torrens in successive weeks, turning around a five-game losing streak that ended their home-and-away season.

Francou said players had put the slump behind them, and were riding high on confidence from the past two weeks.

“I think with momentum comes confidence and it’s been well documented that our last five games were poor and we’d lost confidence as a group,” he said.

“But in saying that our game against Central District in that elimination final started to get a bit of belief back and obviously after the second half on Sunday against the Eagles we’re full of confidence at the moment.”