Mick McGuane: GWS showed last week against the Western Bulldogs how it can win the premiership
GWS targeted Marcus Bontempelli with great effect and will this week have Brisbane gun Lachie Neale in its sights. But Mick McGuane believes the Lions should consider similar tactics on one star Giant in particular.
GWS
Don't miss out on the headlines from GWS. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Brisbane Lions have a decision to make.
Do they want to be the hunted or the hunters?
GWS weren’t there to make friends against the Western Bulldogs last week and they will arrive at the Gabba on Saturday again ready to rip into their enemy.
MORE NEWS
How Robertson is inspiring Giants
Haynes reveals his banter with the Bont
It might have taken them all season, but the Giants have identified a template that can win them their first premiership.
Against the Bulldogs they brought the fifth-highest contested possession differential in the history of a final and the second-most inside 50s ever accrued in a September knockout.
It was amazing to watch what they were able to generate on the back of their pressure factor, which was the fifth-highest of any team this year.
Give me the way GWS played against the Bulldogs every day of the week.
The targeting of Marcus Bontempelli was extraordinary and this week it will be the turn of another potential Brownlow medallist, Lachie Neale, to face the mob.
My question is, will Brisbane get on the front foot and adopt the reverse psychology?
Particularly given they lived the experience earlier this year of Port Adelaide (albeit unsuccessfully) terrorising Neale with no mercy.
Do the Lions identify Toby Greene and see how he handles it?
How things could change if all of a sudden Greene’s under the gun.
Every time he runs past, do the Lions bumper bar him?
When he gets tackled, do they make sure they get him to the ground and rough him up?
Do they look to sap every bit of energy out of him over two hours and see what toll it takes.
I’m really interested to see how Brisbane react to this. You can be a sitting duck when you get hunted, and then you find out whether you can fight back.
That’s why the psychology of the game is always crucial at this time of year.
Debate over Greene this week has been interesting.
It has been a case of his undeniably poor track record at the AFL tribunal versus the argument from his supporters that he is victimised because of his reputation.
I think the truth lies in the fact you’d love to play with the man.
He’ll do what it takes for your team to get over the line and that’s no different to a David Rhys-Jones or a Dermott Brereton, who both had their issues with the tribunal.
But it’s no coincidence that all three play on the edge. They are body players. They want to assault the opposition. People say the finals are just another game.
Well, they’re not.
If you make a mistake in Round 2, you have Round 3 to rectify it. If you make a mistake this weekend, you’re out and finished for six months.
It’s all or nothing and that’s the way Greene plays and why he’s so valued by GWS.
Whether it was Greene, Matt de Boer, Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper around the ball, or Shane Mumford in his first ruck contest, they all set the scene for GWS last week.
And it’s amazing how the rest will follow.
For mine, de Boer against star midfielder Neale is the obvious match-up.
Neale is around the footy the most in the Brisbane line-up and this suits de Boer.
When you look at the players he has played on this year — Dustin Martin, Patty Cripps, Seb Ross and Bontempelli just to name a few — de Boer has had magnificent moments on them all.
The maximum disposals against him is 17 after 76 minutes of toil.
Neale is a Brownlow Medal-winner-in-waiting who has to be nullified around the contest because he’s averaging 31 possessions and his contested ball-winning ability is clearly elite.
De Boer will bring the pressure that is needed.
Originally published as Mick McGuane: GWS showed last week against the Western Bulldogs how it can win the premiership