A young up and comer takes on the established old hand.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
This is a doozy.
This looms as a battle on two fronts. Whose stars will burn brightest, and if it’s the Soliders, can the 5th and 6th on each line for the Defenestrators make up the difference?
In the middle, the Soliders bat deeper – particularly when recent form is taken into account. Here, and the mid-tier down back, are where the Soldiers have clear advantages. Pressing those advantages is where the Soldiers will win.
But the Defenestrators have an advantage at the bottom end of each line. Stringer, Hawkins and Lynch need to outpace Ainsworth, Gray and Rioli. Burton and Scrimshaw need to put 40+ on Henry and Madgen.
Speaking of putting 40+ on people, the ruck battle. The Master in Gawn takes on the Apprentice in Jackson, against an O’Brien-less Adelaide. Coach Zerna will be banking on a sizeable win in this part of the ground – but will the Dees “quasi-rest” Gawn and give Jackson more centre bounces?
One other get-outta-jail card for the Defenestrators? The guy averaging 131 in his last 5.
H2H HISTORY
The bad news for the Soldiers is they’ve only beaten the Defenestrators twice. The good news is two of those wins have come in the last three contests – including one mere weeks ago.
In Round 19 the Soldiers triumphed comfortably, despite a 15 from Trent ‘Cannon’ McKenzie. The Soldiers has 6 players score centuries that weekend – and all 6 are available for selection this weekend (Daniel, Lukosius, Petracca, Bontempelli, Heppell and Zak Jones).
The Defenestrators were led by usual suspects like Gawn and Mitchell, but had 12 players score less than 80. They’ll be hoping for a more consistent showing this weekend.