#DontGoQuietly
Warwick faces University in the Allied Pickford's Cup Qualifying Final this Saturday afternoon at Reddies Oval.
The Redback's earned the home final after finishing the AFL Darling Downs division 1 home and away season on top of the ladder, taking out the 2014 Minor Premiership. And it won't be easy for the visiting Cougars at Reddies Oval.
Warwick has built somewhat of a fortress at their new home ground on Jackie Howe Drive and University will enter a hostile environment this Saturday.
Reddies supporters are known as some of the most passionate in the competition and if the Redback's on-field can bring the off-field Reddies into the contest, it is like having a 19th man on-field. Warwick have only lost 5, division 1 matches at Reddies Oval and only lost 1 of those 5 in season 2014.
The Redback's only loss this season at home came from South Toowoomba who finished outside of the top 4 and the Bombers put it down to silencing the Reddies faithful.
University will be looking to a similar tactic in this qualifying final but will let their football do the talking. If the last encounter between the regular season top 2 teams is anything to go by then we are in for a finals match up of epic proportion.
University boast one of the most potent attacking units in the modern era.
With the likes of Sam Banim, Heath Gniel, Al Reilly, Rick Mackay, Joel Yosh and Reegan Neilan. If one is down then another pops up, very hard to plan for but shutting down the impact of Banim, Gniel and Reilly is key.
The Cougars forward trio are the barometer for University and if they are on, those three are very hard to stop.
For Warwick their barometer is their big bodied midfielders in Brendan Iles, Adam Stevenson, Kurt Millard, Tim Tate and Tyhe Clarkson. Putting a negating role in place is the most likely option but on who. Iles is the most likely option but Millard, Tate, Stevenson and Clarkson are all high impact players as well.
University may just need to back their midfielders to be accountable and win the one on one contest with their direct opponent.
With a spot in the 2014 Grand-Final up for grabs, this game will be hotly contested and will be four quarters of high intensity finals footy. The Reddies faithful will be out in force, if Warwick wants the edge they need to bring their 19th man into the contest. However if University want an upper hand, silence the Redback's home crowd early and stick to their footy.
Picking the winner of this qualifying final is very difficult but the tip to go by is it is going to be a very close, heated contest with nothing more than a few goals in the final result. The winner straight through to the decider, the loser faces Coolaroo in next week's Preliminary Final.
GAME DAY - QUALIFYING FINAL
Warwick Redback's Vs. University Cougars
2:30pm bounce
Saturday 6th September, 2014
Reddies Oval, Jackie Howe Drive - Warwick
Check out these stories on key areas for each side:
Last Modified on 08/09/2014 10:05