The Bombers started their 2015 season slowly but have found form at the business end of the season stringing 5 consecutive wins together to leap frog University into 3rd place. 2 of these 5 wins were against the Cougars and while both sides were not at full strength in these games the Bombers have to be commended for their form turnaround.
Once again key forward Dan McPhee has played a major role for the black and red including a bag of 17 last weekend against the Tigers to finish with a season high 86 goals and claim his third John Green medal (leading goal kicker). But the turnaround in form has been sparked by the Bombers defence which at the half way mark of the season was the second worst for point scored against in the competition. In their last 5 matches the bombers defence have averaged only 46.6 points against, compare this to 80.7 points against through the first 10 rounds and it's clear to see where the bombers improvement has come from.
New recruits Peter Prendergast, Danniel Lyon, and John Leidig have played a big part in this tightening of the Bombers defence. The trio have combined across the half back line to give the club great leadership, poise and rebound from this line. Add to this the consistent form of 2009 Crows premiership hero Jacob Rose who has been a revelation in the engine room and the skill and delivery of on balers Kratzmann and Neumann and you have a much more balanced structure than Souths have fielded in previous years.
For the Cougars injury has hit them hard in the second half of this season. Entering this game University have lost their last 3 encounters although one of those was a 1 point loss to Goondiwindi last week. Coach Shane Melrose won't be happy with the form of his side coming into today's game but knows that the majority of his team have several finals campaigns under their belt. Experience in these big games will hold the Cougars in good stead as will the return of more key players.
At full strength the Cougars forward line is arguably the most potent in the league. Key forwards Yosh, Reilly, Mackay and Neilan all attract tall defenders and have the ability to take contested marks. While the combination of smart small forwards Gneil, Banim and Huggins possess a combination of skill, speed and footy smarts. Any team would be pushed to cover all these attacking weapons.
In the midfield there in no questioning why Ash Harley and Josh White have been named in best more times than any other players this season. Both play an uncompromising, aggressive style of football perfectly suited to finals football.
In all this one should be a belter! The team who adapts to the tempo lift of finals more quickly may get the edge.
Last Modified on 16/05/2017 09:33
