Who Will Fire On Friday Night? | Thebigtip

Tomorrow night marks a match where two premiership contenders of years gone by, battle each other for respect, resurrection and above all else, four premiership points. The fall of St. Kilda and the Western Bulldogs has been one of interest, considering the powerful squads that both teams boast. After securing top four positions for the last few years, both clubs are at a crossroad. Both have coaches under the pump and both have under-performing players. The decline in position has come at the fall in performance from the same players that took them to consecutive finals series, that ended well into September. Tomorrow night is not a reflection of who the better team is, but which side has declined less.

Last time these two teams met was in the 2010 Preliminary Final where the Western Bulldogs’ inaccuracy let them down, scoring 16 behinds to accompany their 8 goals. Their final result was 64 to St. Kilda’s 88. In that game, Leigh Montagna and Lenny Hayes ran rampid, collecting 33 and 26 disposals respectively. Tomorrow night, St. Kilda must do without them both, leading to two very big shoes needing to be filled. Ross Lyon must put his faith in Nick Dal Santo, who will most likely cop the Liam Picken tag, and the underwhelming David Armitage.

The number 9 draft pick from the 2006 national draft is still not the player he was expected to be. Tomorrow he will start right in the middle of the field with Goddard to his left and Clinton Jones to his right. Now into his fifth season, David Armitage has averaged 18 disposals and 5 tackles a game in 2011; not bad numbers. What he has lacked is game-changing plays and that turn from a good, consistent player to an excellent player, one that ranks in Brownlow votes and every disposal that they have, helps their team. Armitage has kicked 3 goals and 9 behinds for 2011, something that needs to change if he wishes to elevate his game. The stage is set for Armitage to have that breakout game that makes the football world take notice, but more importantly, helps his team win a crucial game.

On the Western Bulldogs' front, midfielders are not an issue with a squad that includes Daniel Cross, Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney, Callan Ward, Tom Liberatore and Justin Sherman. It oozes class, not to mention the versatile Robert Murphy and Shaun Higgins are capable of a run through the middle when needed. There shouldn’t be a problem getting the ball out of the centre. The problem lies in a relatively unexciting and predictable forward line.

At first glance the forward line looks disinteresting and odd. It features Shaun Higgins, Liam Jones and Justin Sherman at half forward and Adam Cooney, William Minson and Daniel Giansiracusa at full forward. It looks a bit more like a midfield. So far in 2011, the Western Bulldogs' forward line (along with its out of sorts defence), have attributed to their different ladder positioning. Old age seems to have gotten the better of Barry Hall, leaving a gaping hole on one side of the ground. Rodney ‘Rocket’ Eade should be looking at high profile recruit Justin Sherman and former Brownlow medalist Adam Cooney to show a bit of a spark, stand up and focus on kicking goals and applying forward pressure instead of collecting disposals. Most importantly, they must finish off the goals the midfield set up for them.

Friday night’s game will come down to which players want to stand up and lead their team. If there was ever a time to do so, it would be now. I will be looking to whether Nick Dal Santo and David Armitage are able to light up the stoppages against a hard at it and talent filled midfield that the Bulldogs have accumulated. On the other hand, will the Bulldogs odd forward set up work? If this combination of players can work together and not have ageing forward Giansiracusa shouldering most the load, they will be a very good chance. Betting agencies have favoured St Kilda, but if there was ever a time the Bulldogs needed to pull through and show that there is a future and are capable of finals in 2011, then tomorrow night is the perfect opportunity to kick-start it. I tip the Western Bulldogs by 5 points, but time will tell.