This is going to be a tough one for us. I don’t think our formation and tactics really suit playing a team like Melbourne who have vastly different types of strengths. If you keep the box midfield tight, you risk leaving the flanks open, where Barbarouses can really hurt, and even the full-backs could probably just lob a ball to Toivonen who will probably have enough to outmuscle and outjump anyone who plays CB for us. If the AMs come wide to help their full-backs defensively, it leaves more space for Honda to dictate the tempo.
It’s great we (potentially) have O’Neill and Brillante together at DM again. Our ability to break up play there should help a lot.
I would be pretty happy with a draw, in all honesty. We really need to try and stay in front of them on the table. Second spot is pretty important if we want to give ourselves the best chance of getting into the Grand Final. First is probably gone now, as we all know. A win would be brilliant, but it will be a tough ask.
I think its a massive opportunity tonight for the Sky Blues to re-establish where they are aiming for. Its a game where they could launch their drive for the next few weeks, which could position them for silverware finish to season.
Yeah I feel a loss here could be mentally damaging going into the finals: it would be hard to pick ourselves up again knowing that we are most likely going to be playing Melbourne again in a semi-final if we get that far.
