The Western Bulldogs may have lost 5 of their past 7 games but that has not hurt the Dogs confidence going into tonight’s first qualifying final match against Hawthorn at the MCG.
The Bulldogs winning form may not have been present during the latter stages of the season but skipper Brad Johnson stands by their training methods that have been criticised by certain media outlets.
“We’ve been focussed on trying to put our processes in place on game day to get the wins, and to keep our confidence there,” Johnson said.
“Our confidence certainly hasn’t wavered, our training’s been fantastic right through the whole season, and we’re confident we’ll go into this game and have a red hot crack at it.”
“We can beat any team in the competition, there’s no doubt about that.”
Coach Rodney Eade is also confident his Bulldogs can soar straight in to the preliminary finals if they can win the midfield battle.
“I think more is going to be about the pressure in the midfield and us being able to win the ball more often and if the ball is going our way more often, there’s less chance of (Lance Franklin) getting the footy,” Eade said.
“I think Dale (Morris) is probably our best defender, so he’s probably more than likely to get the gig (on Franklin), but then you’ve got Roughead, you’ve got other players as well. I know Franklin is a gun player, but they’ve got other good support players as well so we’ve to be mindful of them.”
Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs
MCG, Friday September 5, 7.50pm AEST
