AFL Finals Week 2, Tips and Previews
Cats vs. Giants
September 3rd
The Cats and Giants head to Western Australian for the chance at booking in a preliminary final against Melbourne next week.
Geelong was put into pole position when it was announced that star Giants forward Toby Greene was suspended for three games after being found guilty of contacting an umpire in the elimination final victory over Sydney.
The Giants have also lost Tom Green with a broken wrist and Sam Reid comes out, while Geelong welcome gun defender Zac Tuohy and tall target Esava Ratugolea.
Despite the Cats being well beaten by Port Adelaide in the second qualifying final, they do look well set up here to win this game.
The Giants, however, will be full of confidence having not only accounted for Sydney in a determinant fashion last week, but a big win over the Cats at GMHBA Stadium back in Round 21 as Tim Taranto and Lachie Whtifield ran rampant in midfield.
The omissions for the Giants might just be a little too much to handle alongside the Geelong inclusions.
Chris Scott should be able to bounce back with a win here.
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Lions vs. Bulldogs
September 4th
It’s either a preliminary final or pack your bags and season over for one of Brisbane and Western Bulldogs when the pair meet at the Gabba.
The Dogs had limped into finals on the back of a form slump, but made amends with a thumping victory over Essendon last week.
Brisbane, meanwhile, battled bravely but was simply no match for premiership favourite Melbourne and would ultimately go down by 33 points.
The Lions will be without integral forward Daniel McStay who plays a pivotal role in the structure of the Lions forward half after he suffered a serious concussion early in the loss to the Demons.
A season ending knee injury to Josh Bruce has the Bulldogs forward line scrambling as well with small Cody Weightman providing Aaron Naughton with some much needed assistance in the front half.
For the Lions, Charlie Cameron played a lone hand for the Lions with Lachie Neale and will be relied upon again for his goal-kicking prowess.
A deadset flip of the coin, but the Lions should prevail here.
