Assistant coach Josh Francou is looking forward to seeing how the “mouth-watering” midfield battle unfolds when the Sydney Swans meet North Melbourne in Hobart on Saturday.
Often talked about as the key to winning in modern-day football, the midfield duel during the Round 22 clash at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval will be no exception, according to the former Port Adelaide midfielder now third-year stoppage coach.
Admittedly bias in his observations, Francou believes Sydney’s and North Melbourne’s midfields match up well against each other given both possess a number of class players who pride themselves on winning the contested ball.
Sydney’s on-ball division was on fire against St Kilda last weekend, with Dan Hannebery (37 disposals), Josh Kennedy (35) and Luke Parker (33) all finishing with high numbers.
Meanwhile, the Kangaroos’ ball winners faced stiff opposition in Hawthorn but held their heads high, particularly Andrew Swallow (32) and Jack Ziebell (22) who battled hard all afternoon.
Having kept a close eye on his own and the opposition’s midfield setup during the week, Francou said the Kangaroos’ engine room had driven most of the team's success this season and will be tough to counteract.
“It’s a mouth-watering midfield duel which is going to take place on Saturday afternoon,” he said.
“Throw in guys like Dal Santo, Daniel Wells and obviously Brent Harvey, those outside ball users, they do have a good depth of players that go through the middle.
“(So) we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”
Francou has had to share his time between his midfield group and the ruck divison this week in the anticipation of a return for big man Kurt Tippett's.
Tippett, who hasn't played since Round 12 due to an injured hamstring tendon, has been pencilled in for the trip south pending how the big man pulls up from Thursday's final session.
His inclusion will be boost ahead of a finals, but the decision won't come easy given the impact of Sam Naismith and Toby Nankervis in recent weeks in helping to shoulder the ruck responsibilities in the absence of Tippett and Callum Sinclair's absence.
