By BringBackBoris
In the weekend prior to the split round, after watching the Bombers fall short against an Adelaide side that simply could not miss, I decided to console myself by cheering on the Dees at the Queens birthday clash. The enemy of my enemy is my friend right?

The first quarter was a dismal display, but in the second term the Dees showed why it is they are often not considered to be as godawful as their win/loss ratio might indicate. They did well in the clearances and at winning the contested ball, while Aaron Davey’s sublime skills generated space and run. That quarter, combined with some juicy odds and my own stupidity, inspired me to throw $10 on them at half time. Poor decision, but then you can’t put a bet on at the end of a race.

The second half did, however, prove illuminating in terms of our upcoming match and just why it is that the Demons are on the bottom of the ladder. Are they an awful side in the Fitzroy circa mid 90’s mould? No. What they are is a team that is completely dependent on the midfield getting on top to stay in the game.

Their backline is young, thin, and, much like the Don’s last year, handballs itself into trouble more often than it does out of it. Whenever the Pies were able to get semi-decent delivery into attack they were able to score. The same applies at the other end. The Dees lack any kind of marking target. Much of their attack against the Pies went through Russell ‘Robbo’ Robertson, and you would struggle to find a more selfish and less threatening ‘key forward’ in the league at this point in time. A telling play was ignoring a very good lead from young Jack Watts in favour of a Fevola-esque pot shot from 50 on a tight angle. In short, the Demons have all sorts of problems at the book ends.

But what of the Dons? We were not terrible against Adelaide, but we were not able to run out the game as well as we have been this season, while Watson and Stanton were again forced to play a lone hand in the middle. As soon as the Adelaide midfield got on top in the clearances, we appeared to be fresh out of options. In the last quarter, a tired Bomber’s outfit lost the plot completely, continually passing the ball laces out to the Adelaide loose defender when going forward. A decision to complete ignore Tyson Edwards for a half of football also began to take its toll.

What Adelaide had, that the Dees do not, was some serious fire power up forward. A remarkable game from Kurt Tippet kept the Crows in touch during periods when the Bombers played good football. The Demons do have the same weapons at their disposal. If we are able to stay on top, or even break even, in the middle, our superior forward line and back line should allow us a decisive advantage.

Many of us will be looking at the game with an eye to the future, as there are possibly more question marks hanging over the Bombers of 2009 at this stage of the season than any other club, maybe excepting Hawthorn.

Will Mark McVeigh enter the midfield and provide the Stanton/Watson combo with some much needed relief? Will he be left holding down the back pocket? If he does remain in the back pocket, does he have it in his legs to be able to provide some creative drive and attack from that most humble of positions.

Who goes in the ruck? Last week it was Lucas’ turn to audition for the Ryder backup job, given the limited success of this move what will Knighter try next?

The performance of Welsh/Prismall/Reimers, will these guys be able to make a meaningful impact beyond brief cameos?

Can the Twin Towers set about monstering a diminished defence for the umpteenth time in their careers?

All of these boil down to the most important question of all:

Are we out of steam?

We have been wonderful at times this year, our attacking style and youthful flair have excited football lovers across the country, not just those proudly wear the read and black. We have also appeared a long way off the pace on a number of occasions, giving Port a run for the title of the AFL’s Jekyll and Hyde. It is well documented that teams built around young bodies and chutzpah often fail to go the distance. Knights is gambling on the ability of experienced players to run themselves into form, whilst still picking up valuable premiership points.

I do not mean to imply that the game is a foregone conclusion, but if we are able to answer even a few of the questions posed in a positive fashion then we should win comfortably. We are the better side. It should take severe misfortune or a mighty effort from the Dees for the Bombers to not get home comfortably.

Bombers by 53.