grand-final rematch to open the AFL season. The Demons enter Wednesday’s blockbuster at the MCG with bragging rights after breaking their 57-year premiership drought last September.
Luke Beveridge’s Bulldogs have had all summer to stew on how a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter of the grand final turned into a 74-point loss. The Demons and the Bulldogs entering the 2022 campaign as the top-ranked teams is a far cry from the days when the clubs battled for relevancy on and off the field.
The Bulldogs only broke their own premiership drought in 2016, when they ended a 62-year barren spell to claim the club’s second flag. Goodwin is excited about Melbourne unfurling the flag in front of a crowd of up to 80,000, which would be the largest attendance for a football game in Australia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Goodwin made the comment that “I think that’s what rivals do with each other, we had three cracking contests last year, and there’s a rivalry that’s starting to build so it’s going to be another cracking game. It’s going to be a special night (with all the premiership celebrations) but as a playing group we can’t focus on that, we’ve got to focus on playing a really good footy team.”
Bulldogs coach Beveridge conceded there could be added spice in the contest than a regular home-and-away game.
Coach Beveridge commented that “It will be up to the players, there’s no doubt the boys have said there’s a healthy rivalry, and it’s good for the competition, great for both clubs being in the spotlight. Most (of the spice) will be generated by the playing groups, I’d say, but they’ll want to frank their successes and start the year well.”
Demons veteran Michael Hibberd (calf) has been ruled out of the game, joining fellow flag defenders Trent Rivers (knee) and Harrison Petty (calf) on the sidelines. Petty stepped up in magnificent fashion last season when replacing Adam Tomlinson in the back-six. Tomlinson has recovered from his ACL injury, less than 10 months after suffering the devastating blow, but the Demons have opted to pick Joel Smith down back instead.
Goodwin hailed Tomlinson, who has been named as an emergency and could still get a run as a medical substitute. Stating that “(Tomlinson) is just a really special individual, it’s actually quite an incredible story. He’s come back within eight months and into full training and playing games of footy and he’s nine months in.”
The Bulldogs will be able to call on key defender Alex Keath, who pulled up well after a concerning knock to his shin in the club’s final pre-season game.
