By Luke Voogt
Geelong forward Daniel Menzel is looking forward to his first final in five years Friday night, following his much-documented comeback after four separate knee reconstructions.
It’s a dream finals return for Menzel, who relishes the big games.
“I hope there are 90,000 there,” he said.
“It’s the pointy end now, that’s when you want to be playing.”
Menzel sustained his major first knee injury in 2011 in the Cat’s qualifying final win against Hawthorn.
“You think about it every single day, getting back there and being a chance to play in the finals,” he said.
Coincidently, like 2011, Geelong will take on archrivals Hawthorn in a qualifying final Friday.
“I’ve had a lot of people message me and say its five years to the night against the same team … at the same ground, in the same final,” he said.
“Which is uncanny, but to be honest it won’t even cross my mind.”
Menzel said the Cats forwards will need to fire to make sure free-running Hawthorn defenders like Josh Gibson will “have to defend”.
This, he said, would help neutralise Hawthorn’s run off half back.
“We probably haven’t been dangerous enough as a forward group.”
“Against the Demons we all played our roles really well … and it meant Hawk (Tom Hawkins) got those one-on-one contests.”
Menzel said his body was in good shape as were the Cats’ selection options.
“For me since 2011 we haven’t had this much of depth at the club,” he said.
Cats coach Chris Scott said at a press conference Tuesday he was confident Menzel could perform.
“All the evidence has showed he could be a big game player.”
Scott said last weekend’s bye, while controversial, had given injured players time to recover.
“The guys that are in a little bit of a race against time have made some good progress. We feel like we’ve got a few pretty good options sitting just outside our 22.”
“The news out of the opposition camp seems to be similar. I think that’s what footy fans want, they want both teams to be close to their best they can put on the best show.”
Scott said he was looking at plans for Hawthorn’s star midfielder Sam Mitchell and dangerous forward Cyril Rioli.
“We do have a few candidates – not saying anyone in the competition is perfectly equipped to deal with that threat – (Rioli’s) a fantastic player.”
However, he said, it would take multiple team efforts to contain a number of Hawthorn players.
“The idea that there’ll be many one-on-one match ups for four quarters is probably incorrect.”
Scott was confident in the Cats midfield ability to deal with Hawks physicality, in what looks likely to be a wet game.
“We’re pretty confident with Joel (Selwood) and Paddy (Dangerfield) in particular – the more physical the game the better they handle it,” he said.
Scott brushed off suggestions from some Hawthorn players that the Hawks would be underdogs.
“I’m not sure they’ve sold it that well – you can’t win three grand finals in a row and claim underdog status,” he said.
“We really respect their ability to find a way when the chips are down.”
