North Melbourne’s Sam Gibson will take confidence out of his performance against Tiger Brandon Ellis, as he prepares for a potential match-up against Swans’ livewire Lewis Jetta.
The Roo wingman held Ellis to just ten disposals in Sunday’s Elimination Final, completely shutting him out of the game after quarter-time.
“We identified during the week that he was pretty important to their ball movement and their outside uncontested possessions,” Gibson told NMFC.com.au.
“We matched up pretty well running wise and it was my job just to take him out on those uncontested possessions.
“Thankfully we put a lot of pressure on the ball carrier so my job was made a lot easier.”
This week’s match-up, should it eventuate, could prove vital to the outcome of the match given Jetta’s ability to turn a match with his exhilarating pace and skill.
“They are much the same those sorts of players (wingmen),” Gibson said.
“They are very damaging when they get the footy, so it’s about restricting and getting the ball, but also he’s a bit quicker than me, so I just have to make sure I get my positioning right and take away his space.”
Gibson said any talk of the Swans being undermanned in the absence of Kieren Jack and Luke Parker was counteracted by the quality of their emerging midfielders.
“They’ve been one of those teams that have really good depth over the last few years,” Gibson said.
“Tom Mitchell is a guy this year who wasn’t getting a regular game last year but is doing really well this year.
“They’ve got guys who can replace them and they’ve shown they can replace them for the last month, so for us it (the approach) doesn’t really change. It’s more about what we do.”
North has played just twice at ANZ Stadium in its history, including last year’s Preliminary Final loss, but Gibson said the unfamiliarity of the venue won’t affect the team’s chances.
“It sort of looks a bit like Metricon (Stadium). It’s a similar sort of ground, but in finals it doesn’t matter. It’s all about contested footy and pressure,” he added.
“Regardless of whether you are on a big oval or a small oval it tends to be a contested brand of footy – we’ll have to play that to win.”
