Dangerous GWS has shades of dominant Tigers, warns Tuohy

GEELONG is bracing for a “dangerous” GWS outfit in Friday night’s knockout semifinal, even without its star playmaker Toby Greene.

Veteran Cat Zach Tuohy, who will return from a hamstring injury, has compared the Giants’ best to the premiership-winning Richmond sides of recent years.

Tuohy suffered the hamstring blow in Geelong’s 19point loss to the Giants in round 21 but saw enough to know the threat they pose.

“They have been a particularly dangerous side for a long time because of how they play,” Tuohy said.

“When they get going they are hard to stop and they are a little bit Richmond-esque in terms of how they play and obviously we saw how dangerous they can be just a few weeks ago.

“So it is fresh in our minds what they are capable of.

“He (Greene) is a class player and one of the most dangerous players in the competition, but unfortunately for us they have got quite a few of them in their side.

“I am sure they will miss him but we are fully aware they are a highly competent side without him.”

Geelong will have further selection changes in addition to Tuohy, who will replace Mark O’Connor (hamstring) for Friday’s clash.

Tuohy said while all sides tinkered with their game plan to suit their opponents, the best teams had faith in their own systems to get the job done.

“Generally most of the focus most weeks is on yourself and you tweak your game plan at the edges to accommodate what the opposition is going to throw at you,” he said.

“I think every top side we have seen for a long time now has more or less played their game and not worried too much about the opposition.

“But it would be naive to not tinker a little bit to try to accommodate their strengths.

“So we focus a lot on ourselves but touch on their strengths.

“That (round 21 loss to GWS) was a particularly poor performance on our end but they are a quality side who, when they are given it on their terms, are basically impossible to stop.

“We allowed them to move it far too quickly on that occasion so that will be a focus.”