AFL journalist Adam McNicol praised McIntosh’s previous effort against the big man where he finished the game with only three less hitouts, three less disposals and one less mark than Sandilands.
“Sandilands poses a massive issue for all teams but especially down here at the Cattery, where they haven’t had a whole lot of consistency with their ruck lineups and where they have had a lot of trouble with Sandilands in the past.
“So Hamish McIntosh, if he can get over that ankle soreness that kept him out of last weekend’s game against the Kangaroo’s then I would think he’ll come back in, the thing Hamish brings is that ability to really push forward and to make big Sandi chase him,” McNicol told CatsTV.
Throughout the year Geelong has experimented with all three ruckman (McIntosh, Simpson and Blicavs) all of which are capable of taking on the main ruck duty.
“Hamish as an attacking weapon is pretty strong, plus Hamish can certainly match him at the centre bounces.
“You’d probably say you’d concede a fair few of the hit outs but that’s the interesting thing that brings big Dawson into calculations,” McNicol said.
Simpson has played 13 games this season following several years plagued by injuries in recent times.
“Dawson is a huge unit and has the ability to sort of break 50/50 I suppose in those hit out situations and try and get the Cats a few more clearances.
“So tough selection headache that one, but you’d think they’d go with Hamish if he’s fit” McNicol said.
