e and Hawthorn and GWS up there is outstanding.That

Geelong coach Chris Scott has plenty of selection scenarios to ponder ahead of Friday nights preliminary final but it doesnt appear that dropping Jimmy Bartel is one of them.The Cats coach is in the enviable position of having a squad of 30 fit and in-form players to choose from as he prepares for the clash against Sydney at the MCG.Its good for the footy club and its good for the team that weve got lots of options, but well have disappointed players and unlucky players to miss out, Scott said.Bartels place in the side has been a source of much conjecture after some indifferent performances at the back end of the season.But Scott gave every indication the 32-year-old will face the Swans when he spoke to reporters after Tuesdays training session.There are a lot of players who are in our team who arent absolutely guaranteed a spot, but Jimmy is much more likely than unlikely (to play) and thats been the case for a long time, he said.I understand that it attracts a lot of attention because hes been a champion player and hes towards the end of his career, but weve been pretty consistent all year that we dont announce our team on Tuesday.Weve got a bit to work through just yet but the guys who played in our last game are all in the box seat to play this week.The Cats are likely to make at least one change to the team that earned a week off when they squeezed past Hawthorn by two points in their qualifying final.Defender Lachie Henderson has fully recovered from the knee surgery he underwent after round 22 and Scott hinted his ability to play at either end of the ground could see him force his way in.I think against Sydney that flexibility is going to be important, he said.For obvious reasons the focus can be on (Lance Franklin) and Tom Lonergan has traditionally taken him but having the capacity to have different players who can help out in that area would be an asset.We think weve got pretty good flexibility in our squad and irrespective of the final 22 we go with weve got confidence that weve got a few guys who can play at either end of the ground.Lachie is certainly one of them.The Swans are limping into the preliminary final by comparison, but Scott said he will spend little time trying to figure out if injured trio Jarrad McVeigh, Callum Mills and Gary Rohan will recover in time to play.Sydney ruck-forward Kurt Tippett has been cleared to return from a fractured jaw that kept him from the Swans semi-final win over Adelaide. Wholesale Vapormax Australia . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Nike Vapormax Wholesale . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. http://www.wholesalevapormaxaustralia.com/ . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Nike Vapormax Plus Wholesale . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. Nike Vapormax Australia . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Emotion must give way to action for the Western Bulldogs on Saturday, as they seek to win a second AFL premiership in their history by ensuring they are not blown away early by the famously ferocious starts of the Sydney Swans.Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge and acting captain Easton Wood both admitted they were trying to keep emotions and mental energy under control in the 24 hours before the clubs first grand final since 1961, mindful that the wave the club has ridden over the past three weeks must be sustained for another 120 minutes.So much has been written and said about Bulldogs dreams this week. The club president Peter Gordon once offered his fantasy of a premiership right down to the last detail, and the injured club captain Robert Murphy has also shared his visions of walking the premiership cup through the streets of Melbourne and back to Footscray for the first time since 1954.But Wood and Beveridge have been left to try to separate dream from reality, with the hard task of countering the Swans now at the forefront of their minds.I havent played the game in my head yet, Wood said before the grand final parade. I reckon if I had done that a few times, I would be too tired by the time I actually got there. Obviously there is massive excitement but you take each moment as it comes and soak it up when it is out there.Beveridge said he was seeking to have as quiet a night as possible before the game.I will steer clear of the alcohol but I will go home, just put some final things down in preparation for messaging tomorrow. Ill relax, Beveridge said. It has been a busy week as well off the field, not only for me, but for the people who support the players, so we will find some time to chill out, like the players will, and come in here tomorrow with a clear head.It is exciting that we can possibly put the second cup in the cabinet. There is a bit of room. But there is no weight there. It is more exciting.We are looking forward to that challenge and, if anything, we have got a couple of gorillas off our back, winning our first final together was a great milestone against the Eagles and the last two finals have been significant, but this is obviously extremely unique and we have got to keep it on an even keel emotionally, but there is no doubt it is exciting, the prospect of being able to take this [the cup] home.Clear heads will be of most importance in the early minutes after the opening bounce. Sydney have more or less decided their past two finals against Adelaide and Geelong with formidable bursts of ball-winning and scoring inside the first quarter. This is not only significant for the Swans, but it is also the way recent grand finals have largely been won. In each of the past three years, Hawthorn supporters were just about ready to celebrate their latest flag when the quarter-time siren blew.They get out of the gates quickly, no doubt, but we do too. We just dont kick goals, Beveridge quipped. We are a pretty strong starter .dddddddddddd.. but unfortunately we have ben a bit wasteful the last three games. I think both teams start well, but the Swans have had some really emphatic starts in recent times, but it would be pretty disappointing if you are in a grand final and you are not ready for that first bounce.I think both teams will come at each other pretty hard. That is the old throwaway but to the players credit, even though they have been wasteful, they dont lose their focus. We have had teams come at us and be up - the Hawks did that - but we have stayed composed enough, so if it happens again, we have just got to keep our heads and fight our way back into it.We always love to have a great start and be effective and efficient early, and that is the plan, but we have to pull it off. If we dont, we have to go to plan B.Sydney coach John Longmire is mentoring a team with much the better premiership pedigree. This is the Swans third grand final in five seasons, and finals experience has often been cited as a major asset. But Longmire is nothing if not thorough, and he was sure to guard against any notion that the Swans simply need to show up and point to their recent visits to the MCG on grand final day to overawe the Dogs.I dont subscribe to that, he said. I think once the ball bounces, it is about who executes their plan the best, for the longest. That is the challenge.Both teams go in with enormous faith with each others systems and both teams go in in really good form. We lost the first one and then won the last two and if you have a look at the Doggies finals form, to be able to beat West Coast over there and Hawthorn and GWS up there is outstanding.That recent form is what we look at. That carries more weight going into the game. In the end, it is about when the ball bounces, who is able to sustain what they like to do the longest.In their one meeting this year, the Bulldogs were victorious by the slimmest of margins, when Jason Johannisen was able to kick truly at the SCG to put the visitors in front with scarcely five seconds left on the clock. That victory and the manner of it will help sustain Beveridge and his players on Saturday, though he admitted to hoping not to be as nerve-wracked this time around.They havent been daunted by the challenge or the prospect of taking on genuinely the best teams in the competition, Beveridge said. As it turns out, we didnt beat Geelong this year, but they are no longer in it. I think the players feel good about the fact they have been able to beat 16 other sides and they know that they deserve their place tomorrow.But we saw what happened at the end of our game against the Swans ... and obviously John and I were on the edge of our seats in the box, but you hope if you can pull it off tomorrow, it is not as tight as that. ' ' '