Pressure on Golden Square to regain best form in first semi-final

The Dogs entered the finals series with high expectations, but the 38-point loss to the Storm left Square staring down the barrel of a shock early exit.

Of the past 20 BFNL finals series completed, 11 teams that lost qualifying finals were knocked out in straight sets.

Square faces a motivated and hungry South Bendigo in Sunday's first semi-final.

"We've had a good week on the track and the boys are keen to respond,'' Carter said.

"It (the loss) was tough to take, but we had to move on quickly. We've got no lives left now, so the boys are very keen to bounce back."

Golden Square outclassed the Bloods in their two home and away encounters, but that mattered little to Carter.

The Square coach has studied plenty of film of the Bloods this week and he's well aware of how much they've improved in the second half of the season.

"We won't take South lightly, they're a quality side,'' Carter said.

"They have a couple of really dangerous forwards and their midfield bats deep.

"They can move the ball really well if you give them the time and space.

"We've done our homework, now it's up to the boys to stick to the plan."

Midfielder/forward Ricky Monti (groin) was Square's only injury concern out of the qualifying final.

At this stage, the Dogs will take an unchanged side into the first semi-final.

"Ricky got through training on Thursday night, so he'll be right to play,'' Carter said of Monti.

"We didn't want to change the team drastically on the back of one loss.

"After reviewing the game there were areas where we played pretty well, but the start cost us badly.

"You can't give good sides like Strathfieldsaye a six-goal start.

"I thought we played some good footy through the second and third quarters, but the damage had been done early on."

After kicking seven goals from 25 scoring shots in the qualifying final, the Dogs did some extra goalkicking at training on Tuesday and Thursday this week.

"Goalkicking is one point, but it's also about being selfless and making the right choices,'' Carter said.

"Last week we took some shots from positions on the QEO that were out of our reach instead of hitting up a team-mate.

"If the forwards are working hard there's that much space on the QEO that you should be able to find an option to kick to."

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