BEN Mathews has praised the performance of his midfield against the Bulldogs last round and says they’re determined to back it up against the Power at Traeger Park this Saturday.

The midfield coach said the performance of ruckman Jake Spencer, plus his engine room and running brigade came together strongly against the Dogs. Mathews said his charges “cracked in at the contest” and gave their all.

“That’s where most games are won and lost, [along with] your method around the contest, your ability to fight and scrap, and winning the hard ball and getting it to your runners. Our boys did that really well [against the Bulldogs],” he said.

Mathews said he was looking for his players to continue playing their role against the Power this weekend. 

“[Jake] Spencer’s been really good since he’s come in and certainly on the weekend, it was his best game,” he said.

“His follow up after [each] contest was excellent and it’s great when you’re big boys are doing that. They really create a path for your smaller mids to follow in and Jake was excellent in that area. He led from the front.

“[Aaron] vandenBerg came into the midfield and was super positive for us. It was his first full game in the midfield. He’s spent 50/50 time midfield/forward and he was great. Nathan Jones really set it back up again and Bernie Vince was fantastic as well.

“The positive is that you’ve got [Angus] Brayshaw, who came in during the last quarter and had a really big quarter and had a major impact on the game. From that point of view, we had a lot of players playing their role.”