South African coach Mickey Arthur has lit the fuse ahead of his team's Australian tour, sensationally claiming the Proteas will target Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden in their quest to upstage the home-town heroes.
The South Africans arrive on Australian shores next Sunday but Arthur admits his men have been keeping a close eye on the Symonds' off-field dramas and Hayden's refusal to consider Test retirement - and are planning to use it to their advantage.
"[Symonds'] issues are something we've definitely talked about," Arthur told Fairfax papers.
"We have been following what's been happening, and obviously that drama at the pub can't have helped his peace of mind.
"There has been a lot of chat about it in our dressing rooms. His temperament is something we've picked up on. We haven't spoken directly yet as to how we might take advantage of it, but it's certainly something that has our attention.
"We've also been talking amongst ourselves as to whether [Hayden] will be the Sydney retiree this year.
"It seems that there is one every year, and I've noticed some of his comments about his future in the game where he hasn't ruled that out. That can create uncertainty within a team. It will be interesting to get there and see first-hand just how all this is affecting them."
South Africa were comprehensively trounced in their 2005-06 series against Australia, but coming off two impressive series against India and England - the Proteas are primed for redemption.
Leading the South African attack will be their two exciting, young quicks - Dale Styne and Morne Morkel, but Arthur admits the batting of his top order - particularly that of in-form captain Graeme Smith - could give the tourists the edge.
"They've shown great skill and mental toughness on different surfaces around the world," said Arthur.
“We have been working for two years to put this team together - a team that is ready to meet the challenges of playing in Australia. We feel like we have the talent and the momentum right going into this series."
"We sat down during the Bangladesh Test and spoke at length about Australia - about how we expect them to come at us, about where we think their chinks in the armour are, what kind of strategies we might employ and so on.
"We talked about a lot of issues, and I then left it with the players to think about, and we will re-commence the conversation after we arrive in Perth."
"We've sat the bowlers down to make sure they're not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We got to England this year and there were stories written that we had the best pace line-up since the West Indies in the early 1990s. It's the most exciting group I've been around, and they have the potential to be the best fast-bowling attack in world cricket."
The Perth Test begins on December 17.
