George Washington
6 May 2010, 23:13
The Teams:
Essendon:
In: Melksham, Howlett
Out: Welsh (susp), Dyson(knee)
Two good changes for Essendon this week with the first-rounder Melksham and mature aged rookie Howlett coming in. Look for both these players to add to the midfield rotation, with Howlett being a clearance machine in his first few games and Melksham looking silky around the contested ball. The loss of Welsh means we are now short a tagger, and with Port’s abundance of small forwards Essendon may find there isn’t enough defenders to go around.
Port Adelaide
In: Motlop, Krakouer, Trengove
Out: Schulz, Lobbe, Carr
Port have Motlop and Krakouer coming back from injury, who will both add leg speed and x-factor to the Port side. It looks like Port are going to try and match Essendon at their own game, with two talls going out and two smalls coming in. With the omission of Lobbe it would seem Port are going into the game with only one ruckman. This may prove to be risky after Hawthorn played both Ryder and Hille back into form, who at their best is one of the premier ruck duos in the competition.
Key Match-ups:
Carlile vs Hurley
Chaplin vs Gumbleton
Last week saw Hurley and Gumbleton both play very good games, with Hurley booting 4 and Gumbleton presenting strongly with 8 marks and a goal. However, Gumbleton was playing on Hodge for a large amount of the game, and Hurley on Murphy, a player still... learning his trade at AFL level. This week presents a huge challenge for both Gumbleton and Hurley, coming up against a hugely underrated defensive pair in Chaplin and Carlile. If Chaplin and Carlile manage to blanket the two Bomber youngsters Essendon will find it difficult to find avenues to goal, however if they can follow up their form from last week it will go a long way to helping Essendon secure the win.
Tredrea vs Hooker
Gray vs Fletcher
Ebert vs McVeigh
Slattery vs Rodan
This is how I foresee the matchups looking like in the Port forward line. Although Buddy kicked 5 last week, he did get a few cheapies, and I thought Hooker overall did a fine job winning multiple one on one contests. Hooker, despite a few brain explosions, has been in excellent form this year and the experienced Tredrea presents a huge challenge for the young man. I hope to see Fletcher go to Gray, in my opinion Port’s most dangerous forward kicking 5.4 last week. Gray is only 184cm, but I think Fletcher has the versatility and speed to go with him. McVeigh has been playing more defensive roles lately, giving Davis a bath on ANZAC day and playing a solid game on Bateman last week. Slattery is also coming off a huge game against the slippery Rioli, and it will be up to him to stop the in form bionic man, Rodan.
The Essendon defence, although weakened by the loss of Pears, is coming off a fantastic week against Hawthorn but this week proves a huge challenge. Port has a plethora of smalls; Gray, Ebert, Rodan, Krakoeur, Motlop and historically we as a side struggle to quell the influence of small forwards. I expect the trend to continue and at least one of those to have a huge game as I believe we are going to be really stretched in our defence.
Players to Watch:
Nathan Lovett-Murray last week had, debatably, his best game in the red and black. With 32 touches and 12 tackles he proved to be a crucial link in our midfield, adding some grunt and hardness that was sorely missing.
Jason Winderlich showed glimpses of his ’09 form last week against the Hawks. He gathered 20 touches in the first half and was crucial in our early domination. However it has been said that he is carrying an injury and he did fade out in the second half only gathering 8 touches. When on song he is one of our most important players and has been given the task of filling the gaping hole left by Lovett. If you see ‘Licha putting the afterburners on and getting a clearance early on the first quarter it may just indicate that Bombers fans are in for a good day.
Travis Boak is a classy midfielder who is just finding his feet at AFL level. Has the ability to both extract the ball and to deliver it with precision. If the ball is in his hands often, he will hurt Essendon.
Whose going to win?
I believe this question is entirely dependent on which Essendon shows up to play. If the insipid, soft 1st quarter ANZAC Day Essendon runs through the banner we are going to get destroyed, and the thread that our season is holding on by will be well and truly severed. However, if we run out with the same determination that led to a record 107 tackles against Hawthorn we will have a game on our hands. Port Adelaide are a better side than the Hawks, and they will not let us have the freedom in the midfield that was afforded to the likes of Stanton and Winderlich last week. Expect a fast, high scoring, free flowing game with both teams looking to run the ball and score quickly.
Hurley to kick 4.
Fletcher to give Gray a bath and put his name on an AA spot.
Bombers by 17.
Essendon:
In: Melksham, Howlett
Out: Welsh (susp), Dyson(knee)
Two good changes for Essendon this week with the first-rounder Melksham and mature aged rookie Howlett coming in. Look for both these players to add to the midfield rotation, with Howlett being a clearance machine in his first few games and Melksham looking silky around the contested ball. The loss of Welsh means we are now short a tagger, and with Port’s abundance of small forwards Essendon may find there isn’t enough defenders to go around.
Port Adelaide
In: Motlop, Krakouer, Trengove
Out: Schulz, Lobbe, Carr
Port have Motlop and Krakouer coming back from injury, who will both add leg speed and x-factor to the Port side. It looks like Port are going to try and match Essendon at their own game, with two talls going out and two smalls coming in. With the omission of Lobbe it would seem Port are going into the game with only one ruckman. This may prove to be risky after Hawthorn played both Ryder and Hille back into form, who at their best is one of the premier ruck duos in the competition.
Key Match-ups:
Carlile vs Hurley
Chaplin vs Gumbleton
Last week saw Hurley and Gumbleton both play very good games, with Hurley booting 4 and Gumbleton presenting strongly with 8 marks and a goal. However, Gumbleton was playing on Hodge for a large amount of the game, and Hurley on Murphy, a player still... learning his trade at AFL level. This week presents a huge challenge for both Gumbleton and Hurley, coming up against a hugely underrated defensive pair in Chaplin and Carlile. If Chaplin and Carlile manage to blanket the two Bomber youngsters Essendon will find it difficult to find avenues to goal, however if they can follow up their form from last week it will go a long way to helping Essendon secure the win.
Tredrea vs Hooker
Gray vs Fletcher
Ebert vs McVeigh
Slattery vs Rodan
This is how I foresee the matchups looking like in the Port forward line. Although Buddy kicked 5 last week, he did get a few cheapies, and I thought Hooker overall did a fine job winning multiple one on one contests. Hooker, despite a few brain explosions, has been in excellent form this year and the experienced Tredrea presents a huge challenge for the young man. I hope to see Fletcher go to Gray, in my opinion Port’s most dangerous forward kicking 5.4 last week. Gray is only 184cm, but I think Fletcher has the versatility and speed to go with him. McVeigh has been playing more defensive roles lately, giving Davis a bath on ANZAC day and playing a solid game on Bateman last week. Slattery is also coming off a huge game against the slippery Rioli, and it will be up to him to stop the in form bionic man, Rodan.
The Essendon defence, although weakened by the loss of Pears, is coming off a fantastic week against Hawthorn but this week proves a huge challenge. Port has a plethora of smalls; Gray, Ebert, Rodan, Krakoeur, Motlop and historically we as a side struggle to quell the influence of small forwards. I expect the trend to continue and at least one of those to have a huge game as I believe we are going to be really stretched in our defence.
Players to Watch:
Nathan Lovett-Murray last week had, debatably, his best game in the red and black. With 32 touches and 12 tackles he proved to be a crucial link in our midfield, adding some grunt and hardness that was sorely missing.
Jason Winderlich showed glimpses of his ’09 form last week against the Hawks. He gathered 20 touches in the first half and was crucial in our early domination. However it has been said that he is carrying an injury and he did fade out in the second half only gathering 8 touches. When on song he is one of our most important players and has been given the task of filling the gaping hole left by Lovett. If you see ‘Licha putting the afterburners on and getting a clearance early on the first quarter it may just indicate that Bombers fans are in for a good day.
Travis Boak is a classy midfielder who is just finding his feet at AFL level. Has the ability to both extract the ball and to deliver it with precision. If the ball is in his hands often, he will hurt Essendon.
Whose going to win?
I believe this question is entirely dependent on which Essendon shows up to play. If the insipid, soft 1st quarter ANZAC Day Essendon runs through the banner we are going to get destroyed, and the thread that our season is holding on by will be well and truly severed. However, if we run out with the same determination that led to a record 107 tackles against Hawthorn we will have a game on our hands. Port Adelaide are a better side than the Hawks, and they will not let us have the freedom in the midfield that was afforded to the likes of Stanton and Winderlich last week. Expect a fast, high scoring, free flowing game with both teams looking to run the ball and score quickly.
Hurley to kick 4.
Fletcher to give Gray a bath and put his name on an AA spot.
Bombers by 17.