eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
This is my preview, I'm trying to be as impartial as possible, Suns fans, please highlight my main mistakes on your list, as I don't know the list fantastically unfortunately.
Gold Coast vs Essendon (14/04/2012):
Observations:
Gold Coast: Talented youngsters lead by arguably the best player in the AFL in Ablett. Round 1 showed their lack of defensive discipline against Adelaide, and they should be trying to add a defensive side to their game, many considering that Greater Western Sydney’s defence in their first game being better than the Sun’s defence in year 2. The Suns can only improve with talented youngsters like Swallow, Bennell, Day, Toy and McKenzie getting better and better
Essendon: Had a first up fantastic effort against North Melbourne, dominating through the midfield despite media hype about North's apparently "better" midfield, winning by a couple of points. Essendon followed up by beating Port Adelaide less than convincingly, with kicking for goal and general skills being a problem in both games. They will be looking forward to this game; especially considering the margin they defeated the Suns by in their only encounter.
Head-to-Head:Gold Coast 0 - Essendon 1
Form (Pre-Season inc):
Essendon: W-W-W-W-L
Gold Coast: ?-L-L-L-L
Odds Gold Coast - $9.00 Essendon - $1.05 (source: http://www.tab.com.au/Sports/Bettin...ContestDate=2012-04-14T00:00:00&MeetingType=1)
Possible Teams:
Gold Coast:
B: Harbrow-Warnock-Taylor
HB: Weller-May-Brennan
C: Swallow-Caddy-McKenzie
HF: Prestia-Bock-Hall
F: Brown-Lynch-Matera
R: Smith-Ablett-Rischitelli
I: Hunt-Shaw-Fraser
S: Bennell
Essendon:
B: Fletcher-Pears-Hardingham
HB: Dempsey-Carlisle-Hibberd
C: Melksham-Watson-Heppell
HF: Monfries-Hurley-Zaharakis
F: Crameri-Ryder-Jetta
R: Bellchambers-Hocking-Stanton
I: Howlett-Dell’Olio-Dyson
S: McVeigh
Key Match-Ups:
Michael Hurley vs Steven May: May a good defender, Hurley a solid forward so far with the potential to be a monster forward. Hurley has been down for 2 games in a row, even though he got a few touches last game his kicking let him down- 1 goal, 3 behinds and one out on the full. I’ve said Hurley will win one of his contests in the past few weeks, and have been wrong on both occasions. I’ll say it one more time, because he’ll be desperate to run into some form before the big clash against Carlton. Hurley to kick 7
Jobe Watson vs David Swallow: I think Guy McKenna will give his best draftee from last year a chance to go head-to-head with the player the Suns will hope he’ll emulate. There’s no doubt Swallow will be a first-class clearance player, and should try to learn from arguably the best clearance player in the competition in Watson to see the next few step ups in the future to the player he should become. Watson to get 30 touches and 2 goals
Dyson Heppell vs Josh Caddy: Heppell, the player that the Suns could’ve gotten if they didn’t choose Caddy and the Rising Star winner for 2011. Caddy, the player Essendon were desperately trying to lure back to Melbourne to add to their midfield. These two highly talented youngsters will be an interesting battle to behold. Heppell has runs on the board, and has sublime skills. Caddy a much tougher nut to crack. Will say Heppell will win
Keys for each team:
Essendon:
• Dominate the midfield- Essendon have bigger bodies in there, and are expected to be stronger around the ball. Should beat the young midfield that the Suns have
• Kick accurately- Essendon wasted good chances in the forward line both weeks. Will want to improve heavily in that regard
• Hit your targets. Skills have been average first two weeks. Need better skills to compete with the best- coming soon against Carlton and Collingwood
Gold Coast
• Don't rely on Ablett. He's a superstar, but he won't be around forever (he's not Dustin Fletcher
). Spread the load, Caddy, Swallow, Bennell should all be trying to release pressure
• Try to curb Bellchambers and Ryder’s influence. Smith is a promising ruck, if he can do this, he’ll be able to know that he can compete with the best
• Pressure- the defensive pressure has been terrible by the Suns. Will want to improve on that
Summary:
Essendon are in a good spot being 2-0 going into a team they beat by 130-odd points the only time they’ve ever played. The Bombers have had a strong pre-season and are even stronger than before, and they’ll want to really impress the coaches and fans after a poor effort against Port Adelaide, where they were expected to win comfortably. Essendon have better players across the board, even if Gold Coast is an extremely talented side. Essendon will want to win in nearly every position on the ground against a side that’s nowhere near as mature as them
Gold Coast will be worried about their lack of defensive pressure, and will want to create a lot more pressure going forward. They need to try to break even in as many contests as they can and maybe even try to win a couple head-to-head clashes with the bombers.
Tip: Essendon are better. Simply got more mature bodies across the board, better forwards, better defenders, but don’t have the best player on the ground. It should be another domination for the dons. Essendon by 99
Gold Coast vs Essendon (14/04/2012):
Observations:
Gold Coast: Talented youngsters lead by arguably the best player in the AFL in Ablett. Round 1 showed their lack of defensive discipline against Adelaide, and they should be trying to add a defensive side to their game, many considering that Greater Western Sydney’s defence in their first game being better than the Sun’s defence in year 2. The Suns can only improve with talented youngsters like Swallow, Bennell, Day, Toy and McKenzie getting better and better
Essendon: Had a first up fantastic effort against North Melbourne, dominating through the midfield despite media hype about North's apparently "better" midfield, winning by a couple of points. Essendon followed up by beating Port Adelaide less than convincingly, with kicking for goal and general skills being a problem in both games. They will be looking forward to this game; especially considering the margin they defeated the Suns by in their only encounter.
Head-to-Head:Gold Coast 0 - Essendon 1
Form (Pre-Season inc):
Essendon: W-W-W-W-L
Gold Coast: ?-L-L-L-L
Odds Gold Coast - $9.00 Essendon - $1.05 (source: http://www.tab.com.au/Sports/Bettin...ContestDate=2012-04-14T00:00:00&MeetingType=1)
Possible Teams:
Gold Coast:
B: Harbrow-Warnock-Taylor
HB: Weller-May-Brennan
C: Swallow-Caddy-McKenzie
HF: Prestia-Bock-Hall
F: Brown-Lynch-Matera
R: Smith-Ablett-Rischitelli
I: Hunt-Shaw-Fraser
S: Bennell
Essendon:
B: Fletcher-Pears-Hardingham
HB: Dempsey-Carlisle-Hibberd
C: Melksham-Watson-Heppell
HF: Monfries-Hurley-Zaharakis
F: Crameri-Ryder-Jetta
R: Bellchambers-Hocking-Stanton
I: Howlett-Dell’Olio-Dyson
S: McVeigh
Key Match-Ups:
Michael Hurley vs Steven May: May a good defender, Hurley a solid forward so far with the potential to be a monster forward. Hurley has been down for 2 games in a row, even though he got a few touches last game his kicking let him down- 1 goal, 3 behinds and one out on the full. I’ve said Hurley will win one of his contests in the past few weeks, and have been wrong on both occasions. I’ll say it one more time, because he’ll be desperate to run into some form before the big clash against Carlton. Hurley to kick 7
Jobe Watson vs David Swallow: I think Guy McKenna will give his best draftee from last year a chance to go head-to-head with the player the Suns will hope he’ll emulate. There’s no doubt Swallow will be a first-class clearance player, and should try to learn from arguably the best clearance player in the competition in Watson to see the next few step ups in the future to the player he should become. Watson to get 30 touches and 2 goals
Dyson Heppell vs Josh Caddy: Heppell, the player that the Suns could’ve gotten if they didn’t choose Caddy and the Rising Star winner for 2011. Caddy, the player Essendon were desperately trying to lure back to Melbourne to add to their midfield. These two highly talented youngsters will be an interesting battle to behold. Heppell has runs on the board, and has sublime skills. Caddy a much tougher nut to crack. Will say Heppell will win
Keys for each team:
Essendon:
• Dominate the midfield- Essendon have bigger bodies in there, and are expected to be stronger around the ball. Should beat the young midfield that the Suns have
• Kick accurately- Essendon wasted good chances in the forward line both weeks. Will want to improve heavily in that regard
• Hit your targets. Skills have been average first two weeks. Need better skills to compete with the best- coming soon against Carlton and Collingwood
Gold Coast
• Don't rely on Ablett. He's a superstar, but he won't be around forever (he's not Dustin Fletcher
). Spread the load, Caddy, Swallow, Bennell should all be trying to release pressure• Try to curb Bellchambers and Ryder’s influence. Smith is a promising ruck, if he can do this, he’ll be able to know that he can compete with the best
• Pressure- the defensive pressure has been terrible by the Suns. Will want to improve on that
Summary:
Essendon are in a good spot being 2-0 going into a team they beat by 130-odd points the only time they’ve ever played. The Bombers have had a strong pre-season and are even stronger than before, and they’ll want to really impress the coaches and fans after a poor effort against Port Adelaide, where they were expected to win comfortably. Essendon have better players across the board, even if Gold Coast is an extremely talented side. Essendon will want to win in nearly every position on the ground against a side that’s nowhere near as mature as them
Gold Coast will be worried about their lack of defensive pressure, and will want to create a lot more pressure going forward. They need to try to break even in as many contests as they can and maybe even try to win a couple head-to-head clashes with the bombers.
Tip: Essendon are better. Simply got more mature bodies across the board, better forwards, better defenders, but don’t have the best player on the ground. It should be another domination for the dons. Essendon by 99
