Preview Elimination Final: Western Bulldogs vs Essendon, York Park, Sunday 29/08/2021 @ 3:20 pm

[ghostdog]

Nah they have sorted us out properly it's a final . Im front row if anyone can advise me of some appropriate sledges better than 'you suck'.

Tell Weightman he has a massive head.

 

[Halftimehero]

We even have the floggers apparently

I really don’t think the Norf Bigfooty posters will be necessary.

 

[ghostdog]

It will be interesting to see if McGrath plays back a bit more because of Hind being out. Realistically he's the only person that could cover Hind's absence but I doubt they will play him there the whole time. I'm sure he still rotates through the midfield and we will back our system to cover for Hind. I'm not super worried about our defensive rebound though. Most of our defenders are pretty good in terms of adding rebounding or intercepting or both.

Plus Gleeson has actually been good in his senior games this year. Has shown good maturity and composure when called upon.

I'd like to see McGrath roll back as the 7th to help us run it out of the tight spots. He is able to find the crafty short option, has excellent lateral vision, can lockdown and has some toe when necessary. I can see him releasing Redders who can run and carry.

I suppose Gleeson in allows Heppell to play higher up the ground. Haven't seen Gleeson run like he did in his first year for a very long time.

 

[Schnitzengruben]

*, now I'm hyped.

 

[Kyptastic]

Friend of mine’s been doing some really good analysis of Essendon games recently on Twitter. Here’s his thread breaking down how to beat the Dogs, give it a read:

 

[Vander18]

Friend of mine’s been doing some really good analysis of Essendon games recently on Twitter. Here’s his thread breaking down how to beat the Dogs, give it a read:

He’s on the money re Draper - outcome of the game is massively tied to how he plays.

 

[Mootsy]

Hurley in for Hind?

 

[Seb78]

Hurley in for Hind?

 

[blitzer]

He’s on the money re Draper - outcome of the game is massively tied to how he plays.

If Draper has one of his games where he's really energetic around the clearances and getting some clean taps to our mids advantage plus taking down the line contested grabs then it will take us a long way towards winning the game. You'd think he'll win hitouts basically regardless when he's up against Young in the ruck but the quality could still be variable and may not necessarily translate into clearances.

 

[Blind Turn]

If Draper has one of his games where he's really energetic around the clearances and getting some clean taps to our mids advantage plus taking down the line contested grabs then it will take us a long way towards winning the game. You'd think he'll win hitouts basically regardless when he's up against Young in the ruck but the quality could still be variable and may not necessarily translate into clearances.

My concern is that if Draper’s energy in standard games is standard for him, he might be the first witnessed SHC in history.

 

[Shane Heard]

fu**, now I'm hyped.

thats awesome

 

[Hazardinho]

Hi guys new to BigFooty, sorry if my message doesn't contribute much to the conversation. I'd like to say I'm relatively confident heading into tomorrow, obviously the loss of Hind is a big blow but does Rutten shift Mcgrath to fill that small back pocket or does he intrust Gleeson, I'd imagine Gleeson plays that role but it feels underwhelming having him there. The only thing i feel the bulldogs have that might benefit them is they're coming off a 9 day break and they can regroup from a draining season, but having no ruckmen to compete with Draper, who will give first use to the likes of Zerret, Mcgrath, Parish, Stringer, Shiel, Caldwell. That is seriously a deep midfield, Keath is a big inclusion for them as he was not playing the last time they played against us, so unlikely Wright scores 7. Having Francis up forward who can get the occasional contested mark, bringing the ball to ground for our smalls to crumb has been such a great move by Rutten, as I felt Hooker wasn't making any space for lead ups or consistently bringing the ball to ground or applying tackling pressure, which allowed for teams to get out of our press too easily which makes it hard to keep the ball inside our 50 and hence we've been 16th for time inside forward 50 for pretty much the whole year but that's changed since Francis has come in, and even Tippa going out has been good as he doesn't really apply much forward pressure, i feel he's been carrying a knock as its unlike Tippa to not contribute much pressure. It will be interesting how Caldwell is put into the side, I've read a lot abt him and he's been credited for having two way running capabilities, which i felt in previous years we desperately lacked so he's just another weapon we add that is gonna make us formidable. I feel our defenders really match up well for the bulldogs forward line, especially since Bruce has gone down, so its really Tim English, Naughton and Weightman we got to watch out for, so we just got to block the space for Naughton to have a run and jump at, which will minimise his main strength as he hasn't really developed bringing the ball down to ground, having skills below his knees. I honestly don't see why we can't win, we're in Tasmania where its gonna be mainly Essendon supporters, so its basically a home game for us, we will never get a better chance to win a final like this honestly, we really should win and I'd feel disappointed if we don't win this game.

 

[Vander18]

My concern is that if Draper’s energy in standard games is standard for him, he might be the first witnessed SHC in history.

If it happens post-game during the song that’s ok - he’ll have a week to recover.

 

[Vander18]

If Draper has one of his games where he's really energetic around the clearances and getting some clean taps to our mids advantage plus taking down the line contested grabs then it will take us a long way towards winning the game. You'd think he'll win hitouts basically regardless when he's up against Young in the ruck but the quality could still be variable and may not necessarily translate into clearances.

Yep- We need him to be DOMINANT

 

[Dave]

My concern is that if Draper’s energy in standard games is standard for him, he might be the first witnessed SHC in history.

SHC?

 

[Vander18]

SHC?

Not my post but I assumed spontaneous human combustion.

 

[Dave]

Not my post but I assumed spontaneous human combustion.

Ah. Might be more than one if that's the case.

 

[Dave]

The last five finals we've lost to teams we beat the previous time we played them in a final.

The last time we played the doggies in a final........

 

[rumply]

 

[Lore]

That looks like everyone Langford, Reid, Eyre. Guys that might play but not this week, are ruled out for the season and won’t play, and are just kids. Poor Hindy and I guess Ambrose (retired) are probably the only ones not going.

Also means any scratch match has either already happened or will be staged in Tasmania…

 

[westking]

Draper has to play like Mumford today. There is no tomorrow!!!

 

[JT_the_Man]

That looks like everyone Langford, Reid, Eyre. Guys that might play but not this week, are ruled out for the season and won’t play, and are just kids. Poor Hindy and I guess Ambrose (retired) are probably the only ones not going.

Also means any scratch match has either already happened or will be staged in Tasmania…

I think the real question is was Tippa on the plane?

 

[Keystone agony]

Getting ahead of myself as i dont think we will win tomorrow

But give me Brisbane even in Brisbane without Mcstay, Hipwood, Birchall, Lester, Rayner and show them Langford, Hind and Tippa

 

[DallasCrane316]

Let’s go, Dons. Great vid from the club to build this up

 

[Lore]

I think the real question is was Tippa on the plane?

I can’t see him there… not even the edge of a dreadlock