eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
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Sweet F.A. 300+ Games Played in the SFA
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Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
- Posts
- 129,470
- Reaction score
- 89,153
- Location
- Melbourne
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Coburg Lions, All Boston sides
Last game:
Essendon: The Dons had a disappointing ANZAC Day after a promising 3 weeks earlier, losing by 77 points in a complete demolishing by Collingwood. Archie Roberts was a feature with 42 disposals off half back, with key forward Nate Caddy kicking 3 goals for the Dons.
Brisbane:
Head to head
Essendon 4-1 Brisbane
Form Guide (last 5):
Essendon: 1W 4L
Brisbane: 3W 1L
Possible sides
Essendon vs Brisbane
FB: Andrew McGrath - Ben McKay - Jaxon Prior
FF: Charlie Cameron - Oscar Allen - Cameron Rayner
HB: Saad El-Hawli - Zach Reid - Archie Roberts
HF: Lincoln McCarthy - Logan Morris - Kai Lohmann
MF: Xavier Duursma - Jye Caldwell - Kyle Langford
MF: Hugh McCluggage - Will Ashcroft - Zac Bailey
HF: Jayden Nguyen - Nate Caddy - Archer Day-Wicks
HB: Keidean Coleman - Ty Gallop - Jaspa Fletcher
FF: Tom Edwards - Peter Wright - Isaac Kako
FB: Ryan Lester - Harris Andrews - Darcy Wilmot
OB: Nick Bryan - Elijah Tsatas - Zach Merrett
OB: Sam Draper - Lachlan Neale - Josh Dunkley
IC: Jacob Farrow - Sullivan Robey - Dyson Sharp - Sam Durham - Darcy Parish
IC: Darcy Fort - Levi Ashcroft - Conor McKenna - James Tunstill - Bruce Reville
Essendon in: Nick Bryan, Jayden Nguyen; out: Lachlan Blakiston, Archer May
Brisbane in: N/A; out: N/A
Brisbane defence vs Essendon forward line
Essendon's forward line has been the strongest line for them this season, kicking a goal 26.74% of the time and scoring 47.77% of the time it enters their 50, 4th and 6th in those stats respectively. Brisbane have conceded a goal 24.52% of the time it enters defensive 50, and a score 46.18% of the time, 9th and 10th in those stats respectively.
Match ups wise the bombers will be hoping Peter Wright can occupy Harris Andrews inside 50 as much as possible and not allow him to dominate the air, whilst youngster Ty Gallop will go head to head with Nate Caddy as the other pairing, Caddy having kicked a goal every match he's played so far this year and averaging 2 goals a game, whilst Isaac Kako will try to get on top of a Brisbane defence without Noah Answerth as their primary lockdown player.
Midfield/rucks battle
This is where most expect Brisbane to dominate, the Lions being the best clearance and 3rd best contested possession team in the AFL based on difference this season, whilst the Bombers rank bottom 4 in both these areas, despite that picking up recently in the middle.
The difference in quality is as big as any in the AFL, with Brisbane boasting a 2 time Brownlow medalist and a 2 time Norm Smith winner in Lachie Neale and Will Ashcroft, then adding Josh Dunkley on top of that, compare that to Essendon's starting midfield of Darcy Parish, Zach Merrett and Jye Caldwell and you can understand why those stats are so biased towards the Lions. On the outside, Essendon duo of Xavier Duursma and Kyle Langford have been good since moving up the field but Hugh McCluggage and Zac Bailey are probably the most damaging combination in the AFL. The big man duel might be interesting, Sam Draper coming against his old side for the first time whilst Nick Bryan is a chance of returning from his ACL injury at the start of last season.
Brisbane forward line vs Essendon defence
Brisbane's forward line has kicked a goal 25.37% of the time it enters their forward 50 and score 49.85% of the time, 8th and 2nd in the AFL respectively, whilst Essendon's defence is 16th for both goals and scores per inside 50 conceded at 28.08% and 52.22% respectively.
New star recruit Oscar Allen will likely receive attention from Zach Reid from Essendon, the young Don seemingly getting back to his best football in the last few week, whilst Ben McKay will likely play mostly on the young star Logan Morris, and dons skipper Andrew McGrath likely to lock horns with Charlie Cameron, who has only kicked 7 goals in his last 5 games against the Dons skipper.
Key stat
Essendon: Clearances. They can't let Brisbane dominate this feature of the game if they're going to put a good effort in against the reigning premiers.
Brisbane: Goals/Inside 50. Seriously, if they dominate this area this scoreline could be biblical.
Tip
Brissy will put 30 goals past us, it could get very ugly. Brissy by plenty
Essendon: The Dons had a disappointing ANZAC Day after a promising 3 weeks earlier, losing by 77 points in a complete demolishing by Collingwood. Archie Roberts was a feature with 42 disposals off half back, with key forward Nate Caddy kicking 3 goals for the Dons.
Brisbane:
Head to head
Essendon 4-1 Brisbane
Form Guide (last 5):
Essendon: 1W 4L
Brisbane: 3W 1L
Possible sides
Essendon vs Brisbane
FB: Andrew McGrath - Ben McKay - Jaxon Prior
FF: Charlie Cameron - Oscar Allen - Cameron Rayner
HB: Saad El-Hawli - Zach Reid - Archie Roberts
HF: Lincoln McCarthy - Logan Morris - Kai Lohmann
MF: Xavier Duursma - Jye Caldwell - Kyle Langford
MF: Hugh McCluggage - Will Ashcroft - Zac Bailey
HF: Jayden Nguyen - Nate Caddy - Archer Day-Wicks
HB: Keidean Coleman - Ty Gallop - Jaspa Fletcher
FF: Tom Edwards - Peter Wright - Isaac Kako
FB: Ryan Lester - Harris Andrews - Darcy Wilmot
OB: Nick Bryan - Elijah Tsatas - Zach Merrett
OB: Sam Draper - Lachlan Neale - Josh Dunkley
IC: Jacob Farrow - Sullivan Robey - Dyson Sharp - Sam Durham - Darcy Parish
IC: Darcy Fort - Levi Ashcroft - Conor McKenna - James Tunstill - Bruce Reville
Essendon in: Nick Bryan, Jayden Nguyen; out: Lachlan Blakiston, Archer May
Brisbane in: N/A; out: N/A
Brisbane defence vs Essendon forward line
Essendon's forward line has been the strongest line for them this season, kicking a goal 26.74% of the time and scoring 47.77% of the time it enters their 50, 4th and 6th in those stats respectively. Brisbane have conceded a goal 24.52% of the time it enters defensive 50, and a score 46.18% of the time, 9th and 10th in those stats respectively.
Match ups wise the bombers will be hoping Peter Wright can occupy Harris Andrews inside 50 as much as possible and not allow him to dominate the air, whilst youngster Ty Gallop will go head to head with Nate Caddy as the other pairing, Caddy having kicked a goal every match he's played so far this year and averaging 2 goals a game, whilst Isaac Kako will try to get on top of a Brisbane defence without Noah Answerth as their primary lockdown player.
Midfield/rucks battle
This is where most expect Brisbane to dominate, the Lions being the best clearance and 3rd best contested possession team in the AFL based on difference this season, whilst the Bombers rank bottom 4 in both these areas, despite that picking up recently in the middle.
The difference in quality is as big as any in the AFL, with Brisbane boasting a 2 time Brownlow medalist and a 2 time Norm Smith winner in Lachie Neale and Will Ashcroft, then adding Josh Dunkley on top of that, compare that to Essendon's starting midfield of Darcy Parish, Zach Merrett and Jye Caldwell and you can understand why those stats are so biased towards the Lions. On the outside, Essendon duo of Xavier Duursma and Kyle Langford have been good since moving up the field but Hugh McCluggage and Zac Bailey are probably the most damaging combination in the AFL. The big man duel might be interesting, Sam Draper coming against his old side for the first time whilst Nick Bryan is a chance of returning from his ACL injury at the start of last season.
Brisbane forward line vs Essendon defence
Brisbane's forward line has kicked a goal 25.37% of the time it enters their forward 50 and score 49.85% of the time, 8th and 2nd in the AFL respectively, whilst Essendon's defence is 16th for both goals and scores per inside 50 conceded at 28.08% and 52.22% respectively.
New star recruit Oscar Allen will likely receive attention from Zach Reid from Essendon, the young Don seemingly getting back to his best football in the last few week, whilst Ben McKay will likely play mostly on the young star Logan Morris, and dons skipper Andrew McGrath likely to lock horns with Charlie Cameron, who has only kicked 7 goals in his last 5 games against the Dons skipper.
Key stat
Essendon: Clearances. They can't let Brisbane dominate this feature of the game if they're going to put a good effort in against the reigning premiers.
Brisbane: Goals/Inside 50. Seriously, if they dominate this area this scoreline could be biblical.
Tip
Brissy will put 30 goals past us, it could get very ugly. Brissy by plenty
