essendon v sydney

[bacon buster]

first quarter:

Essendon has gone into the quarter time break holding a 12-point lead over Sydney in today's exhibition match at North Sydney Oval. It was a sluggish start for the Bombers who quickly found themselves three goals down early in the match. However, Essendon - led by Matthew Lloyd - slammed on the next five goals. The Bombers have looked dangerous going forward, particularly with the added marking power of David Hille. Hille has been released forward with Tristan Cartledge doing the ruck work. Good players for Essendon included Justin Murhpy and Jason Winderlich in the midfield. Down back Essendon was well served by Mark Mercuri and Mark Bolton. However the best player for Essendon in the opening term was rookie Nathan Lovett-Murray who was very dangerous across half forward. Matthew Lloyd took three powerful marks and converted two into goals.

second quarter:

Mark Mercuri made North Sydney Oval his own in the second quarter, dominating the game across half back and setting up many forward thrusts. Mercuri was simply dynamic and on more than one occassion showed outstanding courage. He may just have found himself a new job. The other two standouts of the second quarter were again Matthew Lloyd and Nathan Lovett-Murray. Lloyd kicked two more goals, one the result of an outstanding contested mark in the goalsquare. Lovett Murray got plenty of the ball and looks a senior player in the making. Ted Richards got more of the ball in the second quarter, his marking was a feature of his game. In the midfield it was Justin Murphy and Jobe Watson who won plenty of the ball. Watson has been tireless and his tackling has been outstanding.

lovett-murray sounds quite impressive. who will make way for him on the list though?

 

[Darealrath]

Yeah i agree, and really want to see him play, sounds like he could be valuable.

Our injury record of recent season means he'll prolly get his chance sooner or later, especially if Haynes has to go to the long term injury list.

Can rookies play in the wiz cup ?

 

[pjc]

Having been to the game I thought I'd post my impressions of the players. Most of the kids I've seen nothing of living up here, so its a fresh eye.


Ruck.

Cartledge did quite well in the centre bounces has some spring, not quite up to the strength required for the boundary through in wrestles..Hille impressed more around the ground, especially with one very strong mark and goal. He appears to be one of those big guys who can mark a ball running foward on the lead. Pretty impressive. Their opponents were Meiklejohn and Goodes

Bradley made some blues (seemed a bit nervous actually) and needs strength and wants to work on his kicking. However there were many more positives. He has a good football brain and managed to get the ball an aweful lot and almost always be in the right place. He can take a nice mark too and showed good hands. He ran out the whole match well, even in the humidity.

I wish Walsh would get more of the ball because he looks so good when he gets it. All class, poise and great kicking. He got the ball from an OOBs didn't even think about passing inboard went back and stuck it straight through. Winderlich worked really hard and got his share of the ball. Watson is never going to be quick, but he will be really strong, especially through the torso and can find the ball. He lay some crunching tackles as well.

The two Lovetts were fun to watch. Lovett Murray can't be far off a senior place if the opportunity arises.

Mercuri tried really hard, even if his opponent got two early goals. He took a particularly courageous mark backing into the traffic.

For the swans I thought J McVeigh looked a million dollars. I wonder if he wants to reunite with his brother in Melbourne.

 

[SydneyBomber]

Originally posted by pjc
Having been to the game I thought I'd post my impressions of the players. Most of the kids I've seen nothing of living up here, so its a fresh eye.


Ruck.

Cartledge did quite well in the centre bounces has some spring, not quite up to the strength required for the boundary through in wrestles..Hille impressed more around the ground, especially with one very strong mark and goal. He appears to be one of those big guys who can mark a ball running foward on the lead. Pretty impressive. Their opponents were Meiklejohn and Goodes

Bradley made some blues (seemed a bit nervous actually) and needs strength and wants to work on his kicking. However there were many more positives. He has a good football brain and managed to get the ball an aweful lot and almost always be in the right place. He can take a nice mark too and showed good hands. He ran out the whole match well, even in the humidity.

I wish Walsh would get more of the ball because he looks so good when he gets it. All class, poise and great kicking. He got the ball from an OOBs didn't even think about passing inboard went back and stuck it straight through. Winderlich worked really hard and got his share of the ball. Watson is never going to be quick, but he will be really strong, especially through the torso and can find the ball. He lay some crunching tackles as well.

The two Lovetts were fun to watch. Lovett Murray can't be far off a senior place if the opportunity arises.

Mercuri tried really hard, even if his opponent got two early goals. He took a particularly courageous mark backing into the traffic.

For the swans I thought J McVeigh looked a million dollars. I wonder if he wants to reunite with his brother in Melbourne.

Agree with above.
Impressed by Kepler, Cartledge, the Lovett boys, Licha and the Bear.
Mercs was ok in the backline, but still a bit of work to do - there'd be flashes of brilliance, and then 30 secs later he'd wheel himself into trouble.

As mentioned everywhere else, Kepler made a couple of early mistakes, but did really well after that.

Jobe and the Bear (we were his personal cheer squad hehe) laid some absolutely CRUNCHING tackles - I thought Jobe had almost broken a bloke in half at one stage - great stuff!

Cartledge should get a game this year IMO - him working with Hille and rotating CHF will be a treat.

Would love to see more L-M magic (not unlike cupes actually - a lot of flash, a bit of dazzle!)