Preview Pre-game discussion - Collingwood vs Essendon Anzac Day 3.20 MCG

[Magpie Monopoly]

Essendon are going to be asking alot of a fairly weak Midfield outfit...

Sidey>Merrett
Pendles>Heppell
Treloar>Smith
Grundy>>>>Bellchambers
Etc...

Think De Goey needs to go to Saad for a defensive roll to make Saad accountable the other way. The only way Essendon gets enough ball into their Forward line is by going through their defense like they love to do.

If we can win the matchups on Saad and Goddard and Hurley we probably will win comfortably.

 

[DaVe86]

I hope we have a plan this week for Merrett. He was tagged heavily in the first few weeks and was really tamed. Admittingly he had the concussion in r1, and another head knock in the pre-season, so that may have slowed him up a bit as well.

I like that we have set roles for Cripps and Sloane in the last few weeks. But Merrett is a different player. He is quicker and more nimble than these guys, and is more of an accumulator than a beast inside midfielder. Cripps and Sloane were easier to tag because you only really need to check them around stoppages, and after than their effectiveness around the ground is minimal. Merrett is opposite in many regards.

Heppell has been crashing in, so I think Pendlebury may play on Heppell similarly to he did with Cripps.

 

[Grapie]

Will a couple of players be held back from the VFL this week as emergencies for the seniors?

 

[DaVe86]

Will a couple of players be held back from the VFL this week as emergencies for the seniors?

Interesting point.

You would think at least 1 would be, but there are a few days break between games so potentially if there was a training mishap then someone could come in even if they played VFL. YOu would think the club would be conservative though.

 

[CFC2010]

Will a couple of players be held back from the VFL this week as emergencies for the seniors?

I am assuming they will only play half a game.

 

[Scottie65]

Essendon are going to be asking alot of a fairly weak Midfield outfit...

Sidey>Merrett
Pendles>Heppell
Treloar>Smith
Grundy>>>>Bellchambers
Etc...

Think De Goey needs to go to Saad for a defensive roll to make Saad accountable the other way. The only way Essendon gets enough ball into their Forward line is by going through their defense like they love to do.

If we can win the matchups on Saad and Goddard and Hurley we probably will win comfortably.

the only advantage i think u have is with grundy...i think all your mid match ups are on par with each other.....i think it will be a pretty tough contest...may the best team win....( stevos gotta be contained also...( mcgrath will have that job)

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

You know...I don’t want to get carried away, but if we can somehow manage to beat both Essendon and Richmond, looking forward our draw looks mighty nice by Round 14.

I might be starting to believe my former colleagues outrageous prediction for our 2018 season.

 

[Chrispiesssss]

the only advantage i think u have is with grundy...i think all your mid match ups are on par with each other.....i think it will be a pretty tough contest...may the best team win....( stevos gotta be contained also...( mcgrath will have that job)

I think you have your red and black glasses on if you think your midfield is on par to ours. On our good day, we probably have a top 3 midfield. Pendles and Treloar in the top 10 of the player ratings. Sidebottom is 39, and hes probably been our best player. Brodie Grundy is 20th.

Merrets your best with 27th. I’m not saying ratings mean everything, but they obviously have some value. Heppell is 120+.

 

[10571z]

Essendon are going to be asking alot of a fairly weak Midfield outfit...

Sidey>Merrett
Pendles>Heppell
Treloar>Smith
Grundy>>>>Bellchambers
Etc...

Think De Goey needs to go to Saad for a defensive roll to make Saad accountable the other way. The only way Essendon gets enough ball into their Forward line is by going through their defense like they love to do.

If we can win the matchups on Saad and Goddard and Hurley we probably will win comfortably.

Saad? He has been hopeless hasn't got over 16 disposals. No way I'd be sacrificing Degoey for a blokes who barely touched it in the first 4 weeks

 

[Scottie65]

I think you have your red and black glasses on if you think your midfield is on par to ours. On our good day, we probably have a top 3 midfield. Pendles and Treloar in the top 10 of the player ratings. Sidebottom is 39, and hes probably been our best player. Brodie Grundy is 20th.

Merrets your best with 27th. I’m not saying ratings mean everything, but they obviously have some value. Heppell is 120+.

we will soon see hey...but i think u underestimate the likes of merrett(gun) heppell( gun) and smith(quility)....your mids are very good yes.....but sidebottoms prob the one id be worried about the most...pendles is still good but not what he was...and treloer can be hit and miss....and disposal at times goes missing

 

[Le Archie]

I think you have your red and black glasses on if you think your midfield is on par to ours. On our good day, we probably have a top 3 midfield. Pendles and Treloar in the top 10 of the player ratings. Sidebottom is 39, and hes probably been our best player. Brodie Grundy is 20th.

Merrets your best with 27th. I’m not saying ratings mean everything, but they obviously have some value. Heppell is 120+.

AFL player rankings are irrelevant for Essendon because of the doping bans. They work on a two year rolling accumulation and missing 2016 means they aren't ranked appropriately. Hurley is ranked 275th and behind the great AFL KPD's like Sam Frost, Zaine Cordy, Jacob Weitering and Michael Hartley..... That says it all. I think on game day you will be surprised by how close the midfield battle is. If we can break even with you in the middle our class across all other lines should see us come away with a W. If you dominate the midfield battle I still think it will be relatively close but you should get the W.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

the only advantage i think u have is with grundy...i think all your mid match ups are on par with each other.....i think it will be a pretty tough contest...may the best team win....( stevos gotta be contained also...( mcgrath will have that job)

Agree to disagree.

Sidebottom: 33.2 Disposals, 5.0 Marks, 1.0 Goals, 5.0 Tackles, 348 Metres, 75% Efficiency.
Merrett: 17.5 Disposals, 2.0 Marks, 0.2 Goals, 4.5 Tackles, 271 Metres, 57% Efficiency.

Pendles and Heppell, could probably argue either way statistically, however Pendles is much more damaging with his ball than Heppell.

Treloar: 29.8 Disposals, 2.8 Marks, 0.8 Goals, 5.5 Tackles, 347 Metres, 61% Efficiency.
Smith: 20.0 Disposals, 1.8 Marks, 0.5 Goals, 7.8 Tackles, 320 Metres, 70% Efficiency.

Again, agree to disagree.

 

[CFC2010]

we will soon see hey...but i think u underestimate the likes of merrett(gun) heppell( gun) and smith(quility)....your mids are very good yes.....but sidebottoms prob the one id be worried about the most...pendles is still good but not what he was...and treloer can be hit and miss....and disposal at times goes missing

You forgot this beast my friend......

 

[Le Archie]

Agree to disagree.

Sidebottom: 33.2 Disposals, 5.0 Marks, 1.0 Goals, 5.0 Tackles, 348 Metres, 75% Efficiency.
Merrett: 17.5 Disposals, 2.0 Marks, 0.2 Goals, 4.5 Tackles, 271 Metres, 57% Efficiency.

Pendles and Heppell, could probably argue either way statistically, however Pendles is much more damaging with his ball than Heppell.

Treloar: 29.8 Disposals, 2.8 Marks, 0.8 Goals, 5.5 Tackles, 347 Metres, 61% Efficiency.
Smith: 20.0 Disposals, 1.8 Marks, 0.5 Goals, 7.8 Tackles, 320 Metres, 70% Efficiency.

Again, agree to disagree.

If you're looking purely at the opening 4 rounds statistics then you can make that case however with Merrett v Sidebottom you aren't acknowledging Merrett got knocked out in the 1st quarter of round 1 and to be honest has looked a little bit off the pace until last week, where he again looked back to his dominant best. No doubt Sidebottom's start to the season has been incredible though.

Treloar v Smith matchup isn't that far off either when you take into account disposal efficiency, Treloar is only getting 3-4 more effective disposals per game, it's not that great of an advantage.

It really should be a ripping contest whichever way you look at it with two teams coming into Anzac Day after great morale boosting wins.

 

[3rd Monkey]

Heppell’s started the season well but he is no Scott Pendlebury - decision making and disposal quality put Pendles clearly ahead there.

Merrett’s probably been better than Sidey in recent years but on last week’s form they’re pretty even.

Treloar’s also clearly better than Smith I’d say because Smith just doesn’t get enough of the ball if comparing him to a pure midfielder (he’s only averaging 20 touches a game).

Grundy will also smash TBC you’d reckon

Dons’ defence is much better than our forwards on paper but if we play like last week that may not be a problem.

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

If you're looking purely at the opening 4 rounds statistics then you can make that case however with Merrett v Sidebottom you aren't acknowledging Merrett got knocked out in the 1st quarter of round 1 and to be honest has looked a little bit off the pace until last week, where he again looked back to his dominant best. No doubt Sidebottom's start to the season has been incredible though.

Treloar v Smith matchup isn't that far off either when you take into account disposal efficiency, Treloar is only getting 3-4 more effective disposals per game, it's not that great of an advantage.

It really should be a ripping contest whichever way you look at it with two teams coming into Anzac Day after great morale boosting wins.

The difference between Treloar and Smiths ball winning ability statistically, is greater than the difference between Smith and Lynden Dunn...

Treloar vs. Smith - +9.8 Disposals
Smith vs. Dunn - +7.8 disposals
Theres a big difference.

Current form will always outweigh historical form. Sidebottom has been in considerably better form to date than Merrett. Many would argue they would take Merrett currently over Sidebottom due to his age, but very few if any would say Merrett is playing better footy than Sidebottom.

 

[Scottie65]

Agree to disagree.

Sidebottom: 33.2 Disposals, 5.0 Marks, 1.0 Goals, 5.0 Tackles, 348 Metres, 75% Efficiency.
Merrett: 17.5 Disposals, 2.0 Marks, 0.2 Goals, 4.5 Tackles, 271 Metres, 57% Efficiency.

Pendles and Heppell, could probably argue either way statistically, however Pendles is much more damaging with his ball than Heppell.

Treloar: 29.8 Disposals, 2.8 Marks, 0.8 Goals, 5.5 Tackles, 347 Metres, 61% Efficiency.
Smith: 20.0 Disposals, 1.8 Marks, 0.5 Goals, 7.8 Tackles, 320 Metres, 70% Efficiency.

Again, agree to disagree.

your judging on the 4 games this year...im comparing overall....anyway either its gunna be a ripper and i cant wait til next weds

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

your judging on the 4 games this year...im comparing overall....anyway either its gunna be a ripper and i cant wait til next weds

You can potentially make the argument historically for Merrett vs. Sidebottom, but if your position is comparing them overall, Smith and Heppell don't even sit at the same table as Treloar and Pendles.

Essendon have strong points over the Pies (Forward line has been functioning better for longer), but the midfield is pretty one sided.

 

[Le Archie]

The difference between Treloar and Smiths ball winning ability statistically, is greater than the difference between Smith and Lynden Dunn...

Treloar vs. Smith - +9.8 Disposals
Smith vs. Dunn - +7.8 disposals
Theres a big difference.

Current form will always outweigh historical form. Sidebottom has been in considerably better form to date than Merrett. Many would argue they would take Merrett currently over Sidebottom due to his age, but very few if any would say Merrett is playing better footy than Sidebottom.

I don't understand the point of this comparison when we are talking about the midfield battle. Hurley averages 25.8 touches this year, does that mean he is a good midfield comparison to Treloar?

Current form had Merrett as one of our best players last week. I agree your midfield is in better current form but my point is that I do not think you have the clear distinct advantage over our midfield that you believe is the case.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

oh man imagine howe jumping over danniher for mark of the year! that would be a well written story

Sorry mate, but here is the true story

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

I don't understand the point of this comparison when we are talking about the midfield battle. Hurley averages 25.8 touches this year, does that mean he is a good midfield comparison to Treloar?

Current form had Merrett as one of our best players last week. I agree your midfield is in better current form but my point is that I do not think you have the clear distinct advantage over our midfield that you believe is the case.

The point of the comparison is that Treloar gets a significantly greater amount of the ball than Smith. The comparison with Dunn is to show that the difference between Treloar and Smith is greater than Smith and our stay at home defender. Would you prefer i use the comparison of Smith to another midfielder, like Callum Brown (the only mid i can find of ours who averaged less than Smith)?

Treloar vs. Smith - +9.8 Disposals
Smith vs. Brown - +4.3 disposals
The difference between Smith and Treloar is over double the difference between Smith and Brown (yes a bloke who has played 3 games).

Hurley isn't a stay at home defender. Much of Essendon's attack is generated from the defensive 50 with quick outlet kicks to opposite wings, and the majority of that attack goes through Hurley, which is why he has ball winning numbers. Its for that reason i used Dunn instead of someone like Crisp or Murray, because they are attacking defenders (both average more disposals than Smith).

 

[Vicky Park]

Sorry mate, but here is the true story

View attachment 485214

Mods please ban!

 

[100volt1]

Watching the first half of the Anzac Day game last season.

It's a ******* good thing Ramsey was delisted. Absolute hack of a Footballer.

Sent from my CPH1715 using Tapatalk

 

[Fruit]

I hope we use Sidey in a tagging role again. He has proved that he can work off the good players brilliantly which is a double win for us but it will also prevent Essendon using a tagger on him unless they want to have a 2 on 1 and leave one of ours free.

 

[eDPS]

Can’t wait to see Murray match up on one of their smart arse forwards and force them to be accountable.

An accountable Essendon forward? Hahaha that’s a good one