Round 17 sees Essendon once again host a team from SA; this time in the form of the Crowbots. I have a little trouble getting too excited for this match. I just don't have any real emotion for the Crows either for or against them; naturally, a lot of that is because I don't live in SA. It's long been suggested that SA footy fans are completely nuts and irrational, and that smart fans visiting from out of state would put a crow scarf on the back panel of their car to avoid their car getting keyed.
I think it's also natural that we feel down after the last two games; both of which we had moments of good football, but didn't play great games; which is silly given we are still in the eight and have some winnable games upcoming; including this one. And yet I think we all have the same question; how are we going to stop their forward line and how do we stop Jordon Dawson from having a field day? On the plus side, I have zero concerns about Rankine; as I'm sure McGrath will cover him well.
In spite of that our recent record against the Crows has been good, and if I'm not mistaken the Crows haven't exactly travelled all that well this season. Hopefully, the home-ground advantage will prove the difference.
The Round That Was
Well, that was a real heartbreaker. No team ever likes to be beaten after the siren, and that makes the total losing margin versus Port this year 9 points. I think what hurts the most is seeing one of our best players in Parish, just completely let us down with his finishing. 0.4 including missing the sealer... true champion players kick that goal; I'm not going to bash Parish, as I think he is a damn good player, but in a 5 point loss, that last miss in particular, stings.... (As does Shiel replacing Menzies, and contributing a fumble that led to a Port Goal, and 2 disposals.)
ESSENDON 2.2 4.8 7.12 10.14 (74)
PORT ADELAIDE 2.7 5.8 6.9 11.12 (78)
GOALS
Essendon: Langford 3, Guelfi 2, Caldwell 2, Laverde, Martin, Stringer
Port Adelaide: Rozee 3, Dixon, Farrell, Narkle, Butters, Finlayson, Burton, Byrne-Jones, Houston
BEST
Essendon: Parish, Caldwell, Ridley, Phillips, Merrett, Heppell
Port Adelaide: Houston, Butters, Rozee, Farrell, Williams, Aliir
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Port Adelaide: Nil
LATE CHANGES
Essendon: Nil
Port Adelaide: Josh Sinn replaced in selected side by Quinton Narkle, Scott Lycett (knee) replaced in selected side by Dante Visentini
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel (replaced Jye Menzie at three-quarter time)
Port Adelaide: Jase Burgoyne (replaced Dante Visentini at three-quarter time)
Crowd: 38,957 at MCG
Meanwhile, the Crows destroyed North to the tune of 66 points. Dawson was his usual prolific self, and Reilly O'brien just about sent Golstein into retirement with 52 hit outs to go with his 2 goals and 15 disposals. Rankine, Forgarty and Walker kicked 12 between.
ADELAIDE 7.2 12.5 17.8 21.12 (138)
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.1 8.3 9.3 11.6 (72)
GOALS
Adelaide: Rankine 5, Fogarty 4, Walker 3, Keays 2, O’Brien 2, Pedlar 2, Thilthorpe 2, Murphy
North Melbourne: Larkey 3, Stephenson 2, Thomas 2, Simpkin, Davies-Uniacke, Scott, Zurhaar
BEST
Adelaide: O'Brien, Keays, Dawson, Rankine, Hinge, Sloane
North Melbourne: Sheezel, Larkey, Thomas, Scott, Ziebell
The Last Time We Met
It's funny how in hindsight, some things become so much clearer. I never really felt Rutten was going ot be the coach to get us out of this rut; (pun intended) and it was an omen that our first win last year was our 4-point win over Adelaide in Round 4. Why was this an omen game? Because our coach that evening was not Ben Rutten and rather Blake Carracella. The end of last year was horrible; Rutten was treated poorly; but I'm glad every week I do these last time we met reviews, that he is gone.
ESSENDON 5.3 9.6 12.11 15.13 (103)
ADELAIDE 4.2 8.4 12.6 15.9 (99)
GOALS
Essendon: Wright 3, Perkins 2, Waterman 2, Caldwell, Draper, Durham, Guelfi, Martin, Phillips, Redman, Smith
Adelaide: Walker 4, Rachele 3, Himmelberg 2, Rowe 2, Gollant, Keays, McHenry, Sholl
BEST
Essendon: Parish, Wright, McGrath, Hind, Caldwell, Shiel
Adelaide: Keays, Crouch, Walker, Laird, Himmelberg, Rachele
INJURIES
Essendon: Snelling (calf)
Adelaide: Hinge (hip pointer)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Devon Smith (replaced Will Snelling)
Adelaide: Brayden Cook (replaced Mitchell Hinge)
Crowd: 24,906 at Marvel Stadium
The Selection Table
Potential Outs
Snelling (I think we need more pace, and I'm keeping Gueilfi over Snelling)
Menzies (Hope not!)
Shiel (Won't happen, but he was useless. Make him earn that spot back)
Durham ( I know people hate when I suggest this, but his just isn't impacted games like we need)
Perkins (Should be better; didn't rate his game nor his efforts.)
Weideman (Would rather play Bryan and Philips and go with a more mobile forwardline)
A rare VFL win means a lot of potential selections.
Possible Ins
Bryan (Bad pun time - He must make good hamburgers because he is In and Out - Would love to see him get a few games in a row, give him a chance to bring his VFL form to the AFL)
Voss (Back in form)
Davey (Great game in the VFL - Must come back in; we need pace)
Walla (Another who was good in the VFL and would be useful to our team at the moment)
I know a lot of people will be calling for Tsatas, but I think a bit like Hobbs, he should spend time owning the VFL first, and well and truly building his fitness. Wouldn't be unhappy is he was an in though.
My Tip
I think we'll be ok. Dons by 20. Redman to put on a show for his soon-to-be rejected suitors.
I think it's also natural that we feel down after the last two games; both of which we had moments of good football, but didn't play great games; which is silly given we are still in the eight and have some winnable games upcoming; including this one. And yet I think we all have the same question; how are we going to stop their forward line and how do we stop Jordon Dawson from having a field day? On the plus side, I have zero concerns about Rankine; as I'm sure McGrath will cover him well.
In spite of that our recent record against the Crows has been good, and if I'm not mistaken the Crows haven't exactly travelled all that well this season. Hopefully, the home-ground advantage will prove the difference.
The Round That Was
Well, that was a real heartbreaker. No team ever likes to be beaten after the siren, and that makes the total losing margin versus Port this year 9 points. I think what hurts the most is seeing one of our best players in Parish, just completely let us down with his finishing. 0.4 including missing the sealer... true champion players kick that goal; I'm not going to bash Parish, as I think he is a damn good player, but in a 5 point loss, that last miss in particular, stings.... (As does Shiel replacing Menzies, and contributing a fumble that led to a Port Goal, and 2 disposals.)
ESSENDON 2.2 4.8 7.12 10.14 (74)
PORT ADELAIDE 2.7 5.8 6.9 11.12 (78)
GOALS
Essendon: Langford 3, Guelfi 2, Caldwell 2, Laverde, Martin, Stringer
Port Adelaide: Rozee 3, Dixon, Farrell, Narkle, Butters, Finlayson, Burton, Byrne-Jones, Houston
BEST
Essendon: Parish, Caldwell, Ridley, Phillips, Merrett, Heppell
Port Adelaide: Houston, Butters, Rozee, Farrell, Williams, Aliir
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Port Adelaide: Nil
LATE CHANGES
Essendon: Nil
Port Adelaide: Josh Sinn replaced in selected side by Quinton Narkle, Scott Lycett (knee) replaced in selected side by Dante Visentini
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel (replaced Jye Menzie at three-quarter time)
Port Adelaide: Jase Burgoyne (replaced Dante Visentini at three-quarter time)
Crowd: 38,957 at MCG
Meanwhile, the Crows destroyed North to the tune of 66 points. Dawson was his usual prolific self, and Reilly O'brien just about sent Golstein into retirement with 52 hit outs to go with his 2 goals and 15 disposals. Rankine, Forgarty and Walker kicked 12 between.
ADELAIDE 7.2 12.5 17.8 21.12 (138)
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.1 8.3 9.3 11.6 (72)
GOALS
Adelaide: Rankine 5, Fogarty 4, Walker 3, Keays 2, O’Brien 2, Pedlar 2, Thilthorpe 2, Murphy
North Melbourne: Larkey 3, Stephenson 2, Thomas 2, Simpkin, Davies-Uniacke, Scott, Zurhaar
BEST
Adelaide: O'Brien, Keays, Dawson, Rankine, Hinge, Sloane
North Melbourne: Sheezel, Larkey, Thomas, Scott, Ziebell
The Last Time We Met
It's funny how in hindsight, some things become so much clearer. I never really felt Rutten was going ot be the coach to get us out of this rut; (pun intended) and it was an omen that our first win last year was our 4-point win over Adelaide in Round 4. Why was this an omen game? Because our coach that evening was not Ben Rutten and rather Blake Carracella. The end of last year was horrible; Rutten was treated poorly; but I'm glad every week I do these last time we met reviews, that he is gone.
ESSENDON 5.3 9.6 12.11 15.13 (103)
ADELAIDE 4.2 8.4 12.6 15.9 (99)
GOALS
Essendon: Wright 3, Perkins 2, Waterman 2, Caldwell, Draper, Durham, Guelfi, Martin, Phillips, Redman, Smith
Adelaide: Walker 4, Rachele 3, Himmelberg 2, Rowe 2, Gollant, Keays, McHenry, Sholl
BEST
Essendon: Parish, Wright, McGrath, Hind, Caldwell, Shiel
Adelaide: Keays, Crouch, Walker, Laird, Himmelberg, Rachele
INJURIES
Essendon: Snelling (calf)
Adelaide: Hinge (hip pointer)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Devon Smith (replaced Will Snelling)
Adelaide: Brayden Cook (replaced Mitchell Hinge)
Crowd: 24,906 at Marvel Stadium
The Selection Table
Potential Outs
Snelling (I think we need more pace, and I'm keeping Gueilfi over Snelling)
Menzies (Hope not!)
Shiel (Won't happen, but he was useless. Make him earn that spot back)
Durham ( I know people hate when I suggest this, but his just isn't impacted games like we need)
Perkins (Should be better; didn't rate his game nor his efforts.)
Weideman (Would rather play Bryan and Philips and go with a more mobile forwardline)
A rare VFL win means a lot of potential selections.
Possible Ins
Bryan (Bad pun time - He must make good hamburgers because he is In and Out - Would love to see him get a few games in a row, give him a chance to bring his VFL form to the AFL)
Voss (Back in form)
Davey (Great game in the VFL - Must come back in; we need pace)
Walla (Another who was good in the VFL and would be useful to our team at the moment)
I know a lot of people will be calling for Tsatas, but I think a bit like Hobbs, he should spend time owning the VFL first, and well and truly building his fitness. Wouldn't be unhappy is he was an in though.
My Tip
I think we'll be ok. Dons by 20. Redman to put on a show for his soon-to-be rejected suitors.
Last edited:
