VelvetSledge
Moderator
- May 24, 2007
- 17,489
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- Essendon
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- Liverpool FC, Melbourne Storm
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- #1
ESSENDON BOMBERS
Pretty bloody ugly, but a win is a win against a Norf side that is definitely improving.
Sam Durham impressed on debut, working harder down the wing than a vast majority of his teammates. Wish he kicked that sitter.
An unreal second-half showing from Jake Stringer and Darcy Parish led the Dons to another win, and was enough to see us pushed into the eight.
Essendon were lacklustre and sluggish in the first half; jogging and seemingly unwilling to get to contests in the warm Gold Coast weather.
Jake Stringer was immense in the first quarter, getting the clearance at the first four centre bounces, but his true influence was shown when he booted four massive goals in the second half.
Our eighth road-trip for the year. You'd hope that the AFL would seriously look after us in the 2022 fixture.
Peter Wright is turning into a really astute pickup. 3 goals again, and hitting the contest at every chance.
Dyson Heppell has really stepped it up again; the captain is playing some brilliant football off half-back and even managed to get forward for a goal.
LOLNORF 11.8 74
def. by
ESSENDON BOMBERS 13.14 92
GOALS: Stringer 4, Wright 3, Guelfi, Perkins, Heppell, Smith, Ham, Hooker
BEST: Stringer, Parish, Merrett, Heppell, Draper
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GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS
In these bizarre times, one just has to expect the unexpected. So when the rugby match between Australia and France was reclassified as a tier 1 COVID exposure site, and eight players were suddenly unavailable in this fixture, who was really surprised? Arguably GWS' best player Toby Greene was removed from the side, as was tagger Matt De Boer.
The Giants got the jump on the Swans early and managed to get out to a 35 point lead, but were outclassed in the second half by a Swans side that has rebuilt in an unbelievably short amount of time.
The Giants weren't helped by an ankle injury to Josh Kelly and a dislocated shoulder to ruckman Matt Flynn; the latter of which will miss this game tonight.
Harry Himmelberg was the key man up front for the Giants, and ended up with 3 goals.
The loss saw GWS drop to 12th, two points out of the eight.
GWS GIANTS 11.6 72
def. by
SYDNEY SWANS 15.8 98
GOALS: Himmelberg 3, Hogan, Lloyd 2, Bruhn, Kennedy, Perryman, Finlayson
BEST: Taranto, Hopper, Perryman, Kelly, Coniglio, Himmelberg
ESSENDON INS: Dylan Shiel, David Zaharakis
ESSENDON OUTS: Alec Waterman, Matt Guelfi (Both omitted), Martin Gleeson (Medi-Sub)
GIANTS INS: Lachie Ash, Lachie Whitfield, Shane Mumford
GIANTS OUTS: Callan Ward (Managed), Matt Flynn (Injured), Jeremy Finlayson (Omitted), Zach Sproule (Medi-Sub)
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MILESTONES:
Josh Kelly, #22, GWS Giants
150 GAMES
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Subs are announced one hour prior to bounce
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Really have to feel for Matt Guelfi at this point; he's not doing much wrong but finds himself on the outer quite a bit. At this stage, I can see him heading back to WA at the end of the year. Alongside his name on the dropped list is Alec Waterman, who has admittedly been rather quiet in the past few weeks. With a contract signed for next year, however, he has time to work on his tank to get into the game for longer periods. In somewhat of a surprising move, 225-gamer David Zaharakis has been recalled to the starting lineup. Whilst he hasn't had his worst year, he's still been very much borderline best 22, and seeing him in the side at this point of the year is a little bit strange. That said, the injury list is long, and the help will be welcomed.
Speaking of which, Dylan Shiel has finally returned to the senior side after a long, long, LONG layoff with a knee injury. Whilst there were fears that he wouldn't return until 2022, the consummate professional that he is has seen his body hold up well enough to return after a mere.. *checks notes* 17 weeks on the sidelines. If there is any player that you don't have to worry about being in good shape coming off an injury, it's Dylan Shiel. And it'll be great to see him back with the power couple of Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish.
The Giants have had to recall the professional thug and assault artist Shane Mumford to play footy again much to his dismay, with Matt Flynn going down with two shoulder dislocations last week. Jeremy Finlayson's form has seen him dropped to the magoos, whilst veteran Callan Ward has dived out of the side needing a rest. The Giants have hard-running Lachie Whitfield returning as well, alongside Lachie Ash.
ROUND 8, 2021
GIANTS Stadium
8/5/2021
GWS GIANTS and the umpire that didn't pay an obvious free to Cale Hooker 16.11 107
def.
ESSENDON 16.9 105
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ESSENDON GOALS: Langford 3, Wright, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Jones, Snelling 2, Hooker, Perkins, Cox, Redman, Guelfi
GIANTS GOALS: Finlayson 3, Sproule, Bruhn, Greene, Kelly 2, Himmelberg, Lloyd, Taranto, Hopper, Hill
ESSENDON BEST: Merrett, Parish, Hind, Phillips, Langford, Heppell
GIANTS BEST: Greene, Taranto, Kelly, Perryman, Greene, Ward
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CHANGES SINCE THEN
ESSENDON OUTS: McGrath, Langford, Francis, Phillips, Guelfi, Jones
ESSENDON INS: Durham, Zaharakis, Draper, Cutler, Shiel
GIANTS OUTS: Ward, Greene, Finlayson, Hill, Sproule, Buckley, Keeffe
GIANTS INS: Davis, Haynes, Kennedy, Daniels, Hogan, Coniglio, Reid
If the boys want to make finals, they'll be up for this one. We're in a good position, and while our form hasn't been fantastic, we're capable of winning this. We owe it to these pricks who stole it from us earlier in the season. As always, * COVID, * Gladys, * ScoMo and * Carlton.
Essendon by 9.
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