The weird thing about these previews is they are oddly therapeutic, which is a good thing because as an Essendon fan, I’m in need of some good therapy.. I sometimes worry about the meaning behind this apathy I’ve developed. I’m worried that I’m so broken that when Essendon finally break this curse that’s been placed upon our club, I won’t be capable of enjoying it; that I’m as emotionally void as a Van Damme’s line delivering in Street Fighter.
Of course, the reason I’m feeling this way has everything to do with the upcoming game. St Kilda fans are out and out bonkers… They are the most delusional, blindly optimistic and sadistic fan base out there… And I would tell you this was from personal experience in dealing with them if I actually knew any St Kilda fans, but the biggest nutjob posters on here and callers to sports radio are consistently St Kilda fans. They aren’t the total assholes that Tiger and Blues supporters often are, but they are the most nuts, and I guess being so long in the wild will do that to you.
The Round That Was
The effort was solid but Sydney was just too good in the end. The biggest difference for me was Sydney’s ability to instantly switch from offence to defense. There was no hesitation to get back and support the teammates, they seemed to know exactly where to run to, and we seemed to almost always be outnumbered. They were equally good at identifying opportunities for a turnover or chance to gain possession; their players were so often in the perfect spot to receive the outlet handball or kick… sigh; we have a long way to go.
SYDNEY 4.4 8.9 13.13 19.17 (131)
ESSENDON 4.1 8.5 10.8 15.11 (101)
GOALS
Sydney: Papley 4, Hayward 3, Amartey 2, Gulden 2, McLean 2, Warner 2, Blakey, Heeney, Jordon, McDonald,
Essendon: Gresham 3, Stringer 3, Langford 2, Merrett 2, Wright 2, Cox, Draper, Goldstein,
BEST
Sydney: Papley, Heeney, Gulden, Warner, Florent, Grundy, Blakey
Essendon: Merrett, Setterfield, Martin, Gresham, Caldwell, Durham
INJURIES
Sydney: Cunningham (head knock)
Essendon: Nil
LATE CHANGES
Sydney: Nil
Essendon: Jake Kelly (illness) replaced in selected side by Alwyn Davey jnr
SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Corey Warner (replaced Harry Cunningham in the first quarter)
Essendon: Alwyn Davey jnr (replaced Sam Draper in the fourth quarter)
St Kilda on the other hand did the world a favour and handed the reigning premiers their third loss for the season in as many games. Higgins was too good up forward for the Pies defence, kicking 4 goals, and Wanganeen-Milera had his best game yet off the halfback and looks like he will be a handful for our forwards this week.
ST KILDA 5.1 6.2 11.7 14.10 (94)
COLLINGWOOD 3.1 7.4 8.5 12.7 (79)
GOALS
St Kilda: Higgins 4, King 3, Membrey 2, Henry 2, Hill, Sharman, Phillipou
Collingwood: Elliott 3, McInnes 3, Lipinski 2, Hill 2, Schultz, Cameron
BEST
St Kilda: Wanganeen-Milera, Windhager, Steele, Higgins, Marshall, Owens
Collingwood: J.Daicos, Lipinski, Elliott, Crisp, N.Daicos
INJURIES
St Kilda: Wood (concussion)
Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Zak Jones (replaced Wood in the first quarter)
Collingwood: Fin Macrae (replaced Markov at three-quarter time)
The Last Time We Met
St Kilda and Essendon last met last year in round 3, with both teams having won their first two games. Unfortunately, St Kilda handed us our first loss; mostly by capitalizing on our many turnovers. An all too familiar situation. St Kilda went to finish 6th for the year, only to be spanked on the home deck in front of 70k people by the orange team… can’t imagine how that must have felt.
ST KILDA 5.4 7.5 9.7 14.8 (92)
ESSENDON 1.1 4.5 6.6 11.8 (74)
GOALS
St Kilda: Higgins 4, Butler 4, Wood, Owens, Caminiti, Gresham, Windhager, Hill
Essendon: Perkins 2, Caldwell 2, Shiel 2, Langford, Stringer, Menzie, Martin, Parish
BEST
St Kilda: Wood, Wilkie, Marshall, Ross, Crouch, Higgins
Essendon: Kelly, Ridley, Parish, Merrett, Shiel, Martin
INJURIES
St Kilda: Webster (head), Wood (shoulder)
Essendon: Davey (head)
SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Ben Paton (replaced Zaine Cordy in the third quarter)
Essendon: Nick Hind (replaced Harrison Jones in the third quarter
The Selection Table
Possible Outs -
Wright - Essendon tax ensure time off is coming for 2MP
Lav - Still a bit off this season for some reason.
Menzies - Really struggled and failed to convert a gimme.
A Davey - Apart from a great tackle had no impact on the game as sub, albeit on very limited game time.
Hind - Too many mistakes I’m afraid and Redman is back after a week off for being a dumbarse.
Tsatas/Hobbs - If Parish is ready, one of these will be out
Possible Ins -
Caddy - With Wright out, we might see the beast unleashed earlier than expected
Weid - But then I’m sure Scott will go the “safe” option and play Weid instead of Caddy.
Parish - Back from injury.. Hope so, to be honest
Redman - Glad he's back - Wish he’d get that stupid stuff out of his game already
Ridley - Hopefully available
Lewis - My concerns about Reid ever coming good have me hoping we try and fast-track Lewis’s development
My Prediction
I’ll be on a beach drinking cocktails not giving a s**t about football for a week.. And then later that night I’ll remember we were due to play, check the scores, and be pleasantly surprised and mildly disappointed I missed out on watching a great win.
Dons by 20
Housekeeping
I’m yet to get a volunteer to do next week's previews.. It’s ok I have a backup plan.
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