VelvetSledge
Moderator
- May 24, 2007
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- Liverpool FC, Melbourne Storm
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- #1
ESSENDON BOMBERS
After the most brutal possible start to a season, playing 3 of last year's preliminary finalists to open the year up, the Dons recorded their first win against a traveling Adelaide outfit.
The Crows were buoyed by the return of captain Rory Sloane and huge racist campaignerbag Taylor Walker, who ended with four majors.
With Zach Merrett out for an extended period and Jake Stringer somehow injured, Darcy Parish stepped up with 38 touches.
Peter Wright continued his impressive form up forward, slotting 3 goals and working his way up to equal second in the Coleman.
Mason Redman seemed to eradicate the demons that plagued his first three weeks, playing an unreal game and taking a match-saving mark in the dying seconds.
We've won this mid-season draft thing. First, Will Snelling (who unfortunately injured his calf in a slight reoccurrence), and now Sam Durham. What a player.
Dev Smith has had plenty of criticism so far in 2022, and not without merit, but he was brilliant when he came on as sub last week; assisting Nic Martin with a goal almost as soon as coming on.
Whilst we're kicking plenty of goals, we're leaking too many as well. It needs to have been addressed this week, especially with Matt Taberner in the side.
ESSENDON BOMBERS 15.13 103
def.
ADELAIDE CROWS 15.9 99
GOALS: Wright 3, Perkins, Waterman 2, Caldwell, Draper, Durham, Guelfi, Martin, Phillips, Redman, Smith
BEST: Guelfi, Parish, Wright, McGrath, Shiel
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FREMANTLE DOCKERS
Inaccuracy in front of the big sticks looked like it was going to be the downfall of the Dockers last week against the Giants, but they dialed it in and slotted six straight goals in the fourth quarter to come away with a tidy win.
Fremantle's best player and captain, Nat Fyfe, is going to miss half the season after surgery, but off-season recruit Will Brodie filled the void well with a 36-touch game, supported in the guts by 64-year-old veteran David Mundy.
Griffin Logue showed plenty of composure late (which is odd considering he got dropped this week), as did Heath Chapman.
I often forget Trav Colyer still plays, but I love it when he does.
Umpiring reared its head, again, as a topic after this game - the free kick count ended up as 42 - 16 in the Dockers' favor. Does it say a lot about GWS, Freo, or umpires in general?
Brayshaw's influence can be nullified with a decent tag, so we may see McGrath do this today.
FREMANTLE DOCKERS 13.10 88
def.
GWS GIANTS 8.6 54
GOALS: O'Driscoll, Colyer, Frederick 2, Acres, Schultz, Lobb, Switkowski, Brayshaw, Taberner, Darcy
BEST: Brodie, Chapman, Mundy, Brayshaw, Frederick, Logue
ESSENDON EMERGENCIES: Tom Cutler, Brayden Ham, Kaine Baldwin, Tex Wanganeen
FREMANTLE EMERGENCIES: Darcy Tucker, Neil Erasmus, Nathan Wilson, Griffin Logue
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ESSENDON OUTS: Ham, Wanganeen (Omitted), Snelling (Calf)
ESSENDON INS: Hobbs, Cox
FREMANTLE OUTS: Logue, Erasmus (Omitted), Schultz (HS Protocol)
FREMANTLE INS: Pearce, Serong
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Subs are announced one hour prior to bounce.
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DEBUT:
ESSENDON - #8 - BEN HOBBS
183cm, 80kg - Inside Midfielder
2021 National Draft, Pick #13
It's been a while coming, but Brayden Ham has found himself omitted from the side this week. He's really made no difference to the side at all in 2022, and we need better from a player in his fourth year now. Tex Wanganeen has also been dropped to no one's real surprise; he shows plenty of game smarts but just isn't getting the footy or making enough of a scoreboard impact to warrant continual selection. As mentioned previously, Will Snelling aggravated the calf injury he has just come back from, and will miss further weeks.
Replacing them is the returning Nik Cox, who has recovered from a minor ankle injury, and the debutant in Ben Hobbs. Hobbs is a strong-bodied inside mid, who was tipped by many to go Top 5 in the 2021 draft. He fell to us, and after developing his craft in the VFL for the first month of the season, makes his debut in the #8 jumper today.
Fremantle have omitted Griffin Logue and youngster Neil Erasmus in favour for experienced duo Alex Pearce and Caleb Serong, whilst Lachie Schultz has been placed in a 7-day safety bubble.
ROUND 9, 2021
Marvel Stadium
16/5/2021
ESSENDON BOMBERS 10.8 68
def.
FREMANTLE DOCKERS 8.13 61
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ESSENDON GOALS: McDonald-Tipungwuti, Jones 2, Phillips, Wright, Langford, Parish, Redman, Ham
FREMANTLE GOALS: Taberner 4, Mundy, Walters, Lobb, Cerra
ESSENDON BEST: Parish, Hind, Redman, Ridley, McGrath
FREMANTLE BEST: Mundy, Taberner, Darcy, Brayshaw, Cox
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CHANGES SINCE LAST TIME:
ESSENDON OUTS: Merrett, Snelling, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Zaharakis, Hooker, Francis, Langford, Ham, Stewart, Jones
ESSENDON INS: Zerk-Thatcher, Kelly, Durham, Martin, Waterman, Caldwell, Shiel, Hobbs, Draper
FREMANTLE OUTS: Fyfe, Cerra, Duman, Wilson, Tucker, Logue, Schultz, Watson, Crowden, Henry
FREMANTLE INS: Frederick, Banfield, Clark, Young, Ryan, Walker, Pearce, Brodie, O'Driscoll, Chapman
We're closer than the huge gulf between ladder positions suggests.
Build on last week and try to get the ball down to Wright as soon as possible, and we should see ourselves kicking a winning score. But not by much.
Essendon by 11.
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