VelvetSledge
Moderator
- May 24, 2007
- 17,449
- 35,160
- AFL Club
- Essendon
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- Liverpool FC, Melbourne Storm
- Moderator
- #1
ESSENDON BOMBERS
Bow down, Malaka.
The boys came away with a solid win against a hard-fighting Norf on a slippery night at Metricon.
With Luke McDonald locking down Dylan Shiel, the midfield pair of McGrath and Parish took major advantage of a Norf midfield without Cunnington, Anderson and Ziebell.
Raz Fantasia off half back is a weird choice, but it seems to be working now.
Zaka shrugged off the haters in a big way, with 20 touches and three goals including a ripper from close to the boundary.
After quarter time, the boys let Norf score only four more, proving that our defensive mechanisms are really starting to take shape under the tutelage of Truck Rutten.
Jordan Ridley is very good at football.
Shiel's suspension is a crock of s**t.
Lol Norf.
ESSENDON BOMBERS 9.13 67 def. LOL NORF 7.11 53
BEST: McGrath, Zaharakis, Fantasia, Parish, Saad, Ridley
GOALS: Zaharakis 3, Langford 2, Laverde, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Snelling, Townsend
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WESTERN BULLDOGS
Dogs fans would be rightfully dismayed with that performance last week; relentless pressure from the Blues saw them fall down like a house of cards.
This Bailey Smith, for mine, is the best pickup from that particular draft. He's damaging, skillful, hard as nails, and has a wonderful mullet.
There isn't much to be said about this performance except for the fact that it wasn't AFL-standard.
It was a weak effort from a team that's supposed to be significantly better than that, but it continues to show that the Dogs are this year's bipolar team. Hot as the sun one week, cold as ice the next.
CARLTON BLUES 16.7 103 def. WESTERN BULLDOGS 7.9 51
BEST: Smith, Liberatore, Macrae, English, Bontempelli
GOALS: Vandermeer 2, Smith, Dale, Lipinski, Wallis, Bontempelli
DEBUTS:
ESSENDON - NED CAHILL, #28
Pick #56, 2019 National Draft
WESTERN BULLDOGS - CODY WEIGHTMAN, #19
Pick #15, 2019 National Draft
Two debutants this week with one on each side; further proof that if you manage to perform in the hectic 2020 schedule, you'll get your shot.
The Bombers were forced into a change when then-Brownlow contender Dylan Shiel was rubbed out for two weeks after the MRP decided to change it's own interpretation of it's own rule on the fly. Apparently, now a hit can be high-impact even if the player is totally fine and returns to the field to play out the game. Damn shame his name isn't Gary Rohan and he doesn't play for Geelong. Would have just got a fine then. Marty Gleeson really hasn't done anything wrong, but with a backline as stacked as ours is, if you don't stand out, you stand down. Mason Redman went mental in the praccy last week and as such has been backed into the side. A backline of Hurley, Hooker, Redman, Ridley, Saad and McKenna is just about the best backline in the comp right now.
After kicking a ridiculous 5 goals last week, the coaches have seen fit to promote Ned Cahill into the senior side for the first time for our first debutant of the year. Young Ned has James Hird style hair and an incredible goal sense; he's a small forward who can run through the middle and finds the right positions to get to every time.
The Bulldogs have made wholesale changes as is the norm after they cop a belting; some famous Bulldog names have got the arse this week after a miserable showing against the Blues. Former Number 2 draft pick Josh Schache was dumped after being rendered virtually useless last week, alongside father-son pick Rhylee West. Louis Butler has also been dropped, alongside 2016 premiership star Toby McLean. The Dogs have brought in another flag-winner (albeit with a different side) in Matt Suckling, alongside Hayden Crozier and Lachie Young. Cody Weightman, who is funnily enough a good mate of our own debutant in Ned Cahill, will be making his debut under the Friday night lights at Metricon too.
No time for a ramble this week, so I'll just say one thing:
Jordan de Goey is a rat.
ROUND 21, 2019
Marvel Stadium
10/8/19
(Yuck)
ESSENDON BOMBERS 4.9 33
def. by
WESTERN BULLDOGS 21.11 137
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ESSENDON GOALS: Lol yeah good one (Baguley 2, Shiel, McDonald-Tipungwuti)
BULLDOGS GOALS: Dickson, McLean, Dale, Schache 3, Naughton, Hayes 2, Joannisen, Macrae, Lloyd, Dunkley, Smith
ESSENDON BEST: The final siren
BULLDOGS BEST: Dunkley, Macrae, McLean, Hunter, Suckling, English
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CHANGES SINCE THEN
ESSENDON OUTS: Shiel, Ambrose, Gleeson, D. Clarke, Z. Clarke, Heppell, Baguley, Begley, Myers, Stringer, Brown, McNiece
ESSENDON INS: Hurley, Saad, Ridley, Ham, Parish, Phillips, Hibberd, Cahill, Snelling, Townsend, Smith, Laverde
BULLDOGS OUTS: Dunkley, Hayes, Naughton, Dickson, Duryea, Trengove, Schache, Lloyd, McLean
BULLDOGS INS: Wallis, Bruce, Weightman, Vandermeer, Liberatore, Williams, Keath, Daniel, Young
The Bulldogs will be seething from their shocking performance last week, and will be happy knowing that they have well and truly had our measure over the past six years. With that said, this is a very different Essendon side to the one that conceded 21 goals straight last year, and with what is arguably the best defence in the league, it'll be hard to see that feat being repeated.
The Bombers should win this one, but it will be a see-sawing affair.
Essendon by 8.
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Guessing out of the emergencies that'll be Gleeson if he can't play.
