Baklazan
Draftee
- Sep 25, 2016
- 17
- 60
- AFL Club
- Fremantle
Round 7 - Essendon Home
Subiaco Oval May 7 2:40PM AWST
Assorted words from the previewer
Essendon have had a difficult last few years, in trying to add some pep to their step, their club imploded to a state where opposition fans have been making constant jabs at their club and last year were required to have top-up players injected into their side. That is all behind them now,(and for us in this thread) Essendon of 2017 have had a solid start to the season and John Worsfold might be sniffing a finals berth for the club for the first time since 2014.
Essendon (3-3) come into this match after a tough loss to Melbourne, after running out of legs in the second half following a 5-day turnaround after ANZAC Day. The game whilst a little scrappy was tight throughout the first half, with Essendon's poor kicking keeping Melbourne in it, before a second half burst from the Dees killed the game off. With a number of the senior players being rested after such a short turn-around a fit and firing Essendon will be coming over the large expanse of sand between the two clubs.
The wonderfully named small Orazio Fantasia and pr0n-'stached tall Joe Daniher have been a solid one-two punch in their forward line, contributing on average 5 goals a game between them and 3.5 behinds (mostly thanks to Daniher having the set shot skills of Travis Cloke wearing a blindfold). Short and tall combinations have caused Fremantle issues in the past and given Freo's current defensive frailties, these two should be on the top of Ross the Bosses defensive schema for this coming week. Add in their third forward – Cale Hooker and that's over half (40 of 78) of Essendon's goals this season. If Fremantle are able to shut these three down, we could see the good guys come away with the win.
The Bomber's forward line has at times been receiving some fantastic service from their midfield, including pointing extraordinaire Brendon Goddard, the best young player in the comp* (according to some Essendon fans) Zach Merrett, captain and surfing-Sideshow Bob impersonator Dyson Heppell, former captainand Brownlow winner Jobe Watson, and young-gun Darcy Parish. The question for Mr Worsfold is if the Bombers midfield brigade will be able to extract the ball from the clinches and be free enough to use their skilled feet to pick out their forwards. Essendon's B52s Tom Bellchambers and/or Matthew Leuenberger will be battling our favourite giant ruckman and if played together try to get some advantage around the ground with their 4 legs, compared to Sandiland's 2.
Patrick Ambrose has been a fantastic shutdown defender this year and will attempt to put some darkness on Fremantle's Sunshine. Michael Hurley has rebounded fantastically out of the 50. Given Fremantle's oft ill-advised attempts to kick the ball to the moon whilst entering the forward 50, Hurley must be looking forward to the upcoming feast (of cheese from the moon) he will have on Freo's forward entries.
After a painful Derby loss to the West Coast Eagles, Fremantle (3-3) welcome Essendon for their only trip west for this season. Fremantle continued their trend of starting a little slowly and coming home strongly, winning the second half against the Eagles, the only issue being the large margin hemorrhaged in a slow first half. The youth experiment of Ross Lyon has largely been a success with old war-horses Zac Dawson and Danyle Pearce being unsighted since their omission prior to round 3. The fans have some young kids to get behind and it's made going to a rather ordinary oval in it's final days not as bad as it was before. Will Ross the Boss blood more youngsters after a loss? With Sutcliffe, Collins, Ryan and Taberner impressing for Peel over the weekend, they have put their hand up to be selected if needed.
The one question we all want answered this week is if Garrick Ibbotson after a rather uninspiring defensive effort be given the boot like some of his other oldish aged pensioner colleagues for a younger defender like Sam Collins. Fremantle's midfield struggled against the Eagles and with only 4 players touching the ball more than 20 times (Langdon, Blakely, Neale and B. Hill), there might be some strong words after an insipid looking midfield display, hopefully our man-bun brigade puts this one behind them and gets more of the ball this week. The main focus this week must be on forward 50 entries, with the Dockers essentially playing kick to kick with Jeremy McGovern at times against the Eagles. The main players hoping to take advantage of any improved forward 50 entires will be Cam McCarthy and Shane Kersten, with Michael Walters vacuuming up anything that is spilled by the two taller forwards.
View from the Opposition:
Essendon board stalwart eth-dog has been kind enough to share some of his thoughts before the game.
Weather
According to my good mate, the Bureau of Meteorology, it will be a sunny and blistering hot (for May at least) 28 degrees on Sunday. This will probably bring the talls into the game more, with their clumsy big person hands being more likely to hold a drier ball.
Who does this advantage? Hard to say, if Fremantle can keep it close throughout the first half, their second half legs at home could be too much for Essendon. On the other hand, Essendon's talls have shown they have some capacity to consistently mark the ball (kicking straight is another matter), with Fremantle's Kersten and McCarthy showing form at dropping some rather elementary marks.
Last Time they Met
Fremantle farewelled old-mate Owen with a 79-point victory over Essendon.
June 4 2016 - Subiaco Oval
FREMANTLE 5.1 11.2 18.4 20.6 (126)
ESSENDON 1.3 3.4 4.7 6.11 (47)
GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, Walters 3, Mayne 3, Ballantyne 2, Taberner, Barlow, Sheridan, Tucker, Neale, Mundy, Weller, Griffin, D Pearce
Essendon: Daniher 2, Goddard , Fantasia, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hams
BEST
Fremantle: Mundy, Barlow, Neale, Walters, Sheridan, Pavlich, Crozier
Essendon: Goddard, Z Merrett, Daniher, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Crowley, Parish
Odds
Fremantle: $1.63
Essendon: $2.28
Line: 7.5 points.
The gambling types have Fremantle as a favourite, with a tight line. Yadda yadda yadda, gamble at your own risk etc.
Prediction
Fremantle bounces back and runs over the top of a fatigued Essendon in the second half. Freo by 10 points.
Subiaco Oval May 7 2:40PM AWST
Assorted words from the previewer
Essendon have had a difficult last few years, in trying to add some pep to their step, their club imploded to a state where opposition fans have been making constant jabs at their club and last year were required to have top-up players injected into their side. That is all behind them now,(and for us in this thread) Essendon of 2017 have had a solid start to the season and John Worsfold might be sniffing a finals berth for the club for the first time since 2014.
Essendon (3-3) come into this match after a tough loss to Melbourne, after running out of legs in the second half following a 5-day turnaround after ANZAC Day. The game whilst a little scrappy was tight throughout the first half, with Essendon's poor kicking keeping Melbourne in it, before a second half burst from the Dees killed the game off. With a number of the senior players being rested after such a short turn-around a fit and firing Essendon will be coming over the large expanse of sand between the two clubs.
The wonderfully named small Orazio Fantasia and pr0n-'stached tall Joe Daniher have been a solid one-two punch in their forward line, contributing on average 5 goals a game between them and 3.5 behinds (mostly thanks to Daniher having the set shot skills of Travis Cloke wearing a blindfold). Short and tall combinations have caused Fremantle issues in the past and given Freo's current defensive frailties, these two should be on the top of Ross the Bosses defensive schema for this coming week. Add in their third forward – Cale Hooker and that's over half (40 of 78) of Essendon's goals this season. If Fremantle are able to shut these three down, we could see the good guys come away with the win.
The Bomber's forward line has at times been receiving some fantastic service from their midfield, including pointing extraordinaire Brendon Goddard, the best young player in the comp* (according to some Essendon fans) Zach Merrett, captain and surfing-Sideshow Bob impersonator Dyson Heppell, former captain
Patrick Ambrose has been a fantastic shutdown defender this year and will attempt to put some darkness on Fremantle's Sunshine. Michael Hurley has rebounded fantastically out of the 50. Given Fremantle's oft ill-advised attempts to kick the ball to the moon whilst entering the forward 50, Hurley must be looking forward to the upcoming feast (of cheese from the moon) he will have on Freo's forward entries.
After a painful Derby loss to the West Coast Eagles, Fremantle (3-3) welcome Essendon for their only trip west for this season. Fremantle continued their trend of starting a little slowly and coming home strongly, winning the second half against the Eagles, the only issue being the large margin hemorrhaged in a slow first half. The youth experiment of Ross Lyon has largely been a success with old war-horses Zac Dawson and Danyle Pearce being unsighted since their omission prior to round 3. The fans have some young kids to get behind and it's made going to a rather ordinary oval in it's final days not as bad as it was before. Will Ross the Boss blood more youngsters after a loss? With Sutcliffe, Collins, Ryan and Taberner impressing for Peel over the weekend, they have put their hand up to be selected if needed.
The one question we all want answered this week is if Garrick Ibbotson after a rather uninspiring defensive effort be given the boot like some of his other oldish aged pensioner colleagues for a younger defender like Sam Collins. Fremantle's midfield struggled against the Eagles and with only 4 players touching the ball more than 20 times (Langdon, Blakely, Neale and B. Hill), there might be some strong words after an insipid looking midfield display, hopefully our man-bun brigade puts this one behind them and gets more of the ball this week. The main focus this week must be on forward 50 entries, with the Dockers essentially playing kick to kick with Jeremy McGovern at times against the Eagles. The main players hoping to take advantage of any improved forward 50 entires will be Cam McCarthy and Shane Kersten, with Michael Walters vacuuming up anything that is spilled by the two taller forwards.
View from the Opposition:
Essendon board stalwart eth-dog has been kind enough to share some of his thoughts before the game.
- Why do you support Essendon?
- How would you say the start of the season gone for Essendon?
- What is the mood of the fans like at the moment?
- Who does Fremantle need to watch out for?
- Who from Fremantle do you think will cause Essendon problems?
- Score Prediction?
Weather
According to my good mate, the Bureau of Meteorology, it will be a sunny and blistering hot (for May at least) 28 degrees on Sunday. This will probably bring the talls into the game more, with their clumsy big person hands being more likely to hold a drier ball.
Who does this advantage? Hard to say, if Fremantle can keep it close throughout the first half, their second half legs at home could be too much for Essendon. On the other hand, Essendon's talls have shown they have some capacity to consistently mark the ball (kicking straight is another matter), with Fremantle's Kersten and McCarthy showing form at dropping some rather elementary marks.
Last Time they Met
Fremantle farewelled old-mate Owen with a 79-point victory over Essendon.
June 4 2016 - Subiaco Oval
FREMANTLE 5.1 11.2 18.4 20.6 (126)
ESSENDON 1.3 3.4 4.7 6.11 (47)
GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, Walters 3, Mayne 3, Ballantyne 2, Taberner, Barlow, Sheridan, Tucker, Neale, Mundy, Weller, Griffin, D Pearce
Essendon: Daniher 2, Goddard , Fantasia, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hams
BEST
Fremantle: Mundy, Barlow, Neale, Walters, Sheridan, Pavlich, Crozier
Essendon: Goddard, Z Merrett, Daniher, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Crowley, Parish
Odds
Fremantle: $1.63
Essendon: $2.28
Line: 7.5 points.
The gambling types have Fremantle as a favourite, with a tight line. Yadda yadda yadda, gamble at your own risk etc.
Prediction
Fremantle bounces back and runs over the top of a fatigued Essendon in the second half. Freo by 10 points.
