Sydney

[djharps]

lets not forget we did beat them first round this year

yes 2 main factors have changed one lloyd is out he kicked 8 against them round 1 but hall also kicked 7, you cant expect hall to bag another 7, as our midfield has improved since then and the run into their forward line will be harder and you could see johns,lucas,lovett all kickin 3+ goals

and this time the game is in sydney, unlike subi or aami, the scg has not proven to be a unbreakable fortress for the home teams of the past, bar 96 prelim *shudders*

i think essendon boys will be full of confidence

ESSENDON:

Lloyd, Fletcher, Monfries, Watson, McPhee, Welsh, Hille, Lucas

you look at the best players from round 1 and there is no reason we cant replicate that bar lloyd and this time more likely to see stanton,lovett and dyson feature in the best players

it will be a tough game, but sydney really do play a boring style of game, so if we man up closely and the kids show off their brilliance we could stir and upset!

oh and a mention to the great legend hird, if he can lead from the front like last week, there is no reason we cant win

discuss

 

[DaSawx]

Hirdy in obvioulsy helps with Lloydy out, still not 100% sure if Johns will actually play while Lovett seemed down last week while tking a knock during the game, hopefully he bounces back and has an influence.

I think our best bet is keeping the game relatively low scoring and hope our matchwinners Hird, Lucas and Lovett can step up when it counts, providing our defence plays well

 

[Boris_Bewick]

Judging on last match Hirdy and Hille are probably the two most important players in our side. Hille played the match of his life against Brisbane, if he is not up and running at full form, then we have no real backup and a much lesser chance at winning.

Hirdy showed he has still got it last Saturday night, and even when he was in close he still had the composure that hardly anyone else has, setting up players in space.

To be a real good chance against the Swans we need those two to be in the best I would say. Pretty obvious I know, but no other players can cover them, if you get what I mean. Say if Jobe has a poor game, wouldnt' matter as much as another player could play well in his place.

 

[stander]

I think our best bet is keeping the game relatively low scoring and hope our matchwinners Hird, Lucas and Lovett can step up when it counts, providing our defence plays well

Disagree- we want goals and lots of them- look what happened when they went defensive last week.

 

[foj1]

This is going to be a much tougher game for Hird in my opinion. He is going to have to back up from a fantastic game last week and it will be physically harder as he wont be as fresh. Also the Swans will not give anyone especially Hirdy the latitude that the Lions allowed us last week. The Swans play a physical game and play the man as hard as anyone. I hope our players protect Hird and give him him a chop out.
Hall is extremely difficult for us to match up and with Rocca and Bradshaw are players Fletch struggles with.

 

[DaSawx]

Disagree- we want goals and lots of them- look what happened when they went defensive last week.

What happens if we try to open the game up and their midfield has a good game, our defence won't be able to contain Hall, O'Loughlin and Goodes in a shootout. The Swannies defense will be too good for us this week with no Lloyd

 

[Crave]

For everything they have up forward in Hall, Goodes and O'Loughlin...theyre not exactly all that special down back. As long as our supply continues from the middle, we're a big show this weekend. 3 weeks of good footy is hard to discount leading into this weekend.
Play a loose man in defence to nullify Hall/O'Loughlin leads...beat their tags and go direct up the middle to force one on one contests against Richards and co down back as fast as possible to beat any potential flooding.

 

[Crave]

What happens if we try to open the game up and their midfield has a good game, our defence won't be able to contain Hall, O'Loughlin and Goodes in a shootout. The Swannies defense will be too good for us this week with no Lloyd

Big IF regarding their midfield playing a good game...they like to slow things down generally. Their HF line presents a danger as they have many avenues to goal. NLM should come straight back in for assistance in this area.

 

[Pevers-Legend]

sydneys forward line is massively over-rated. Goodes runs around in the middle, Davis, well he's at home. O'Loughlin touches the ball maybe 5 times and everyone creams themselves.

O'Keefe is an excellent player and you really need to play him close as he can hurt.

Hall is the one guy I fear. And guys like Schneider and Buchanan also as we seem to struggle with the quick crumbers.

Their midfield is honest and hardworking, as is their backline.

A shootout would be great. They do not play that way and it is foreign to them. Can we kick enough goals is our only question. It would take hird, Hille and Lovett to chip in with multiple goals to support Scotty who is in red hot form.

I don;t thnk we'll win for one reason - Sydeny will kill us on turnovers. The smaller SCG helps us as they are a very hard working side and this is not quite as important.

Sydney by 12 points.

 

[djharps]

sydneys forward line is massively over-rated. Goodes runs around in the middle, Davis, well he's at home. O'Loughlin touches the ball maybe 5 times and everyone creams themselves.

O'Keefe is an excellent player and you really need to play him close as he can hurt.

Hall is the one guy I fear. And guys like Schneider and Buchanan also as we seem to struggle with the quick crumbers.

Their midfield is honest and hardworking, as is their backline.

A shootout would be great. They do not play that way and it is foreign to them. Can we kick enough goals is our only question. It would take hird, Hille and Lovett to chip in with multiple goals to support Scotty who is in red hot form.

I don;t thnk we'll win for one reason - Sydeny will kill us on turnovers. The smaller SCG helps us as they are a very hard working side and this is not quite as important.

Sydney by 12 points.

i agree but u cant really see hall kicking another 7 goals against us, im sure sheeds will do his homework on him. i suppose to state the obvious it will be won in the midfield aswell, but i think our midfield has more confidence/experience compared to round 1 (dahh), id like to see bolts run with goodes when he is floating around in the forward line and hille all other times.. for the record sydney frustrate me as a team

 

[Karlostj]

sydneys forward line is massively over-rated. Goodes runs around in the middle, Davis, well he's at home. O'Loughlin touches the ball maybe 5 times and everyone creams themselves.

O'Keefe is an excellent player and you really need to play him close as he can hurt.

Hall is the one guy I fear. And guys like Schneider and Buchanan also as we seem to struggle with the quick crumbers.

Their midfield is honest and hardworking, as is their backline.

A shootout would be great. They do not play that way and it is foreign to them. Can we kick enough goals is our only question. It would take hird, Hille and Lovett to chip in with multiple goals to support Scotty who is in red hot form.

I don;t thnk we'll win for one reason - Sydeny will kill us on turnovers. The smaller SCG helps us as they are a very hard working side and this is not quite as important.

Sydney by 12 points.

I agree with that, but I don't think it will be as close as 12pts. It will probably be close for 3/4 with the Swans comfortably winning in the last quarter - 26 pts.

 

[Kaitsey]

sorry, if it was at the telstra dome... i'd give you a slight chance, but sydney are playing quite well at the moment and the SCG is different to any other ground and they play good there.

sydney by 30

 

[stander]

What happens if we try to open the game up and their midfield has a good game, our defence won't be able to contain Hall, O'Loughlin and Goodes in a shootout. The Swannies defense will be too good for us this week with no Lloyd

We are not playing for a finals spot dude- kicking goals is positive irrespective of the Swans perhaps kicking more goals than us. More goals thanks.

 

[Darealrath]

We are not playing for a finals spot dude- kicking goals is positive irrespective of the Swans perhaps kicking more goals than us. More goals thanks.

Agree. We're not experienced enough to be doing anything too fancy anyway.

Sydney can play a shoot out style though, look what they did to Richmond earlier in the year.

 

[keepzitreal]

Keep an eye out during the game for a confrontation between Hall and NLM. They have had a go at eachother the last three times we have played.

 

[coxon]

showers expected for the whole weekend...

fearing another bag from hall...

 

[Crave]

Agree. We're not experienced enough to be doing anything too fancy anyway.

Sydney can play a shoot out style though, look what they did to Richmond earlier in the year.

I think our backline is more aggressive than Richmonds though. Add some long limbs of the reliable Fletcher also.

 

[DaSawx]

We are not playing for a finals spot dude- kicking goals is positive irrespective of the Swans perhaps kicking more goals than us. More goals thanks.

Sorry, I like my team to win. Wasn't talking about kicking very little goals, was talking about kicking more than our opponents, playing good defense can also help you win a lot of footy games, ask Adelaide

 

[stander]

Sorry, I like my team to win. Wasn't talking about kicking very little goals, was talking about kicking more than our opponents, playing good defense can also help you win a lot of footy games, ask Adelaide

You are forgiven. I think we should try and kick a lot of goals and we may even kick more than Sydney in the end- attack is the best form of defense ! Forget about trying to copy Adelaide dude - different team, coach and players.

 

[DaSawx]

You are forgiven. I think we should try and kick a lot of goals and we may even kick more than Sydney in the end- attack is the best form of defense ! Forget about trying to copy Adelaide dude - different team, coach and players.

Not saying we should model our team after them, just saying if we want to win this week we may have to be a bit more cautious than usual, if we had Lloydy, I would be thinking differently.

Next year when we have Lloydy and the kids are getting even better and we are an overall better side I'd be all for attacking footy every single week, this is just my opinion on tactics for this given week

 

[Pevers-Legend]

Using Guus's idea - we need to turn defenese into attack when we need to. Play it tight, and pick our moments. I have changed my mind since hearing of the weather. it will be tight and tough. I just want us to play smart footy - not dumb handball mad go backwards in the rain footy.