VFL Game Day VFL Round 3: North Melbourne vs Essendon, Chirnside Park (Werribee), Saturday 20/04/19 @ 11 AM

[eth-dog]

Essendon and North meet in round 3 of the VFL. Their only meeting as stand alone sides last year was a rout in the ay of the Dons, winning by 11 goals in a consistent performance across the board. Essendon are coming off a bye, and the week before they had a massive win against Frankston down in Frankston, whilst North have lost their first two games against Werribee and Casey this season, and will be desperate to break that streak.

North struggled in the blustery conditions down in Casey Fields, but forward Nick Larkey was a highlight, kicking 3 goals from his 8 disposals whilst ruckman Tom Campbell had a whopping 63 hit outs and 2 goals, which saw him awarded best afield for the Roos, whilst Daniel Robinson showed why he was brought onto North's VFL list with 27 disposals and a goal in an otherwise disappointing game from the Roos.

Essendon completely and utterly destroyed Frankston in their game before the bye, winning by 121 points. Everyone played well, but the highlights were Mitch Brown's 5 goals from 17 disposals, James Stewart's 4 first half goals whilst midfielders Dylan Clarke and Trent Mynott were dominant around the stoppage, the pair getting 30 and 28 disposals respectively. The big standout though was ruckman Sam Draper, who had 39 hit outs, 22 disposals, 5 marks and 2 goals.

Possible side:

FB: Aaron Heppell - Michael Hartley - Ben McNiece
HB: Martin Gleeson - Brandon Zerk-Thatcher - Nino Lazzaro
MF: Tom Jok - Dylan Clarke - Brayden Ham
HF: Josh Begley - Noah Gown - Jayden Laverde
FF: Danny Younan - Zac Clarke - Irving Mosquito
OB: Sam Draper - Kyle Langford - Trent Mynott

IC: Jordan Houlahan - Jake Long - Matt Guelfi - Matt Dea
IC: Kurt Aylett - Jake McQueen - Heath Hocking - Ray Connellan
23P: Jake Brown

Dons by 88

 

[Tippa43]

Keen to see how Mosquito goes!

 

[ant555]

Daniher may get a run.

 

[eth-dog]

Daniher may get a run.

Daniher playing VFL would be bullshit.

 

[ant555]

Daniher playing VFL would be bullshit.

Daniher having to play second ruck after being out for 5 weeks would be bull s**t. Even more so given he did not have a full steam pre season. He has to be fit enough to ruck or he needs a lead in game. I doubt he is fit enough to ruck.

 

[eth-dog]

Daniher having to play second ruck after being out for 5 weeks would be bull s**t. Even more so given he did not have a full steam pre season. He has to be fit enough to ruck or he needs a lead in game. I doubt he is fit enough to ruck.

I'd almost be tempted to play Hooker forward/ruck if we don't want to risk Daniher as a second ruck.

 

[ant555]

I'd almost be tempted to play Hooker forward/ruck if we don't want to risk Daniher as a second ruck.

Not sure about that Eth. The first two weeks we looked terrible because no one could take a mark. Hooker comes back in and takes 13 marks and a side that has kicked over 100 for the first 3 weeks kicks 64. Not sure I am moving him Hooker anywhere.

 

[eth-dog]

Not sure about that Eth. The first two weeks we looked terrible because no one could take a mark. Hooker comes back in and takes 13 marks and a side that has kicked over 100 for the first 3 weeks kicks 64. Not sure I am moving him Hooker anywhere.

Yeah it would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. If only Stewart didn't get injured against Frankston. He could have had 12.

 

[Yoda_]

On paper, North Melbourne match up really well against us on paper.

Larkey v Hartley, Draper v Campbell, Tyson v Clarke will all be good match ups. Our strength is our VFL listed guys. Not just the big names, Connelan, Hocking, but the younger guys coming through. Lazzaro, Browne was good as our 23rd player last week.

We should win comfortably, but doubt it will be the (almost) goals youré predicting.

Essendon by 34 points, Mynott BOG, Lazzarro amongst the bests, Hartley amongst our best also.

 

[eth-dog]

On paper, North Melbourne match up really well against us on paper.

Larkey v Hartley, Draper v Campbell, Tyson v Clarke will all be good match ups. Our strength is our VFL listed guys. Not just the big names, Connelan, Hocking, but the younger guys coming through. Lazzaro, Browne was good as our 23rd player last week.

We should win comfortably, but doubt it will be the (almost) goals youré predicting.

Essendon by 34 points, Mynott BOG, Lazzarro amongst the bests, Hartley amongst our best also.

They've been embarrassed the first two weeks. Losing by 39 to Werribee then 54 to Casey? They're not much chop.

 

[eth-dog]

So apparently everyone except for Smack, Stewart and Mutch are available

 

[BrunoV]

Where is this ground and why not Arden street?

Edit: with respect to the good people of Werribee this is a great example of VFL fixturing making little sense.

You'd think they'd get a nice crowd at Arden Street with the AFL playing the night before and the victorious fans almost certainly looking for more.

 

[fishardansin]

What a shame we don't have Couglan playing for us anymore. His little brother plays at Chirnside park.

 

[eth-dog]

Where is this ground and why not Arden street?

Edit: with respect to the good people of Werribee this is a great example of VFL fixturing making little sense.

You'd think they'd get a nice crowd at Arden Street with the AFL playing the night before and the victorious fans almost certainly looking for more.

Arden St not up to standard yet.

What a shame we don't have Couglan playing for us anymore. His little brother plays at Chirnside park.

Other side of the city.

 

[fishardansin]

Arden St not up to standard yet.

Other side of the city.

Chirnside park near Lilydale?

 

[eth-dog]

Chirnside park near Lilydale?

No as in Chirnside Park in Werribee.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Actually a double header at same ground. Werribee v Geelong after our game

 

[donlav99]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/daniher-to-play-vfl-in-return-from-injury-20190417-p51f5j.html

Joey via the VFL

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

Might be worth making the trek over for a little peak and see how Joey and the other returning lads go.

 

[eth-dog]

North don't have a lot of tall defenders on the park either. They've stacked their VFL list with mid sized players. It'll be Declan Watson and then probably Sam Parsons, who is very light for a key defender

 

[Macca18]

Can't say the same thing about the AFL game on Good Friday... but little doubt Essendon VFL will make an absolute mess of North in the VFL this weekend.

 

[eth-dog]

Amended team (and a possible team for them too for the hell of it):

FB: Jake Long - Michael Hartley - Matt Dea
FF: Nathan Hrovat - Nick Larkey - Taylor Garner
HB: Martin Gleeson - Brandon Zerk-Thatcher - Ben McNiece
HF: Tarryn Thomas - Tom Wilkinson - Joel Crocker
MF: Tom Jok - Dylan Clarke - Brayden Ham
MF: Red Og Murphy - Nash Holmes - Kyron Hayden
HF: Josh Begley - Noah Gown - Jayden Laverde
HB: Tyrone Leonardis - Sam Parsons - Brendan Whitecross
FF: Jordan Houlahan - Joe Daniher - Irving Mosquito
FB: Fraser Cameron - Declan Watson - Jordan McIvor-Clark
OB: Sam Draper - Kyle Langford - Trent Mynott
OB: Tom Campbell - Dom Tyson - Curtis Taylor
IC: Danny Younan - Aaron Francis - Matt Guelfi - Nino Lazzaro
IC: Louis Cunningham - Chris Jansen - Quentin Montenaro - Mitch Rodd
IC: Kurt Aylett - Aaron Heppell - Heath Hocking - Ray Connellan
IC: Nick Rippon - Daniel Robinson - Lachlan Mirams - Brodie McLaughlin
23P: Jake Brown
23P: Cameron Hodges

There's a serious lack of height on their part.Really only have the mountains in Campbell, Mirams and Larkey but their key defenders would stand at 191/87 (Watson) and 192/83 (Parsons) compared to Daniher (201/99) and Gown (194/91). I wouldn't object to see big Edyn Sibbald, I doubt they could deal with all three of them height wise. Hell, if he is to play reserves I wouldn't mind seeing Francis play forward either.

 

[ghostdog]

Might be worth making the trek over for a little peak and see how Joey and the other returning lads go.

...and keeping the rest of us plebs informed?

 

[Liberator]

Is it free to get in? Looking for reasons to make the trek out there...

 

[westking]

Arden St not up to standard yet.

Other side of the city.

Is this due to the construction occurring at Arden St or the ground itself? I live near by and have attended VFL games at Arden st before and the surface seems fine (apart from the little mine bombs my dogs lay there )