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- Jul 15, 2014
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It’s time for one of the highlight games on the AFL schedule. It’s time for the ANZAC Day showdown between Collingwood and Essendon. For the past 23 years, Collingwood and Essendon have fought some classics on this day, and this match looks set up to be yet another great game.
Collingwood and Essendon are coming off the back of brilliant wins, beating Adelaide and Port Adelaide respectively. The fact that both sides are in solid form makes this match all the more intriguing.
Collingwood
Collingwood managed to back up their solid win over Carlton two weeks ago with a scintillating win over the Adelaide Crows, at Adelaide Oval. Collingwood came into that game heavy underdogs yet managed to dominate the Crows and come away with an emphatic victory. Some experts rated it as Buckley’s finest victory as coach. Brodie Grundy was outstanding against premier ruckman Shaun Jacobs, as was rookie Jaidyn Stephenson, who kicked five goals in a rising star nomination performance. Collingwood just about dominated in each area against the Crows, with no real man letting the team down. As a result, the Magpies come into the game against Essendon unchanged. The area that the Magpies stood out last week was the clearances. At the start of the Buckley’s tenure at the Magpies, clearances were a major issue, but year by year the Magpies have improved into the second-best clearance team in the competition.
The man to watch for the Magpies is Mason Cox. On the stat sheet, it looked as if Cox had quite a poor performance against the Crows. Rarely troubling the statisticians. However, to those who watched the game, Cox put in a stellar performance in trying conditions, focusing on putting the ball on the deck, as opposed to trying to go for the mark. As a result, the small forwards were able to get easier access to the ball, allowing for easier scoring opportunities. Cox will be looking to do the same, as the Magpies are lacking talls, meaning that the small forwards will need to feed off the opportunities.
Essendon
Like Collingwood, Essendon have put in both brilliant performances, and bottom six worthy performances. Due to this, it is difficult to find a place for the Bombers in the AFL ladder. After their performance against the Crows in round one, it looked as if the Bombers were ready to jump into the top echelon of teams. However, this all came crashing down with a less than ideal performance against the Bulldogs. The Bombers did manage to regain some form, with a strong win over the Power. The much-maligned Jake Stringer bounced back into form resembling his All-Australian form with a four goal performance. Dyson Heppell and Michael Hurley also starred for the Bombers in a solid performance. Similar to the Magpies performance, the Bombers controlled the game from the outset, and despite a few dips throughout the game, never looked like losing the game to the Power. The injury to Fantasia could be crucial to Essendon. While the small forward has not been as electrifying to start the year in comparison to last season, he is a crucial component to the Essendon forward line.
The man to watch for the Bombers is Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti. A cult hero at Essendon, Tipungwuti has had some poor form this season, and is in dire need of a big game to show the coaches at the Bombers why he deserves a spot in the best 22. Joe Daniher is also someone to keep an eye on. Daniher dominated the Magpies in the last ANZAC Day meeting. Lynden Dunn has been excellent on key forwards this year, and will be looking to continue his form with a key scalp of Danhier.
Head to Head Odds
Collingwood: $1.81
Essendon: $2.05
TV
Live on Channel 7
Live on Fox Footy, Commercial Free
Radio
MMM
3AW
ABC
SEN
IPTV
AFL Live Pass
Foxtel Now
WatchAFL
ANZAC Day Ceremony
As is an annual tradition, their will be a ceremony before the game. The MCG recommends you get to your seat by about 2:55PM to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Tip
This is an absolute tossup. Collingwood is in the slightly better form with the win over the Crows.
Collingwood by 3.
Collingwood and Essendon are coming off the back of brilliant wins, beating Adelaide and Port Adelaide respectively. The fact that both sides are in solid form makes this match all the more intriguing.
Collingwood
Collingwood managed to back up their solid win over Carlton two weeks ago with a scintillating win over the Adelaide Crows, at Adelaide Oval. Collingwood came into that game heavy underdogs yet managed to dominate the Crows and come away with an emphatic victory. Some experts rated it as Buckley’s finest victory as coach. Brodie Grundy was outstanding against premier ruckman Shaun Jacobs, as was rookie Jaidyn Stephenson, who kicked five goals in a rising star nomination performance. Collingwood just about dominated in each area against the Crows, with no real man letting the team down. As a result, the Magpies come into the game against Essendon unchanged. The area that the Magpies stood out last week was the clearances. At the start of the Buckley’s tenure at the Magpies, clearances were a major issue, but year by year the Magpies have improved into the second-best clearance team in the competition.
The man to watch for the Magpies is Mason Cox. On the stat sheet, it looked as if Cox had quite a poor performance against the Crows. Rarely troubling the statisticians. However, to those who watched the game, Cox put in a stellar performance in trying conditions, focusing on putting the ball on the deck, as opposed to trying to go for the mark. As a result, the small forwards were able to get easier access to the ball, allowing for easier scoring opportunities. Cox will be looking to do the same, as the Magpies are lacking talls, meaning that the small forwards will need to feed off the opportunities.
Essendon
Like Collingwood, Essendon have put in both brilliant performances, and bottom six worthy performances. Due to this, it is difficult to find a place for the Bombers in the AFL ladder. After their performance against the Crows in round one, it looked as if the Bombers were ready to jump into the top echelon of teams. However, this all came crashing down with a less than ideal performance against the Bulldogs. The Bombers did manage to regain some form, with a strong win over the Power. The much-maligned Jake Stringer bounced back into form resembling his All-Australian form with a four goal performance. Dyson Heppell and Michael Hurley also starred for the Bombers in a solid performance. Similar to the Magpies performance, the Bombers controlled the game from the outset, and despite a few dips throughout the game, never looked like losing the game to the Power. The injury to Fantasia could be crucial to Essendon. While the small forward has not been as electrifying to start the year in comparison to last season, he is a crucial component to the Essendon forward line.
The man to watch for the Bombers is Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti. A cult hero at Essendon, Tipungwuti has had some poor form this season, and is in dire need of a big game to show the coaches at the Bombers why he deserves a spot in the best 22. Joe Daniher is also someone to keep an eye on. Daniher dominated the Magpies in the last ANZAC Day meeting. Lynden Dunn has been excellent on key forwards this year, and will be looking to continue his form with a key scalp of Danhier.
Head to Head Odds
Collingwood: $1.81
Essendon: $2.05
TV
Live on Channel 7
Live on Fox Footy, Commercial Free
Radio
MMM
3AW
ABC
SEN
IPTV
AFL Live Pass
Foxtel Now
WatchAFL
ANZAC Day Ceremony
As is an annual tradition, their will be a ceremony before the game. The MCG recommends you get to your seat by about 2:55PM to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Tip
This is an absolute tossup. Collingwood is in the slightly better form with the win over the Crows.
Collingwood by 3.
