Preview Anzac Day

Remove this Banner Ad

This is what we are going to need to do in order to win:

1. Make Shaw, O'Brien and Maxwell accountable - i.e. wherever they go, their man goes. A lot of Collingwood's attack starts from half-back. By making these 3 accountable, it will mean their influence on the match is diminished. I've got:

Crameri on O'Brien
Monfries on Shaw
Reimers on Maxwell

This will make the tasks of Hurley and Ryder easier.

2. No tagging.

Because they have so many damaging players in the middle, I say we go head-to-head with them.

Watson on Swan
Hocking on Pendlebury
Stanton on Thomas
Howlett on Sidebottom

and back each one to win their own ball more than their direct opponent.

3. Play 3 ruckmen against Jolly.

We can expose their lack of height, by having all of Hille, Ryder and Bellchambers in the side and rotating through the ruck/up forward. That will force them into having Brown in the middle a lot more, who isn't a great ruckman in ay case.

I suggest we need to do each of these things to have a chance.
 
So you are going to use half of your forward line playing as defenders???

Do this and you will lose very badly. If Essendon are to win they need to continue playing their natural game. The Dons are a good side this year Im surprised how quickly your supporters are writing them off.

Looking forward to a very close contest best Anzac game in years for once 2 quality sides going head to head


This is what we are going to need to do in order to win:

1. Make Shaw, O'Brien and Maxwell accountable - i.e. wherever they go, their man goes. A lot of Collingwood's attack starts from half-back. By making these 3 accountable, it will mean their influence on the match is diminished. I've got:

Crameri on O'Brien
Monfries on Shaw
Reimers on Maxwell

This will make the tasks of Hurley and Ryder easier.

2. No tagging.

Because they have so many damaging players in the middle, I say we go head-to-head with them.

Watson on Swan
Hocking on Pendlebury
Stanton on Thomas
Howlett on Sidebottom

and back each one to win their own ball more than their direct opponent.

3. Play 3 ruckmen against Jolly.

We can expose their lack of height, by having all of Hille, Ryder and Bellchambers in the side and rotating through the ruck/up forward. That will force them into having Brown in the middle a lot more, who isn't a great ruckman in ay case.

I suggest we need to do each of these things to have a chance.
 
2. No tagging.

Well structured post Pazza, good work. :thumbsu:

Disagree with point 2 however. Pendlebury IMO should be tagged, and be watched very closely all match. I would think Hocking will go to him, since he tagged Judd last week. Pendle uses the ball beautifully and is arguably Collingwood's most damaging player. Swan has a massive engine, which makes him difficult to stop, but he also does not have sublime disposal skills (unlike Pendlebury). He can go forward and kick a goal or two, but generally his field kicking is probably just above average. Limiting the impact of Pendlebury IMO is crucial if we are to win.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

This is what we are going to need to do in order to win:

1. Make Shaw, O'Brien and Maxwell accountable - i.e. wherever they go, their man goes. A lot of Collingwood's attack starts from half-back. By making these 3 accountable, it will mean their influence on the match is diminished. I've got:

Crameri on O'Brien
Monfries on Shaw
Reimers on Maxwell

This will make the tasks of Hurley and Ryder easier.

2. No tagging.

Because they have so many damaging players in the middle, I say we go head-to-head with them.

Watson on Swan
Hocking on Pendlebury
Stanton on Thomas
Howlett on Sidebottom

and back each one to win their own ball more than their direct opponent.

3. Play 3 ruckmen against Jolly.

We can expose their lack of height, by having all of Hille, Ryder and Bellchambers in the side and rotating through the ruck/up forward. That will force them into having Brown in the middle a lot more, who isn't a great ruckman in ay case.

I suggest we need to do each of these things to have a chance.

1. The Collingwood defenders, minus maybe Maxwell, are always accountable. They just play a zoning defense, so sometimes when you see their man running into the forward 50 on his own, you think it's because they're unaccountable, but really it's just because you've split the zone. Happens a helluva lot. But Collingwood having a spare man back is not instigated by Collingwood, it is more often than not instigated by the opposition, as the ball spends so much time in our attacking half it seems suicide if you simply go head to head. Maxwell has been quite poor since coming back from his injury, and in reality playing a loose man against us in this game might help you because Maxy was in caught in no man's land a lot during the 3rd qtr against the Tigers, meaning he is more than a little rusty. Of course plans could change, but creating a situation where Fletcher is your loose man, and Maxwell is ours could actually work for you this early in the season. Also forget about Harry O, he is good for a sparkling dash, but the real rebounders are Heath Shaw and Ben Johnson, they will be the guys you need to shut down to stop the run off half back.

2. If you play Watson on Swan the game will be over very quickly. Swan is an inside/outside mid and lightning quick, though I love the way Jobe Watson plays his footy, giving him the job of playing on a guy who is twice as quick as him is asking for disaster. You know all of those hit up marks on the wing and across half back that Swan gets during a game? How could Watson possibly attempt to stop them? Allowing Swan to play a linking role between our defense and forward lines is not a good idea. He is as smart a footballer as anyone in the comp. Also, you say no tagging and then add that Heath Hocking should go to Pendlebury. Do you really think Hocking is going to attempt to be more damaging?? I think Luke Ball will go with Watson, and this contest will go a long way to deciding how the game is played out. Ball is brilliant at stopping an opposing inside mid, but Watson is perhaps the best inside mid in the comp at the moment so it should be a good battle. Beating us in the middle, clearly, is the best way to win this game. Easier said than done but there have been times this year when we have been weak in this area, albeit for short periods of a game.

3. Hille, Ryder and Bellchambers seem certain to play, but I don't know if Hille will play much time in the ruck. He would be more menacing at full forward for most of the day.

I really liked the way Essendon fought back in the NAB cup GF, and obviously their start to the season has been superb. It will be really interesting to see how competitive they can be. As some have said, Collingwood are certainly beatable, and ANZAC day is the kind of special occasion that seems to throw up odd results, but so many things have to go right for the Bombers, and all Collingwood really have to do is shut down or limit the games of Watson, Hille, Ryder and Hurley. Four quarters is a long time to keep the Pies in check and you would think with the number of inside 50s we pump in per game, that defense will be really tested. Especially considering Cloke loves playing the Bombers and Fletcher struggles against the monsters.
 
We will keep up therwabouts for three and abit, then its Collingwood by 37 points. Unfortunately.
 
Will the AFL be releasing reserved tickets from 3 game memberships that have not sold? There's a releasing of tickets tomorrow but i fear its standing room only
 
1. Make Shaw, O'Brien and Maxwell accountable - i.e. wherever they go, their man goes. A lot of Collingwood's attack starts from half-back. By making these 3 accountable, it will mean their influence on the match is diminished. I've got:

Crameri on O'Brien
Monfries on Shaw
Reimers on Maxwell

Crameri on O'Brien would be tough for us. O'Brien is the dirtiest player in the AFL and will probably touch him up a bit as Crameri likes to take contested marks and not leading ones. I would rather someone who leads hard with strong hands in this matchup. In fact I think Reimers is perfect as he has the pace to play on him both ways and will get in O'Brien's ear and make him earn it if he fails to run off properly.

I would give Monfries the hard tag on Shaw, as I think he is one of the guys who really turns it on when Collingwood is going well. Monfries has shown he can do this before, playing on the likes of Hodge, and it might allow him to work his way in to the game better than he has in the past.

Watson on Swan
Hocking on Pendlebury
Stanton on Thomas
Howlett on Sidebottom

Stanton on Swan if anything. Stanton runs harder than Watosn and is much much better in contested marking situations, which is somewhere Swan would kill Watson every time. We have shown in every game this year that we want to get Watson playing free, not going head to head against another great mid. This allows him to be much more damaging.

Hocking I expect will run with Pendles like he did on Goddard and Judd; he has been excellent in that role and the close attention is just what Pendles needs. Gibbs showed that Pendles is vulnerable in this way, and I think Hocking can do a better job than Gibbs did.

Watson would be a better matchup with Sidebottom - both have similar pace and game smarts, but Watson is the better player and should touch him up.

Howlett can probably move with Thomas a touch better, though really I would like to see McVeigh or someone clamp down hard on Thomas and make him earn it. Thomas has been impressive this year and I think it is time to give him a really hard tag.

Play 3 ruckmen against Jolly.

We can expose their lack of height, by having all of Hille, Ryder and Bellchambers in the side and rotating through the ruck/up forward. That will force them into having Brown in the middle a lot more, who isn't a great ruckman in ay case.

Not sure if I'm a fan of all three on the G, though Bellchambers will make Jolly and Brown earn it, so he could be a good option. If so I would like to see Ryder sit forward all day, and let the others take the ruck. This would force Brown into the ruck more, as Bellchambers and Hille have the big bodies to run Jolly down more than Ryder, and they both will have the taps over Brown too.

For Collingwood's forwards it is clear that Hooker is the better matchup for Cloke, as Dawes would have him on the lead.
 
O'Brien is the dirtiest player in the AFL and will probably touch him up a bit as Crameri likes to take contested marks and not leading ones.

Wtf O'Brien has never even been suspended! 2 weeks ago we saw Campbell Brown's dog act on Ward and O'Brien is somehow the dirtiest player in the AFL. Maybe a better choice of words next time :rolleyes:
 
Wtf O'Brien has never even been suspended! 2 weeks ago we saw Campbell Brown's dog act on Ward and O'Brien is somehow the dirtiest player in the AFL. Maybe a better choice of words next time :rolleyes:

Agreed, he might be disliked, but I wouldn't label him dirty.
 
Wtf O'Brien has never even been suspended! 2 weeks ago we saw Campbell Brown's dog act on Ward and O'Brien is somehow the dirtiest player in the AFL. Maybe a better choice of words next time :rolleyes:
I do not for the life of me know why he was allowed to molest Scott Lucas but he was. It must be said, along with others - ironically Campbell Brown was one too...

Very happy the rules people knocked the 6'2 scrag CHB/FB out of the game and O'Brien's fine now... altho still seems quiet popular with the umpires
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

The scragging I can maybe agree with (the way he played Lucas that day was outside the rules) but I certainly think he has reduced that from his game, not eradicated but reduced, mainly because of our zoning in defence he isn't forced to do it as often.

Very happy the rules people knocked the 6'2 scrag CHB/FB out of the game and O'Brien's fine now... altho still seems quiet popular with the umpires

One Steven Silvagni would definitely struggle in today's game under the current rules. Compared to Silvagni O'Brien's an absolute amateur when it comes to scragging!
 
Just a heads up to anyone who hasnt got tickets yet.
Ticketek are releasing limited seats at 12pm AEST. So in 20 minutes try your luck.
 
As a result of unused club, AFL or corporate allocations, the following tickets will be released at 12 noon Wednesday April 20:

Public Reserve - A very limited number of full view, restricted view and standing room tickets.
AFL Reserve - A limited number of standing room tickets.
6 ANZAC Day tickets
 
He my most hated player in the AFL.

No idea why so many people love him.

Watch him closely in a game and he is all over his opponent, scragging, scratching, pulling, holding constantly. But for some reason the rules don't apply to him and he is able to get away with it.

Not only that but his skills are overrated. 7 times out of 10 he will kick the ball as far as he can. Doesn't even bother to look. His All-Australian selection still baffles me.

For someone that preaches world peace and is very quick to take the moral high ground it certainly doesn't show on the field.

/rant

The scragging I can maybe agree with (the way he played Lucas that day was outside the rules) but I certainly think he has reduced that from his game, not eradicated but reduced, mainly because of our zoning in defence he isn't forced to do it as often.



One Steven Silvagni would definitely struggle in today's game under the current rules. Compared to Silvagni O'Brien's an absolute amateur when it comes to scragging!
So what you're saying is he has reduced his scragging because he doesn't have to compete in as many contests? Give me a break.
 
Hocking has to tag Pendlebury. If Pendlebury gets a heap of the ball Collingwood are going to win 9 out of 10 times.

Who gets the job on Didak?
I think Thomas may also cause some headaches for Essendon - who goes to him?

Watson is the biggest threat for Collingwood- Ball should go with him. Watson is clearly the form inside mid in the game, and stopping him (if possible) will mean game over for Essendon imo.

Good luck!
 
The scragging I can maybe agree with (the way he played Lucas that day was outside the rules) but I certainly think he has reduced that from his game, not eradicated but reduced, mainly because of our zoning in defence he isn't forced to do it as often.
You got proper sized defenders. Same with Hudghton, same with Brown etc etc. Guys 3 or 4 inches shorter than their man are going to have to think of something to beat them and for a while there that something was scrag.
Sadly it took a rule change to make a bleedin' obvious wake-up call to the umps.

One Steven Silvagni would definitely struggle in today's game under the current rules. Compared to Silvagni O'Brien's an absolute amateur when it comes to scragging!
So would Rotten Ronnie Andrews or Deano Wallis etc etc. Game moves on.

Harry largely has.
 
Hocking has to tag Pendlebury. If Pendlebury gets a heap of the ball Collingwood are going to win 9 out of 10 times.

Who gets the job on Didak?
I think Thomas may also cause some headaches for Essendon - who goes to him?

Watson is the biggest threat for Collingwood- Ball should go with him. Watson is clearly the form inside mid in the game, and stopping him (if possible) will mean game over for Essendon imo.

Good luck!
I agree, Pendles will dominate if he isn't tagged hard.

McVeigh will probably go to Didak, and most of us are hoping Reimers or Heppell take Daisy

Probably. Find someone to stop him though.

You too mate
 
It's a big game in context of where the teams sit right now. Yeah the ANZAC day clash is always significant in terms of paying homage to the ANZACS but I don't think the result will be season defining. Two scenarios
1) A Bombers win means that things are going well to that point
2) A Pies win means that things are going well to that point.

Belief that you can beat anybody should be there from round one if you're a professional unit. Let the media beat up the result and predict finals glory or doom.......For either supporters, don't count your chickens.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Preview Anzac Day


Write your reply...

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top