Preview Essendon V Port (7/04) - In: Lonergan, Carlisle Out: Hooker (ankle), Hocking (concussion)

[Tassieboy]

Big thanks to Ethan for the preview.

This is my preview, I'm trying to be as impartial as possible, Port fans, please highlight my main mistakes on your list, as I don't know the list fantastically unfortunately.

Essendon vs Port Adelaide (7th April 2012):

Observations:

Essendon: Had a first up fantastic effort against North Melbourne, dominating through the midfield despite media hype about North's apparently "better" midfield. Brent Stanton was dominant, racking up 35 disposals, half of them contested. Watson was his usual self, getting clearances. Hurley was down, and will want to be a big presence against Port Adelaide. A mixed pre-season, will be interesting how they rebound against an admittedly worse team, who are also a bogey side.

Port Adelaide: A good pre-season, winning 3 games, McCarthy and Brad Ebert adding better depth to their midfield, and an admittedly fearful future midfield consisting of Hamish Hartlett, Travis Boak, Danyle Pearce, Robbie Gray, Chad Wingard, Brad Ebert and John McCarthy. They will be tested by a big-bodied midfield with Watson, Hocking, Stanton, Howlett and Lovett-Murray. Port also a bright future in their forward line, with Butcher leading the way.

Head-to-Head (Past 5 games): Port Adelaide 4 - Essendon 1

Form (Pre-Season/r1):

Essendon: W-W-W-L-L

Port Adelaide: ?-W-W-L-L

Odds (forecasted from http://footyforecaster.com/AFL/RoundForecast/2012_Round_2): Essendon $1.26 Port Adelaide $4.92

Possible Teams:

Essendon:
B: Fletcher-Pears-Hardingham
HB: Dempsey-Hooker-Hibberd
C: Melksham-Watson-Heppell
HF: Monfries-Hurley-Zaharakis
F: Crameri-Ryder-Jetta
R: Hille-Hocking-Stanton
I: Howlett-Lovett-Murray-Myers
S: McVeigh

Port Adelaide:

B: Chaplin-Carlile-Surjan
HB: Hartlett-Trengove-Pearce
C: Boak-Cassisi-McCarthy
HF: Wingard-Butcher-Westhoff
F: Broadbent-Schultz-Lobbe
R: Redden-Brad Ebert-Cornes
I: Thomas-O’Shea-Paul Stewart
S: Rodan

Key Match-Ups:

Michael Hurley vs Jackson Trengove: Hurley was down last game, and will want to enforce himself against an opponent that could be considered a lot worse than North Melbourne. Jackson Trengove is the obvious match-up, as these two would be contesting against each other for the next 10 years if both remain injury-free. Trengove also coming back from injury, giving Hurley that little bit of an advantage in this match-up. My prediction: with probably better midfield delivery this week, and Hurley wanting to impose himself in this game, I will say Hurley 6 goals

Jobe Watson vs Dominic Cassisi: The two captains are clearly the best midfielders for their respective clubs, Watson earning more media attention, and Dom being seriously underrated. This promises to be an interesting battle, will be willing to call this a draw

Tayte Pears vs John Butcher: Butcher tore Essendon and both Pears and Hooker apart last time these two met. Pears’ a very promising defender when fit; smashing the two Coleman medallist leaders as a 19-year-old in 2009. This is the battle both clubs expect to happen for 10 years, and with the added help of Fletcher I expect Pears to come out on top and keep Butcher to 2 goals

Keys for each team:

Essendon:
• Dominate the midfield- Essendon have bigger bodies in there, and are expected to be stronger around the ball. After dominating North Melbourne there, they’d want to destroy the lesser midfield of Port Adelaide
• Kick accurately- if Essendon kick gettable to easy chances, they’ll be in better stead against the better defences in Carlton and Collingwood.
• Don’t be Hurley-conscious. Look for Crameri, Ryder, Hille, Watson and Monfries when they’re down there.

Port Adelaide:
• Be competitive in the midfield, try to stop the Essendon midfielders dominating them, might be important against the bigger bodies inside if they compete hard and take solace that they played well against a top 8 side
• Try to curb Hille and Ryder’s influence. Lobbe and Redden are two promising rucks, if they can do this, they’ll be able to know that they can compete with the best
• Stay in the game as long as you can- forget the scoreboard, look at how you go in one-on-ones and try to win as many contests as you can.

Summary:

Essendon have a better defence, midfield and forward line than Port Adelaide. Players like Watson, Stanton, Hocking, Zaharakis and Melksham ooze class in the guts, and a forward line consisting of Hurley, Ryder, Crameri, Monfries and Jetta looks classy. Pears, Hooker and Fletcher should be a top 8 to top 6 key defence combination

Port Adelaide need to focus on the future. Players like Boak, Gray, Wingard, Trengove and Butcher promises a bright future for the club. Competing is the best they can hope for in this game

Tip: Essendon have better or more mature players than Port, and I would be surprised if Essendon didn't beat them in every area. Essendon by 54

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

No change.

 

[Macca18]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Three talking points for me -

Hocking: Will he recover to play?

Hardingham: He returned to the ground last year but was in obvious discomfort with the shoulder strapped. Doubt?

Fletcher: Several people after the game last night were suggesting Fletcher would receive MRP scrutiny for a knock on Daniel Wells. At the game it didn't seem like much at all and the umpire clearly didn't think so either but not rewarding Wells a 50m penalty - but also a Doubt?

We've now won 9 of our last 10 at Etihad, the only loss being a narrow one last year against the team we beat last night. Port, like last year, will no doubt provide us with a few headaches... but this is very winnable. Will be interested to see how they go at home today against the Saints.

 

[Tassieboy]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

I dunno if I can put up with McVeigh much longer .

 

[Bombers36]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Hocking, Hardingham & McVeigh only guys i think could miss.
First 2 might not come up & McVeigh was pretty ordinary with just 5 possesions but unlikely he'll be dropped (leadership group, mates with hirdy etc)
Depends who plays well at bendigo today also.
At this stage Id have;-

IN: Carlisle, Davey, Reimers
OUT: Hocking (inj), hardingham (inj) & McVeigh

Hibberd Fletch Myers
Pears Hooker Dempsey
Heppell NLM Stanton
Monfries Ryder Crameri
Jetta Hurley Davey

Hille Watson Zaka

INT: Howlett Melksham Carlisle
SUB: Reimers

Edit: Not sure where Winders is at - maybe he might get a run as SUB depending on who comes up - would be good to get him back into the 22.

 

[DVD Player]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Hooker appeared to have some sort of ankle issue.

 

[The Donners]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

I'd bring in a 1st-year player to play the next 2 weeks and then send him back to Bendigo. Give him a taste, probably I want to see Kavanagh but I'm happy with whichever of the 1st-year players are most worthy of debuting.

 

[eth-dog]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

I would make 1 change at most, but will wait for the Bendigo "Gold" report. I'll be doing a full preview later, probably tomorrow

 

[ManWithNoName]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

An Easter Saturday afternoon clash against Port this year. Let's hope we can get 35k along and finally put in a decent performance against those crow eaters. I hold out hope.

35k against Port? Doubt it. With the win last night we should get about 30k though.

Depending on how The Human Apostrophe Dello'llio goes for Bendigo, I'd bring him in for McVeigh. Contributed nothing last night and we looked like we could use a quickish crumbing option in the forward line. Add another dimension.

 

[Childish Gambino]

Yeah usually wait for Bendigo before discussing the ins but McVeigh has to go out. Was a liability.

 

[Skeeta Olly]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Lets be honest, McVeigh won't be dropped.

 

[Skeeta Olly]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Oh, and wait for the Bendigo game before changes etc etc

 

[Lance Uppercut]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Yeah usually wait for Bendigo before discussing the ins but McVeigh has to go out. Was a liability.

kicked a fairly important goal IIRC. Was it our only goal in the last or was it in the third?

 

[Childish Gambino]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

kicked a fairly important goal IIRC. Was it our only goal in the last or was it in the third?

It was the third.

Couldn't make the distance from 50 metres for his set shot in the last quarter.

 

[efcboy]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

if everyone is fit i'd expect there to be no changes. i think the team played quite well in a high standard match.

hocking looked to be only mild concussion so should be ok but wait and see. lonergan the obvious replacement but don't expect hocking to be out.

hooker was a minor ankle - he was able to come back on. if he doesn't come up then carlisle gets a gig assuming he comes thru VFL ok.

hardingham the most concerning but again was able to return - would expect he'll be ok. if not then luke davis or hank slattery would be in the mix if they go like for like but they may opt for lonergan and use myers/nlm more in that role.

mcveigh played a role and will hold his spot at least for another week. dell'olio or reimers would have to have a massive match today to replace him with only 6 days to the match.

 

[efcboy]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Yeah usually wait for Bendigo before discussing the ins but McVeigh has to go out. Was a liability.

i think you'll find mcveigh was playing to coach's instructions trying to open up space for hurley/crameri/resting ruckman. it takes a selfless player to do this and mcveigh did it alright. i've been critical of him in the pre-season and do not have in my best 22 but i acknowledge the role he played and expect he'll play again

 

[Phone]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Lets be honest, McVeigh won't be dropped.

still we've kicked him out of the backline because we couldn't fit him, for me it's only a matter of time before he gets kicked out of the forward line, unless he actually performs. of course, he'll get a few weeks to do that, but which time they'll probably be a spot in the backline again

 

[Barnjay]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

For the first time in so many years we consistently had a forward line to kick to. Between Hurley, Stu and Hille/Ryder there was always someone staying at home as a target. Years gone by we would be bombing to no one. It's the best I've felt about our forward structure in years. None of those guys set the game on fire as a forward last night, but it still looked great and they always looked dangerous.

The only thing it's missing is a genuine stay at home crummer. I'd love to see Dell'olio get a gig. I think a forward line of Hurley, Stu, Ruckman and Dell would be a nightmare for teams to handle.

I'd love to see Mcveigh out and Dell'olio in, but I'm guessing no change apart from injury.

 

[blitzer]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Mcveigh wasn't dreadful and I recognise he was playing a specific role for the team but I can't help but think that Reimers or Winderlich (if fit) could easily play the same role and be more of an offensive threat at the same time. Plus add some much needed pace to a fairly one paced lineup from last week.

All the injuries we had seemed fairly minor so working on the basis that they all turn OK, there will probably only be 1 or 2 changes.
My ins/outs would be:
In: Reimers/Winderlich (if fit)
Out: McVeigh/NLM (NLM was really good in the second but seemed to struggle to run the game out and could probably do with a full game or 2 in the 2's, even Hird conceded that they took a punt on him expecting he wouldn't have to play more than a half.)

What I expect to happen:
In: Winderlich (if fit)
Out: NLM

Regardless of the team, if we show the same level of committment we should be able to beat Port without too much drama, hopefully without the heart stopping moments at the end.

 

[efcboy]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

both mcveigh and monfries didn't see much action. from my point of view this looked a deliberate tactic to free up space for hurley/crameri/resting ruckman with jetta crumbing.

 

[Macca18]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Suddenly an injury or two isn't the end of the world.

We have options and quite a few of them. Carlisle, Reimers, Bellchambers, Lonergan, Davey amongst others who can play a variety of roles. Not to mention our 2011 draftees.

Great signs.

 

[warney7]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

At this stage Id have;-

IN: Carlisle, Davey, Reimers

God I hope not!

 

[efcboy]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Was I the only one laughing when the commentators said Essendon had the pre-season from hell? From my point of view the pre-season was perfect - no significant new injuries and conditioned the players well for beginning of season as well as bulking up. Can't ask for much more than that and IMO missing the St K match was a blessing in disguise anyway.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Just glad these days do not have to worry about Dew. FFS he used to murder us. Still remember him kicking like a 50m goal off the deck against us.

 

[Macca18]

Re: Essendon V Port (7/04) - Ins, Outs & all other pre-match discussion

Dew...

Tredrea...

Burgoyne brothers in same team...

Cornes brothers in same team...

Pass the bucket.

NO DANIEL MOTLOP EITHER! THANK _ _ _ _ .