Review Rnd 3: Gold Coast vs Essendon @ Metricon.

[supernova_]

no rush with him anyway. I'm not expecting huge things from Day/Lynch for probably another 2 years at least.

 

[Thermo]

Getting a warm fuzzy feeling knowing Bock will be back in the side.

 

[bleeding red and white]

Surely Sexton gets the nod.

Some of the best young talent you'll see.

 

[supernova_]

Injuries for Essendon, Hille, Lonergan, Lovett-Murray, and Meyers all seemingly out this weekend.
sam-lonergan-banned-for-one-match-by-match-review-panel

While we should have Stanley, Bock, Fraser to come in at least.

 

[nickh32]

Injuries for Essendon, Hille, Lonergan, Lovett-Murray, and Meyers all seemingly out this weekend.
sam-lonergan-banned-for-one-match-by-match-review-panel

While we should have Stanley, Bock, Fraser to come in at least.

Good ins for you, we have Hocking, Hooker and Bellchambers as just a few of the ins. Reimers is also in contention.

Btw its Myers not Meyers. Meyers was the port adelaide guy i thought. Unless its a running joke in which case my bad.

 

[supernova_]

Good ins for you, we have Hocking, Hooker and Bellchambers as just a few of the ins. Reimers is also in contention.

Btw its Myers not Meyers. Meyers was the port adelaide guy i thought. Unless its a running joke in which case my bad.

I just copied the spelling from the article, never even heard of the guy

The port one yes, but not the essendon one anyway

 

[Sunny_]

I'm starting to wonder if Danny Stanley will be the auto-inclusion that we all anticipate he will be.

Was not listed on the best players list last week against the Sydney Reserves, despite kicking 2 goals. We know he's showed great form before that and looks a step above at NEAFL level, but this concerns me from Hart:

Although the NEAFL team is off to a flying start, Hart said the players would need a prolonged period of form to force their way into senior calculations.

“We won’t be rushing to change positions at senior level unless there are some guys that are struggling at senior level,” he said.

Surely he must be included this week, you would think. Really need him at HF to help out with another big body.

 

[UP AND RUNNING]

I'm starting to wonder if Danny Stanley will be the auto-inclusion that we all anticipate he will be.

Was not listed on the best players list last week against the Sydney Reserves, despite kicking 2 goals. We know he's showed great form before that and looks a step above at NEAFL level, but this concerns me from Hart:



Surely he must be included this week, you would think. Really need him at HF to help out with another big body.

Well 3/4 of the team are struggling at senior level so including him seems to be a no brainer. But who knows with this club, they should play their best team every week and we know that does not happen so will have to wait and see. Think fans would be outraged if he plays another week in the NEAFL and leaves some of the players in there especially against the Bombers. Last week Hart said The Bull would be forcing his way in the team so we will have to wait and see mate...

 

[Tazwegian]

There must be massive pressure on Bluey now. He was a great player, but every game seems important for him from here on. You could understand the heavy defeats if it weren't for the weird team selections, if you could see improvement happening or at least a sound game plan developing. GC have to show something against Essendon, anything. A 40 point loss or less would at least give us some hope.

 

[SandyToes]

The club should be playing its strongest team at Metricon..every week
Leave the experimenting for Tasmania or Cairns

 

[bballscout]

Coach's arent dumb, Stanley will play.

 

[gotassieboys]

Bock is obviously an automatic inclusion this week. Stanley might be a good option as another bigger/mature guy around the contested ball

My outsider is Gilbee, as he would provide dash and can kick a goal as is evident by his form in the reserves. An exceptionally good overhead mark for his size and does not mind the hard ball.

It will be interesting to see who is in the "22" against the Bombers.

I assume Seb Tape is also availabe this week-??????????????

 

[Sunny_]

AFL.com has got us losing by by only 4 goals. Wish I knew what they knew. Mike Whiting quickly confirmed that he doesn't do the prediction margin, and said that anything within 8 goals would be a pass mark.

Considering our form and their form, I would be pretty stoked to get within 4 goals of the Bombers. Bock and Stanley... will they help us out that much?

I know Bock only missed one game last year. The Essendon game. And look what happened? We won both games around that one. So who knows?

 

[supernova_]

Odds are up on Sportsbet

Gold Coast $10.00
Essendon $1.05
The line is 58.5 points

This is basically the same odds as we were given last week against St Kilda in Melbourne.

I'll probably throw more money at them this week on the line. Hopefully their defensive pressure picks up, and tackling improves a lot this week.

Sadly wont be there this Sat night, got a bucks day/night event, so by the time it rolls around on tv might be a bit blurry eyed.

 

[FavoriteSun]

As an aside, can you bet near the stadium or just online? I'm flying down in 3 weeks for the Freo and GWS games and I want to bet on the boys even if it's just for a few dollars lost in fun and a ticket to cherish for my memories.

 

[d-mac3276]

This is the preview I posted on the Essendon board, feel free to come over and highlight my main mistakes, would be much appreciated

Gold Coast vs Essendon (14/04/2012):

Observations:

Gold Coast: Talented youngsters lead by arguably the best player in the AFL in Ablett. Round 1 showed their lack of defensive discipline against Adelaide, and they should be trying to add a defensive side to their game, many considering that Greater Western Sydney’s defence in their first game being better than the Sun’s defence in year 2. The Suns can only improve with talented youngsters like Swallow, Bennell, Day, Toy and McKenzie getting better and better

Essendon: Had a first up fantastic effort against North Melbourne, dominating through the midfield despite media hype about North's apparently "better" midfield, winning by a couple of points. Essendon followed up by beating Port Adelaide less than convincingly, with kicking for goal and general skills being a problem in both games. They will be looking forward to this game; especially considering the margin they defeated the Suns by in their only encounter.

Head-to-Head:Gold Coast 0 - Essendon 1

Form (Pre-Season inc):

Essendon: W-W-W-W-L

Gold Coast: ?-L-L-L-L

Odds (forecasted from http://footyforecaster.com/AFL/RoundForecast/2012_Round_3 ): Gold Coast $2.42 Essendon $1.70 (will update when I get real odds)

Possible Teams:

Gold Coast:
B: Harbrow-Warnock-Taylor
HB: Weller-May-Brennan
C: Swallow-Caddy-McKenzie
HF: Prestia-Bock-Hall
F: Brown-Lynch-Matera
R: Smith-Ablett-Rischitelli
I: Hunt-Shaw-Fraser
S: Bennell

Essendon:
B: Fletcher-Pears-Hardingham
HB: Dempsey-Carlisle-Hibberd
C: Melksham-Watson-Heppell
HF: Monfries-Hurley-Zaharakis
F: Crameri-Ryder-Jetta
R: Bellchambers-Hocking-Stanton
I: Howlett-Dell’Olio-Dyson
S: McVeigh

Key Match-Ups:

Michael Hurley vs Steven May: May a good defender, Hurley a solid forward so far with the potential to be a monster forward. Hurley has been down for 2 games in a row, even though he got a few touches last game his kicking let him down- 1 goal, 3 behinds and one out on the full. I’ve said Hurley will win one of his contests in the past few weeks, and have been wrong on both occasions. I’ll say it one more time, because he’ll be desperate to run into some form before the big clash against Carlton. Hurley to kick 7

Jobe Watson vs David Swallow: I think Guy McKenna will give his best draftee from last year a chance to go head-to-head with the player the Suns will hope he’ll emulate. There’s no doubt Swallow will be a first-class clearance player, and should try to learn from arguably the best clearance player in the competition in Watson to see the next few step ups in the future to the player he should become. Watson to get 30 touches and 2 goals

Dyson Heppell vs Josh Caddy: Heppell, the player that the Suns could’ve gotten if they didn’t choose Caddy and the Rising Star winner for 2011. Caddy, the player Essendon were desperately trying to lure back to Melbourne to add to their midfield. These two highly talented youngsters will be an interesting battle to behold. Heppell has runs on the board, and has sublime skills. Caddy a much tougher nut to crack. Will say Heppell will win

Keys for each team:

Essendon:
• Dominate the midfield- Essendon have bigger bodies in there, and are expected to be stronger around the ball. Should beat the young midfield that the Suns have
• Kick accurately- Essendon wasted good chances in the forward line both weeks. Will want to improve heavily in that regard
• Hit your targets. Skills have been average first two weeks. Need better skills to compete with the best- coming soon against Carlton and Collingwood

Gold Coast
• Don't rely on Ablett. He's a superstar, but he won't be around forever (he's not Dustin Fletcher ). Spread the load, Caddy, Swallow, Bennell should all be trying to release pressure
• Try to curb Bellchambers and Ryder’s influence. Smith is a promising ruck, if he can do this, he’ll be able to know that he can compete with the best
• Pressure- the defensive pressure has been terrible by the Suns. Will want to improve on that

Summary:

Essendon are in a good spot being 2-0 going into a team they beat by 130-odd points the only time they’ve ever played. The Bombers have had a strong pre-season and are even stronger than before, and they’ll want to really impress the coaches and fans after a poor effort against Port Adelaide, where they were expected to win comfortably. Essendon have better players across the board, even if Gold Coast is an extremely talented side. Essendon will want to win in nearly every position on the ground against a side that’s nowhere near as mature as them

Gold Coast will be worried about their lack of defensive pressure, and will want to create a lot more pressure going forward. They need to try to break even in as many contests as they can and maybe even try to win a couple head-to-head clashes with the bombers.

Tip: Essendon are better. Simply got more mature bodies across the board, better forwards, better defenders, but don’t have the best player on the ground. It should be another domination for the dons. Essendon by 99

Gee wouldn't mind those head to head odds, i'd be telling the Mrs to put the house up for it

 

[supernova_]

As an aside, can you bet near the stadium or just online? I'm flying down in 3 weeks for the Freo and GWS games and I want to bet on the boys even if it's just for a few dollars lost in fun and a ticket to cherish for my memories.

Online, theres no pub near the stadium with a TAB really. Closest would be back towards Nerang, or Ashmore, or maybe Benowa? Unless theres one at Royal Pines?

 

[eth-dog]

Gee wouldn't mind those head to head odds, i'd be telling the Mrs to put the house up for it

Check the OP on our board

 

[bballscout]

Online, theres no pub near the stadium with a TAB really. Closest would be back towards Nerang, or Ashmore, or maybe Benowa? Unless theres one at Royal Pines?

Emerald Lakes across the road has a tab...

 

[supernova_]

Emerald Lakes across the road has a tab...

Touche, yes it does.

 

[Sunny_]

Bock back, but maybe forward.

GOLD Coast is remaining tight-lipped on whether Nathan Bock will play forward or back as the key position star returns from a two-match suspension against Essendon on Saturday.

Bock missed the opening fortnight of the season after serving a suspension for releasing information about his position ahead of last year's round 24 fixture against Hawthorn.

The All Australian defender played forward on that occasion and a betting plunge on him as first goalkicker resulted in a substantial windfall for a number of punters.

Bock and the Suns are doing their best to ensure lightning does not strike twice.

He has played the entire pre-season in the forward line, but when asked about his likely starting position against the Bombers, the Suns' vice-captain and assistant coach Dean Solomon were coy.

"Not sure at the moment," Bock said.

Solomon gave more of a hint without totally committing.

"Can't tell you," he said. "We'd like a couple of him, [it would] be handy. Depends how we structure up.

"Young Lynchy (Tom Lynch) went down back last week and went OK so we might look at him down back and it might allow Bocky to go forward at times."

The defensive coach admitted Bock's role might be a week-by-week proposition.

"The most important thing at the moment is to settle the side down," he said.

"Whether that's forward or back, we haven't finished those discussions yet. No doubt we could probably do with a couple of Bocky at the moment, a mature head to settle the side down and get us back on track."

Whichever end of the ground the 29-year-old plays, he is a welcome return for the struggling Suns who have lost by 69 and 92 points respectively to Adelaide and St Kilda.

Bock said watching from the grandstand had been frustrating.

"I was obviously aware I was going to miss the first two weeks ... to watch the boys go through a couple of big losses like they have has been a bit frustrating but obviously I'm excited to get out there this week," he said.

"I think I'll just go out there and play my role and do what I normally do and provide my bit for the team and hopefully we can start being competitive.

"I'm sure the boys want to bounce back and earn some respect and not only against Essendon but amongst the footy world. Our first two performances this year have been a bit below par and I think we really want to respond."

Solomon said Essendon would provide a stiff test for Gold Coast in an area it had been struggling.

"I don't think they're going as well as they'd like to be going, but there's no doubt they're priding themselves on the contested footy and that's getting the result at the moment," he said.

"On the back of what we've dished up the last couple of weeks that's the big challenge for us to match them in that area."

I really hope Lynch and Bock can play in the same forward line. I'm not sure I like the idea of Lynch being a defender. I would much prefer to see him kicking goals. He should get much more of a free run if Bock is up forward to take the best defender.

 

[Sunny_]

Mike Whiting agrees.

Michael Whiting
Suns being coy, but if I was a betting man - which I can't - surely Bock will play forward. Has all pre-season http://www.afl.com.au/n?132792 via @AFL

BigFooty SUNS
@AFL_mikewhiting @AFL Surely there's room for him AND Lynchy in the same forward line? Bock up forward frees Lynch up considerably.

Michael Whiting
@BigFootySUNS totally agree. Might depend on how Steve May's ankle niggle goes but I'd personally leave Lynch forward too

He raises an interesting point.

If May and Tape are injured and Hutchins isn't ready (for whatever reason) and Thompson still injured, Lynch may have to go down back if we want Bock up forward.

 

[supernova_]

Do you think a forward line of something like this?

HF: Stanley, Bock, Brennan
F: Matera, Lynch, Fraser

A lot of experience and height there, will really stretch the Essendon defenders

 

[Sunny_]

Further... About Hutchins.

BigFooty SUNS
@AFL_mikewhiting Where's Hutchins been? Heard he's going ok in the 2s? With Rory injured & Tape/May in doubt, seems the natural replacement.

@BigFootySUNS going ok apparently. Depends if/when they want Day back 2. Hutchins will def have a crack 4 u. Not sure about Tape this week.

And about Stanley.

BigFooty SUNS
@AFL_mikewhiting Oh, any word on Bull Stanley? Must be a chance surely! Looks a class above in the NEAFL games.

Michael Whiting
@BigFootySUNS few getting dropped this wk but not sure bout Bull. I'd pick him. He is accountable for his man which is a big start!

 

[Sunny_]

Do you think a forward line of something like this?

HF: Stanley, Bock, Brennan
F: Matera, Lynch, Fraser

A lot of experience and height there, will really stretch the Essendon defenders

Would swap Brennan for Hall, personally. But other than that I like it.

Russell swapping with Stanley for bouts in the midfield. Seems to be the usual setup there.