VelvetSledge
Moderator
- May 24, 2007
- 17,648
- 35,930
- AFL Club
- Essendon
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- Liverpool FC, Melbourne Storm
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- #1
ESSENDON
Arguably one of our finest wins in many years.
The Giants, a flag favourite only a couple of weeks ago, absolutely obliterated us last season to the tune of 126 points, and early on in this game, it looked like we might be heading for a similar result.
Jesse Hogan got on the end of a few balls inside 50, booted a goal, and we looked well off the pace, despite an excellent Alwyn Davey Jr dribbling effort for our first.
In seasons past, we could probably resign ourselves to a piss-weak, limp-wristed effort with little to no resistance. 22 points down in the second term, and it would all have been too hard.
Not this Essendon side. Not in 2024.
This side, galvanised by a captain and coach well and truly in sync, grit their collective teeth and ground the Giants down slowly but surely, and came away with an enormous win in front of a booming crowd at Marvel Stadium.
Nic Martin's move to half-back has, after some iffy moments in the first few rounds of the year, proven to be a great move, with his prolific ball movement paying dividends.
Kyle Langford moved up to third in the Coleman ranks, with another four goals, whilst Matt Guelfi slotted three majors, celebrating with his painted nails after all three. Guelfi also completely blanketed the Giant's best runner in Lachie Whitfield, and when he figured out that he had no interest in actually defending, he put his dominance on the scoresheet.
If only the commentators knew about why they were painted or what the Dons players had done for the kids during the week.
It's so good to see the Red Dog booting bombs again. He's had his best performance for the year and was another one who just didn't give the Giants any room at all.
There's so much I could write about this performance, but it was our best one for the season, and had everything you could want as a Bombers supporter.
This side, this year. It might be different.
ESSENDON 12.10 82
def.
GWS GIANTS 9.8 62
BEST: Durham, Langford, Martin, Caldwell, Merrett, Redman, McKay
GOALS: Langford 4, Guelfi 3, Stringer, Redman, Perkins, Hind, Davey
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NORTH MELBOURNE
What I said about Essendon just then?
Yeah, complete opposite of that.
GOLD COAST SUNS 17.18 120
def.
NORTH MELBOURNE 7.10 52
BEST: Davies-Uniacke, Powell, Comben, McKercher, Fisher
GOALS: Stephenson 2, Zurhaar, Tucker, Larkey, Davies-Uniacke, Curtis
ESSENDON OUTS: -
ESSENDON INS: -
NORTH MELBOURNE OUTS: Colby McKercher, Jackson Archer (Both injured), Riley Hardeman, Will Phillips, Blake Drury, Hugh Greenwood (All omitted)
NORTH MELBOURNE INS: Miller Bergman, Zane Duursma, Toby Pink, Eddie Ford, Wil Dawson, Curtis Taylor
LATE CHANGE:
Nik Cox (illness) replaced in selected side by Dylan Shiel
Darcy Parish (calf tightness) replaced in selected side by Elijah Tsatas
ROUND 23, 2023
Marvel Stadium
12/8/2023
NORTH MELBOURNE 12.5 77
def. by
ESSENDON 13.8 86
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NORTH MELBOURNE GOALS: Larkey 5, Cunnington, Stephenson 2, Simpson, Davies-Uniacke, Ford
ESSENDON GOALS: Langford, Martin 3, Wright, Menzie 2, Guelfi, Perkins, Tsatas
NORTH MELBOURNE BEST: Sheezel, Davies-Uniacke, Cunnington, Ziebell, McKay
ESSENDON BEST: Martin, Parish, Langford, Merrett, Redman
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CHANGES SINCE LAST TIME:
NORTH MELBOURNE OUTS: McKay, Goldstein, Cunnington, Ziebell, Simpkin, Thomas, Turner, Goater, Archer
NORTH MELBOURNE INS: Comben, Fisher, Bergman, Zurhaar, Shiels, Z. Duursma, Powell, Pink, Dawson
ESSENDON OUTS: Tsatas, Menzie, Zerk-Thatcher, Baldwin, Bryan, Phillips, Snelling
ESSENDON INS: McKay, Goldstein, Gresham, Stringer, Jones, A. Davey, Caldwell
Crazy to think that we came into this Round cemented into 3rd on the ladder, we're playing 17th and 18th over the next fortnight, and yet we all have this horrible feeling that we're not going to put up our best performances here and struggle to get over the line. If we are to seriously show off our finals credentials, we need to put this North side to the sword. They are so far away from being a competitive side that it's concerning.
This Essendon side is different to years gone by. The players seem to be aware that we're still a way off, and are committed to working through structures, game plans, and team defence across the entire field. We have shown enough maturity to suggest that we won't go into this game expecting a win, and with Brisbane and the Crows playing out a draw last week, percentage might actually come into play again. We need to be ruthless.
I'm probably going to regret this tip, but with Geelong losing to the Suns on Thursday night, we're right in the frame to move up to second on the table. What a crazy thought.
Essendon by 84.
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