Preview Round 12- VFL/AFL Founding Member Essendon Bombers vs Relative Newcomer North Melbourne Kangaroos - Sunday, June 4th - 4:40 pm

[silk]

Round 12 sees Essendon host North Melbourn at Marvel Stadium in our usual Sunday clash.

One of the weirdest things you discover when joining Big Footy is that, on Big Foorty at least, the North Melbourne Supporter base is a sycophantic borderline cult with an unhealthy obsession with Essendon. They love to claim there is a massive rivalry, but any rivalry exists only on Big Footy and in the heads of North supporters. It's the lack of schadenfreude which seals it for me; I have no shameful joy from North losing... especially now that Clarko has thrown in the towel. Carlton on Friday Night on the other hand had me rubbing my chest like Hedonism Bot.. "I apologise for nothing".. But screw it, since this is Big Footy, I might as well play along. So good luck to North in your Season 2023 Grand Final.

---

The Round That Was

Let's be real, it wasn't a great game, nor did we play our best; and yes, the only team worse then WCE this year is the Fox Footy WA commentary team, but our recent record against WCE has been pretty bad, so we should applaud any win over them on their home deck. Especially considering we lost the equivalent game last year. Hell, we doubled their score; that was a smashing any day of the week. It sucks that Merret might miss a Brownlow Medal for a ****en tackle.

Not much more to say; mark it done and move on. Redman for AA.

WEST COAST 2.3 4.5 5.9 6.10 (46)
ESSENDON 4.1 8.5 11.6 14.12 (96)

GOALS
West Coast: Allen 4, Waterman, Petruccelle
Essendon: Langford 3, Hobbs 2, Snelling 2 Menzie 2, Redman, Stringer, Perkins, Draper, Guelfi

BEST
West Coast: Allen, Hunt, Duggan, Kelly, Hurn, Yeo
Essendon: Merrett, Martin, Redman, Draper, Langford, Ridley

INJURIES
West Coast: Edwards (concussion), Sheed (leg)
Essendon: Nil

LATE CHANGES
West Coast: Callum Jamieson replaced in selected side by Xavier O’Neill
Essendon: Dylan Shiel

9

Dylan Shiel

Age

31

Ht

182cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

24.6

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.1

3star

T

3.9

5star

CL

4.9

5star

D

23.4

5star

K

13.6

5star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.2

2star

T

3.4

4star

CL

6.4

5star

D

19.8

5star

K

8.4

4star

HB

11.4

5star

M

2.4

3star

T

2.6

4star

CL

3.8

5star

replaced in selected side by Nick Bryan

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Greg Clark (replaced Luke Edwards at half-time)
Essendon: Massimo D’Ambrosio (replaced Nick Bryan in the third quarter)

Crowd: 39,269 at Optus Stadium


North Melbourne looks to have put up a decent fight against Collingwood winning the last quarter and managing to avoid a complete blowover. Larkey had a good game with 5 goals and continues to have a solid year.

COLLINGWOOD 4.3 7.5 13.6 16.9 (105)
NORTH MELBOURNE 0.3 2.8 4.9 10.10 (70)

GOALS
Collingwood: Mihocek 3, J.Daicos 3, Ginnivan 2, Cox 2, Hoskin-Elliot 2, N.Daicos, De Goey, Adams, Johnson
North Melbourne: Larkey 5, Stephenson 2, Howe, Zurhaar, Scott

BEST
Collingwood: De Goey, J.Daicos, Mitchell, N.Daicos
North Melbourne: Greenwood, Larkey, Scott, Phillips

INJURIES
Collingwood: Steele Sidebottom

22

Steele Sidebottom

Age

34

Ht

184cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.4

5star

K

14.1

5star

HB

13.3

5star

M

5.5

5star

T

3.7

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

24.0

5star

K

12.0

5star

HB

12.0

5star

M

4.5

4star

T

4.3

5star

CL

2.3

4star

D

31.6

5star

K

14.4

5star

HB

17.2

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

6.0

5star

(knee)
North Melbourne: None

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Will Hoskin-Elliot (replaced Steele Sidebottom

22

Steele Sidebottom

Age

34

Ht

184cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.4

5star

K

14.1

5star

HB

13.3

5star

M

5.5

5star

T

3.7

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

24.0

5star

K

12.0

5star

HB

12.0

5star

M

4.5

4star

T

4.3

5star

CL

2.3

4star

D

31.6

5star

K

14.4

5star

HB

17.2

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

6.0

5star

in the first quarter)
North Melbourne: Paul Curtis (replaced Phoenix Spicer in the third quarter)

---

Last Time We Met

We were really bad in the second half of last season, but that didn't stop us from taking a quick detour on the road the absolute shiteness, to beat up on North Melbourne.

ESSENDON 5.1 9.5 13.6 17.12 (114)
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 5.6 7.9 9.12 (66)

GOALS
Essendon: Stringer 5, Stewart 3, Jones 2, Langford 2, Wright 2, Guelfi, Merrett, Redman
North Melbourne: Zurhaar 4, Anderson, Coleman-Jones, Goldstein, Scott, Turner

BEST
Essendon: Redman, Merrett, Stringer, Zerk-Thatcher, Hind, Ridley
North Melbourne: Simpkin, Zurhaar, Anderson, Stephenson, McKay, Scott

INJURIES
Essendon: Caldwell (calf)
North Melbourne: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel

9

Dylan Shiel

Age

31

Ht

182cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

24.6

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.1

3star

T

3.9

5star

CL

4.9

5star

D

23.4

5star

K

13.6

5star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.2

2star

T

3.4

4star

CL

6.4

5star

D

19.8

5star

K

8.4

4star

HB

11.4

5star

M

2.4

3star

T

2.6

4star

CL

3.8

5star

(hamstring) replaced by Archie Perkins
North Melbourne: Lachie Young

17

Lachie Young

Age

25

Ht

189cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.5

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

220.3

3star

D

9.0

2star

K

5.5

2star

HB

3.5

2star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.0

3star

MG

210.0

3star

D

11.2

3star

K

6.2

3star

HB

5.0

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.8

4star

MG

219.6

4star

, Jack Mahony

42

Jack Mahony

Age

23

Ht

177cm

Wt

73kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.4

2star

K

2.6

1star

HB

5.8

4star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.0

1star

D

8.4

2star

K

2.6

1star

HB

5.8

3star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.2

3star

CL

0.0

1star

D

8.4

3star

K

2.6

1star

HB

5.8

4star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.0

1star

(health and safety protocols) replaced by Phoenix Spicer, Kayne Turner

28

Kayne Turner

Age

29

Ht

180cm

Wt

71kg

Pos.

D/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.3

3star

K

5.6

2star

HB

5.7

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

3.5

5star

MG

150.3

2star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

4.2

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.8

5star

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Jye Caldwell

6

Jye Caldwell

Age

24

Ht

183cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.3

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.7

5star

CL

1.8

4star

D

14.3

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

7.3

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.3

4star

CL

1.8

4star

D

13.6

4star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

3.8

5star

CL

1.6

4star

in the third quarter)
North Melbourne: Josh Walker (unused)

---

Team Selection

Possible Ins:
Kelly - If he has recovered
Shiel - Assuming he is 100% good to go
D'Ambrosio - It counts as an in if they were sub right?
Monty - Only AFL-listed player that performed well enough in the VFL
Davey - Could come in for Walla

Possible Outs:
Bryan - Hope not though
Walla - but is struggling
Durham - Despite last week, struggled again this week
Hind - Kelly back might see him pushed out
Heppell - Might be rested - definitely not an out based on form.

---

My Tip

Time to make it 10 in a row - Stringer to kick a bag - Dons by 40+

 

[silk]

Please enjoy my deliberately antagonistic preview.

 

[Beerfish]

Oh look it's time for norf's grand final!

 

[HirdyLannister]

Hello to the Norf lurkers

 

[gunit_]

Another game we can’t take lightly. If we play somewhere near our best we will win.

 

[VelvetSledge]

I enjoy reading this more and more every week.

Might make the game day thread a little more antagonistic too, just to continue the theme

 

[eth-dog]

Keep Shiel out till the bye.

 

[Beerfish]

Keep Shiel out till the bye.

Good call. Not required against these arse clowns.

 

[Macca18]

They (North) looked pretty good in patches today so we wouldn’t want to be heading into this one thinking all we need to do is rock up. Especially with the quality on our injury list (they have their own issues with injury).

They are edging closer to a win. Hope it can wait another week.

 

[Pweter]

My checklist for this game:

• An injury free run through the banner
• Kick their arse for a while
• Line them up
• Continue arse kicking
• Ruffle some hair
• Finalise an injury free arse kicking

That'll do.

As for the club themselves, approach it like the WCE game. Wins are earned, they don't come easily so channel the intensity and commitment, then focus on executing my checklist.

 

[ghostdog]

I just think we need to be wary of Horne-Francis. Clarko might try to use him in an unexpected way.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Keep Shiel out till the bye.

I thought our mid was a little vulnerable against Eagles. Think we need him in there…certainly do against the Blues. If fit he plays

 

[Macca18]

I thought our mid was a little vulnerable against Eagles. Think we need him in there…certainly do against the Blues. If fit he plays

Absolutely vulnerable. We need one or two of our starting midfielders back.

North are pretty confident of knocking us off by the sounds of things. Who wouldn’t be when you’ve lost 8 in a row against your upcoming opponent and lost 28 of your last 31 games in general?

 

[cAsEy_18]

Yeah we’re batting extremely thin in the midfield atm. It really is Merrett, Caldwell and Hobbs, that’s about it.

Stringer gets the centre bounces. Perkins maybe a couple. And Martin’s run from the wing is huge.

The guys were amazing against Richmond, and obviously could do enough against west coast.

But all of Parish, Setterfield and Shiel out is big. The other 2 seem a couple weeks post bye at earliest, but we need Shiel whenever he’s right.

 

[Lore]

Yeah we’re batting extremely thin in the midfield atm. It really is Merrett, Caldwell and Hobbs, that’s about it.

Stringer gets the centre bounces. Perkins maybe a couple. And Martin’s run from the wing is huge.

The guys were amazing against Richmond, and obviously could do enough against west coast.

But all of Parish, Setterfield and Shiel out is big. The other 2 seem a couple weeks post bye at earliest, but we need Shiel whenever he’s right.

Been saying this for ages… good teams have depth, you can’t just have 22 players, or only three good mids.

We’re lucky that those injuries didn’t hit a month earlier or we’d be in a very different position.

 

[rioli brownlow]

Round 12 sees Essendon host North Melbourn at Marvel Stadium in our usual Sunday clash.

One of the weirdest things you discover when joining Big Footy is that, on Big Foorty at least, the North Melbourne Supporter base is a sycophantic borderline cult with an unhealthy obsession with Essendon. They love to claim there is a massive rivalry, but any rivalry exists only on Big Footy and in the heads of North supporters. It's the lack of schadenfreude which seals it for me; I have no shameful joy from North losing... especially now that Clarko has thrown in the towel. Carlton on Friday Night on the other hand had me rubbing my chest like Hedonism Bot.. "I apologise for nothing".. But screw it, since this is Big Footy, I might as well play along. So good luck to North in your Season 2023 Grand Final.

View attachment 1698517

---

The Round That Was

Let's be real, it wasn't a great game, nor did we play our best; and yes, the only team worse then WCE this year is the Fox Footy WA commentary team, but our recent record against WCE has been pretty bad, so we should applaud any win over them on their home deck. Especially considering we lost the equivalent game last year. Hell, we doubled their score; that was a smashing any day of the week. It sucks that Merret might miss a Brownlow Medal for a *en tackle.

Not much more to say; mark it done and move on. Redman for AA.

WEST COAST 2.3 4.5 5.9 6.10 (46)
ESSENDON 4.1 8.5 11.6 14.12 (96)

GOALS
West Coast: Allen 4, Waterman, Petruccelle
Essendon: Langford 3, Hobbs 2, Snelling 2 Menzie 2, Redman, Stringer, Perkins, Draper, Guelfi

BEST
West Coast: Allen, Hunt, Duggan, Kelly, Hurn, Yeo
Essendon: Merrett, Martin, Redman, Draper, Langford, Ridley

INJURIES
West Coast: Edwards (concussion), Sheed (leg)
Essendon: Nil

LATE CHANGES
West Coast: Callum Jamieson replaced in selected side by Xavier O’Neill
Essendon: Dylan Shiel replaced in selected side by Nick Bryan

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Greg Clark (replaced Luke Edwards at half-time)
Essendon: Massimo D’Ambrosio (replaced Nick Bryan in the third quarter)

Crowd: 39,269 at Optus Stadium


North Melbourne looks to have put up a decent fight against Collingwood winning the last quarter and managing to avoid a complete blowover. Larkey had a good game with 5 goals and continues to have a solid year.

COLLINGWOOD 4.3 7.5 13.6 16.9 (105)
NORTH MELBOURNE 0.3 2.8 4.9 10.10 (70)

GOALS
Collingwood: Mihocek 3, J.Daicos 3, Ginnivan 2, Cox 2, Hoskin-Elliot 2, N.Daicos, De Goey, Adams, Johnson
North Melbourne: Larkey 5, Stephenson 2, Howe, Zurhaar, Scott

BEST
Collingwood: De Goey, J.Daicos, Mitchell, N.Daicos
North Melbourne: Greenwood, Larkey, Scott, Phillips

INJURIES
Collingwood: Steele Sidebottom (knee)
North Melbourne: None

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Will Hoskin-Elliot (replaced Steele Sidebottom in the first quarter)
North Melbourne: Paul Curtis (replaced Phoenix Spicer in the third quarter)

---

Last Time We Met

We were really bad in the second half of last season, but that didn't stop us from taking a quick detour on the road the absolute shiteness, to beat up on North Melbourne.

ESSENDON 5.1 9.5 13.6 17.12 (114)
NORTH MELBOURNE 2.4 5.6 7.9 9.12 (66)

GOALS
Essendon: Stringer 5, Stewart 3, Jones 2, Langford 2, Wright 2, Guelfi, Merrett, Redman
North Melbourne: Zurhaar 4, Anderson, Coleman-Jones, Goldstein, Scott, Turner

BEST
Essendon: Redman, Merrett, Stringer, Zerk-Thatcher, Hind, Ridley
North Melbourne: Simpkin, Zurhaar, Anderson, Stephenson, McKay, Scott

INJURIES
Essendon: Caldwell (calf)
North Melbourne: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Essendon: Dylan Shiel (hamstring) replaced by Archie Perkins
North Melbourne: Lachie Young, Jack Mahony (health and safety protocols) replaced by Phoenix Spicer, Kayne Turner

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Jye Caldwell in the third quarter)
North Melbourne: Josh Walker (unused)

---

Team Selection

Possible Ins:
Kelly - If he has recovered
Shiel - Assuming he is 100% good to go
D'Ambrosio - It counts as an in if they were sub right?
Monty - Only AFL-listed player that performed well enough in the VFL
Davey - Could come in for Walla

Possible Outs:
Bryan - Hope not though
Walla - but is struggling
Durham - Despite last week, struggled again this week
Hind - Kelly back might see him pushed out
Heppell - Might be rested - definitely not an out based on form.

---

My Tip

Time to make it 10 in a row - Stringer to kick a bag - Dons by 40+

You obviously didn't watch the vfl game today then. Voss was our best AFL listed player . Monty was brilliant in the 1st half but didn't do much in the 2nd half

 

[BOMBERBLITZ]

Shiel loves beating up on Norf. Has to play if available and fit.

 

[blitzer]

I'm amazed Clarko abandoned them in less than half a season. I mean how did it take him that long?

 

[BomberTime]

Wright is pushing to be an in this week..

 

[ghostdog]

Yeah we’re batting extremely thin in the midfield atm. It really is Merrett, Caldwell and Hobbs, that’s about it.

Stringer gets the centre bounces. Perkins maybe a couple. And Martin’s run from the wing is huge.

The guys were amazing against Richmond, and obviously could do enough against west coast.

But all of Parish, Setterfield and Shiel out is big. The other 2 seem a couple weeks post bye at earliest, but we need Shiel whenever he’s right.

With one eye on finals, yes those guys out is an issue. With the other eye on development I don't mind it at all. We're playing the kids in the middle at tge top level. Good experience and will benefit us in the long run.

 

[bomberbilly]

Hope stringer kicks another bag against the pissant interchange cheating scum. Norfy norf norf norf norf…norf!

 

[DallasCrane316]

I’d bring Shiel in if he’s fit. Likewise with Kelly. Definitely Wright too if he’s available.

OUT - Walla (I hate to say it but he needs a spell), Hind and Bryan

IN - Shiel, Kelly and Wright.

Try to build consistency with our best 22. Noting we’ll have Parish, Setterfield, Cox, Reid and Tsatas available after the bye.

 

[BuffDog]

If Wright is fit then bring him in. Worst he can do is occupy North’s best defender.

Probably be too big if Bryan stays in the team should 2MP return.

Out: AMT, Hind, D’Ambrosio, Bryan
In: Shiel, Kelly, Wright, Davey Jr

Kelly BZT Ridley
Redman Laverde McGrath
Martin Merrett Durham
Stringer Weid Langford
Davey Jr Wright Menzie
Draper Hobbs Shiel
Caldwell - Heppell - Snelling - Perkins
Guelfi sub

 

[Bombers36]

OUT: Tippa, Durham, Hind, Bryan
IN: Shiel, Kelly, Massimo, 2MP

Team;-

Laverde Zerk Kelly
Redman Ridley McGrath
Langford Merrett Martin
Perkins Stringer Menzie
Weideman 2MP Snelling

Draper Caldwell Hobbs

Shiel Guelfi Massimo Heppell
SUB: Hind or Davey

Notes:

Bryan unimpressive back to twos- Weideman to provide back up ruck to Draper
Durham too hot and cold - has to earn his spot back off Heppell via the two’s
Really really hope 2MP is right to go - prefect game to bring him back in
Tippa looks cooked - time out for a mini pre-season hopefully get him going towards the end of this year again

 

[ghostdog]

Another game we can’t take lightly. If we play somewhere near our best we will win.

We'll get what we deserve. Hopefully the players remember that.