VelvetSledge
Moderator
- May 24, 2007
- 17,859
- 36,717
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- Liverpool FC, Melbourne Storm
- Moderator
- #1
The Past 5 weeks:
STK: L-W-L-B-L
ESS: L-L-B-W-W
Sportsbet Odds:
STK: $3.15
ESS: $1.38
--------------------------------------------
The Teams:
ST KILDA SAINTS:
B: Jarryn Geary, Tom Simpkin, James Gwilt
HB: Sean Dempster, Sam Fisher, Sam Gilbert
C: Nick Dal Santo, David Armitage, Jason Gram
HF: Aaron Siposs, Nick Riewoldt (c), Adam Schneider
F: Stephen Milne, Justin Koschitzke, Jack Steven
R: Ben McEvoy, Leigh Montagna, Lenny Hayes
I/C: Clint Jones, Farren Ray, Beau Wilkes, Ahmed Saad
EMG: Daniel Markworth, Jack Newnes, Terry Milera
IN: Ray, Wilkes, Jones, Simpkin, Siposs
OUT: Blake, Clarke, Goddard, Milera, Stanley
Milestones: Stephen Milne, 250 games
ESSENDON BOMBERS:
B: Kyle Hardingham, Dustin Fletcher, Cale Hooker
HB: Ricky Dyson, Jake Carlisle, Courtenay Dempsey
C: Brent Stanton, Ben Howlett, David Myers
HF: Alwyn Davey, Michael Hurley, Michael Hibberd
F: Sam Lonergan, Patrick Ryder, Leroy Jetta
R: David Hille, Heath Hocking, Jobe Watson (c)
I/C: Jake Melksham, Dyson Heppell, Kyle Reimers, Nathan Lovett-Murray
EMG: Travis Colyer, Tom Bellchambers, Elliot Kavanagh
IN: Alwyn Davey, Ricky Dyson
OUT: Stewart Crameri (susp), Cory Dell'Olio (omit)
--------------------------------------------
All game day discussion / running commentary in here.
--------------------------------------------
The Ins and Outs:
From an Essendon standpoint, we must feel ripped off. The Bombers unleashed an 84 point mauling on the hapless Bulldogs last week, and yet, still dropped a place on the ladder. With Collingwood's loss last night however, this game could prove to be a very useful one to have a victory in. The Essendon side gets a fantastic injection of speed into the line-up, with Alwyn Davey returning after having served his two game suspension, and Ricky Dyson coming in to replace the omitted Cory Dell'Olio. Davey has been in outstanding form this season, averaging 2.1 goals a match. It will be imperative to the Essendon side to have him playing well tonight, as the St Kilda small forwards are some of the best in the game. If Alwyn can have as big of an effect on the game as Milne, Schneider, and Saad can have, then it will go a long way to helping the Bombers over the line. Dyson is another player that has seemingly saved his career with his form this year. He came into the side to fulfill Michael Hibberd's role when he went down injured, and has since stepped up his output tenfold. It has been a long time coming, but I'm glad Ricky is starting to reap the fruits of the seeds he's sewn.
Last week, St Kilda dropped a game many (including myself) expected them to win. Take nothing away from North, they were great, but St Kilda looked to be playing very much below their best. The loss of Goddard will be an enormous gap in their side, but is somewhat watered down with the return of Clint Jones, one of the best shutdown players in the game. Ben McEvoy looks to be the lone hand in the ruck for the Saints, but we could see Kosi do some pinch hitting in the forward line. Kosi has been in shocking form the past few weeks after a brilliant start to the season, so he will be looking to atone for his past month of football. The speed of Farren Ray into the side will be a large bonus for St Kilda as well, as Essendon's speed with disposal and ball movement is well known.
--------------------------------------------
Key Players:
BEN HOWLETT, ESSENDON:
Ben has been in incredible form this year. He still leads the entire league for tackles, and is one of the most underrated players in the entire competition. He constantly goes extremely hard at the contests, runs hard all day, and his disposal has become all class. Expect a Top 4 finish in the Crichton Medal for Howlett. Tonight, I feel as though his pressure in the middle will be a key factor to stop the likes of Hayes and Montagna, and I'd imagine he would know exactly what needs to be done to keep these two at bay.
JAKE CARLISLE, ESSENDON:
Buckets has been fantastic this year. Since showing off his elite marking capability in the Sydney game, Round 20 last year, he has gone strength to strength, and has improved his game in leaps and bounds. Every Essendon fan felt a cold shiver up their spine when he went down last week, but he managed to get up and play out the game with no bother. His footy smarts and disposal this year has been fantastic, and we can only imagine that he will only get better with more experience under his belt.
CLINT JONES, ST KILDA:
The return of Clint Jones into the St Kilda line-up is a massive inclusion for them. Jones is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated players in the league. He does his job, he does it well, and, even though his disposal can be patchy at the best of times, he can latch onto a player and shut them down very well. It will be interesting to see who he goes to this week. Jobe Watson is the Brownlow favourite and has been BOG two weeks in a row, but we all know how damaging Stanton can be if he goes unchecked. Expect Jones to play an extremely heavy tag on one of the two.
NICK RIEWOLDT, ST KILDA:
Roo has been in very solid form this year, but has tapered in recent weeks. It will be interesting to see if he can bounce back against a team that has had the advantage over his side in the past few years. At his best, Riewoldt is an incredible player, once touted the best in the league. When he's down, all of his efforts look somewhat half-arsed, and I imagine he will be pumped up to get back into his good form and take out some pent-up frustration on either Cale Hooker or Dustin Fletcher.
--------------------------------------------
The Tip:
We love Etihad. It's a St Kilda home game, but Etihad is a ground in which we dominate. I'd imagine the Saints will be steeling themselves for a solid, tight encounter, but the players they're missing seem to leave gaps in the side that are too big to fill. Essendon are flying after a thrashing of the Dogs, and, being sky-high on confidence, I'm expecting Michael Hurley to play another blinder, and absolutely destroy the St Kilda defence. My confidence is probably blind, but I simply can't see Essendon dropping this. Enjoy another night with BT and the gang, or... Come along!
Essendon by 47 points.
--------------------------------------------
Broadcasting:
TV: Channel 7, Fox Sports 1, Foxtel on Telstra T-Box & Xbox (ALL LIVE)
RADIO: ABC774, 3AW, Triple M
Internet Streams:
International viewers can get live video of games from http://www.afl.livesport.tv/. Please do not post in this thread asking for links to streams. Your account will be suspended for a day.
Text: http://twitter.com/#!/Essendonlive is doing live text updates.
