Round 16 sees Essendon's first return match of the year, taking on the resurgent Port Adelaide at the MCG, and this will be interesting. Port Adelaide has been playing amazingly, and has one of the best records in the competition for games played and Marvel Stadium... but this one is at the 'G, thank goodness. I don't know how to feel going into this game; on the one hand, I'd like us to finally break the finals hoodoo, but only the other hand we've seen Essendon get ahead of themselves so many times, that I'm nervous.
In saying, I'm dubbing this round Ridley's Revenge and I hope to goodness we thump these guys because that bloody cheap shot from Rioli likely cost the last game against them.
The Round That Was
I would have loved to win on the weekend, but I'm honestly not fussed we lost. A trip to Perth after the bye, against a good team that copped a lot of slack throughout the week for the awful road performance the week before. Was always going to be a tough win. It's not a big enough sample size to be conclusive, but the 7 losses out of 7 for teams returning from the bye against teams that played the week before is telling. Let's keep this trend going though.
FREMANTLE 3.3 8.7 12.8 14.9 (93)
ESSENDON 2.3 5.3 6.5 9.7 (61)
GOALS
Fremantle: Jackson 3, Amiss 2, Walters 2, Frederick 2, Brayshaw, Johnson, Schultz, Serong, Switkowski
Essendon: Caldwell, Guelfi, Hobbs, Langford, Martin, Menzie, Merrett, Parish, Stringer
BEST
Fremantle: Serong, Jackson, Pearce, Brayshaw, Henry, Johnson
Essendon: Merrett, Martin, Hobbs, Parish, Ridley
INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Essendon: Zerk-Thatcher (head knock)
LATE CHANGES
Fremantle: Nil
Essendon: Jye Menzie replaced in selected side by Nick Bryan
SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Sam Sturt (replaced Alex Pearce in fourth quarter)
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Nick Bryan in third quarter)
Crowd: 43,063 at the Optus Stadium
Last Time We Met
An unfortunate 5 points loss, that was partially attributed to Ridley being taken out but a dirty hit from Rioli. Even then you could argue we were lucky to be that close as Port's inaccuracy helped us a lot.
PORT ADELAIDE 3.4 5.11 9.16 12.20 (92)
ESSENDON 6.1 9.1 11.3 13.9 (87)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Byrne-Jones 2, Dixon 2, Rioli 2, McEntee, Marshall, Powell-Pepper, Boak, Finlayson, Rozee
Essendon: Stringer 2, Langford 2, Weideman 2, Perkins 2, Caldwell, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hobbs, Merrett, Menzie
BEST
Port Adelaide: Butters, Rozee, Bergman, Boak, Finlayson
Essendon: Merrett, Stringer, Draper, Parish, McGrath
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Jonas (chest soreness), Butters (right knee)
Essendon: Ridley (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Francis Evans (replaced Tom Jonas in the third quarter)
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Jordan Ridley in the second quarter)
Crowd: 36,247 at Adelaide Oval
Team Selection
Possible Outs:
BZT (Inj)
Weid (Dropped)
Bryan (Not sure why he can't elevate his game, dominates VFL but struggles at AFl. I'd rather keep him in the team though, and give him more chances)
Possible Ins:
Davey (We need some speed)
Mass
Hind
Draper
Baldwin
My Tip
I think the curse of the bye will continue and we'll win by 20+
In saying, I'm dubbing this round Ridley's Revenge and I hope to goodness we thump these guys because that bloody cheap shot from Rioli likely cost the last game against them.
The Round That Was
I would have loved to win on the weekend, but I'm honestly not fussed we lost. A trip to Perth after the bye, against a good team that copped a lot of slack throughout the week for the awful road performance the week before. Was always going to be a tough win. It's not a big enough sample size to be conclusive, but the 7 losses out of 7 for teams returning from the bye against teams that played the week before is telling. Let's keep this trend going though.
FREMANTLE 3.3 8.7 12.8 14.9 (93)
ESSENDON 2.3 5.3 6.5 9.7 (61)
GOALS
Fremantle: Jackson 3, Amiss 2, Walters 2, Frederick 2, Brayshaw, Johnson, Schultz, Serong, Switkowski
Essendon: Caldwell, Guelfi, Hobbs, Langford, Martin, Menzie, Merrett, Parish, Stringer
BEST
Fremantle: Serong, Jackson, Pearce, Brayshaw, Henry, Johnson
Essendon: Merrett, Martin, Hobbs, Parish, Ridley
INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Essendon: Zerk-Thatcher (head knock)
LATE CHANGES
Fremantle: Nil
Essendon: Jye Menzie replaced in selected side by Nick Bryan
SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Sam Sturt (replaced Alex Pearce in fourth quarter)
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Nick Bryan in third quarter)
Crowd: 43,063 at the Optus Stadium
Last Time We Met
An unfortunate 5 points loss, that was partially attributed to Ridley being taken out but a dirty hit from Rioli. Even then you could argue we were lucky to be that close as Port's inaccuracy helped us a lot.
PORT ADELAIDE 3.4 5.11 9.16 12.20 (92)
ESSENDON 6.1 9.1 11.3 13.9 (87)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Byrne-Jones 2, Dixon 2, Rioli 2, McEntee, Marshall, Powell-Pepper, Boak, Finlayson, Rozee
Essendon: Stringer 2, Langford 2, Weideman 2, Perkins 2, Caldwell, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hobbs, Merrett, Menzie
BEST
Port Adelaide: Butters, Rozee, Bergman, Boak, Finlayson
Essendon: Merrett, Stringer, Draper, Parish, McGrath
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Jonas (chest soreness), Butters (right knee)
Essendon: Ridley (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Francis Evans (replaced Tom Jonas in the third quarter)
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Jordan Ridley in the second quarter)
Crowd: 36,247 at Adelaide Oval
Team Selection
Possible Outs:
BZT (Inj)
Weid (Dropped)
Bryan (Not sure why he can't elevate his game, dominates VFL but struggles at AFl. I'd rather keep him in the team though, and give him more chances)
Possible Ins:
Davey (We need some speed)
Mass
Hind
Draper
Baldwin
My Tip
I think the curse of the bye will continue and we'll win by 20+
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