Round 18 has us returning to the MCG for the third time in as many weeks in another crucial game against a floundering but still dangerous Melbourne team. Thanks to the win over Collingwood, the doom and gloom of the Geelong game already is behind us, a new hope is upon the season.
There is no reason we can’t beat Melbourne if we play as well as we did against Collingwood, though we still need to improve our kicking at goal.
The Round Before The Round That Was
This one was fun. It started like any other game; with the opposition kicking 5 and a couple behind to our 5 behinds and a couple of goals, and looked like it was going to be another wasted game where we were unable to get any result from our dominance of the general play. Merrett bounced back after a lacklustre 2nd half last week, and the 3rd time was inspired football where we kept Collingwood goalless after giving them so many easy scores in the first half, whilst kicking 4 goals ourselves.
We should have won by a lot more as we led almost every statistic except turnovers. Caldwell was a beast, but I was also seriously impressed by Jones tackling. McGrath ensure Hill was a non-factor and after a poor first quarter, McKay stood up time and time again. Happy to see Shiel play well; we all know he is always been a slow returner from injury, and it seems that letting him get back to his normal game slowly might end up paying dividends.
COLLINGWOOD 5.2 8.4 8.7 12.8 (80)
ESSENDON 2.5 6.8 10.12 13.14 (92)
GOALS
Collingwood: Crisp 3, Howe 2, Harrison 2, Kreuger 2, Mihocek, Pendlebury, Schultz
Essendon: Langford 2, Wright 2, Caddy, Caldwell, Draper, Duursma, Gresham, Guelfi, Jones, Merrett, Stringer
BEST
Collingwood: N. Daicos, Crisp, Sidebottom, Pendlebury
Essendon: Merrett, Caldwell, Draper, Durham, Shiel, McKay
INJURIES
Collingwood: Mihocek (pectoral), Quaynor (leg)
Essendon: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Ned Long (replaced Charlie Dean in the third quarter)
Essendon: Nick Hind (replaced Nate Caddy in the fourth quarter)
Crowd: 81,711 at the MCG
Will update again once Melbourne has played... maybe.. might forget.
The Last Time We Met
It’s been over a year since we last played Melbourne, Round 5 of the 2023 season, Gather Round - so that odd game where we played Melbourne in Adelaide. Essendon played brilliantly and took home the W to put us at 4-1 for the start of the season and sitting in second place. Yep, Essendon are no strangers to early season surges.. It was an odd game in which our two ruckmen, Draper and Philips, combined for 5 goals.
ESSENDON 5.4 9.10 12.13 15.14 (104)
MELBOURNE 4.2 7.5 7.7 11.11 (77)
GOALS
Essendon: Draper 3, Phillips 2, Martin 2, Langford 2, Hind 2, Stringer, Snelling, Perkins, Jones
Melbourne: Pickett 2, Melksham 2, Fritsch 2, van Rooyen, Petracca, Neal-Bullen, Jordon, Chandler
BEST
Essendon: Parish, Merrett, Draper, McGrath, Shiel, Durham, Langford
Melbourne: Oliver, Petracca, Langdon, Viney, May
INJURIES
Essendon: Jones (ankle)
Melbourne: Spargo (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Nick Hind (replaced Harry Jones in the third quarter)
Melbourne: James Jordon (replaced Charlie Spargo at half-time)
Crowd: 33,832 at Adelaide Oval
The Selection Table
Possible Outs
Perkins - Had moments, but still not in the form we need from him, would like to see him go back and dominate the twos for a week or two.
Hind - Don’t like the same person to be sub twice, so would rather he play a full VFL game
Cox - If it’s to be wet as is predicted, I think we’ll be too tall and Jones’ form on the wing means Cox is the one to go for for mine
Possible Ins - (Will update after the VFL Game)
My Prediction
Essendon by 24.
There is no reason we can’t beat Melbourne if we play as well as we did against Collingwood, though we still need to improve our kicking at goal.
The Round Before The Round That Was
This one was fun. It started like any other game; with the opposition kicking 5 and a couple behind to our 5 behinds and a couple of goals, and looked like it was going to be another wasted game where we were unable to get any result from our dominance of the general play. Merrett bounced back after a lacklustre 2nd half last week, and the 3rd time was inspired football where we kept Collingwood goalless after giving them so many easy scores in the first half, whilst kicking 4 goals ourselves.
We should have won by a lot more as we led almost every statistic except turnovers. Caldwell was a beast, but I was also seriously impressed by Jones tackling. McGrath ensure Hill was a non-factor and after a poor first quarter, McKay stood up time and time again. Happy to see Shiel play well; we all know he is always been a slow returner from injury, and it seems that letting him get back to his normal game slowly might end up paying dividends.
COLLINGWOOD 5.2 8.4 8.7 12.8 (80)
ESSENDON 2.5 6.8 10.12 13.14 (92)
GOALS
Collingwood: Crisp 3, Howe 2, Harrison 2, Kreuger 2, Mihocek, Pendlebury, Schultz
Essendon: Langford 2, Wright 2, Caddy, Caldwell, Draper, Duursma, Gresham, Guelfi, Jones, Merrett, Stringer
BEST
Collingwood: N. Daicos, Crisp, Sidebottom, Pendlebury
Essendon: Merrett, Caldwell, Draper, Durham, Shiel, McKay
INJURIES
Collingwood: Mihocek (pectoral), Quaynor (leg)
Essendon: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Ned Long (replaced Charlie Dean in the third quarter)
Essendon: Nick Hind (replaced Nate Caddy in the fourth quarter)
Crowd: 81,711 at the MCG
Will update again once Melbourne has played... maybe.. might forget.
The Last Time We Met
It’s been over a year since we last played Melbourne, Round 5 of the 2023 season, Gather Round - so that odd game where we played Melbourne in Adelaide. Essendon played brilliantly and took home the W to put us at 4-1 for the start of the season and sitting in second place. Yep, Essendon are no strangers to early season surges.. It was an odd game in which our two ruckmen, Draper and Philips, combined for 5 goals.
ESSENDON 5.4 9.10 12.13 15.14 (104)
MELBOURNE 4.2 7.5 7.7 11.11 (77)
GOALS
Essendon: Draper 3, Phillips 2, Martin 2, Langford 2, Hind 2, Stringer, Snelling, Perkins, Jones
Melbourne: Pickett 2, Melksham 2, Fritsch 2, van Rooyen, Petracca, Neal-Bullen, Jordon, Chandler
BEST
Essendon: Parish, Merrett, Draper, McGrath, Shiel, Durham, Langford
Melbourne: Oliver, Petracca, Langdon, Viney, May
INJURIES
Essendon: Jones (ankle)
Melbourne: Spargo (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Nick Hind (replaced Harry Jones in the third quarter)
Melbourne: James Jordon (replaced Charlie Spargo at half-time)
Crowd: 33,832 at Adelaide Oval
The Selection Table
Possible Outs
Perkins - Had moments, but still not in the form we need from him, would like to see him go back and dominate the twos for a week or two.
Hind - Don’t like the same person to be sub twice, so would rather he play a full VFL game
Cox - If it’s to be wet as is predicted, I think we’ll be too tall and Jones’ form on the wing means Cox is the one to go for for mine
Possible Ins - (Will update after the VFL Game)
My Prediction
Essendon by 24.
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