Carlton v Essendope
Saturday 18 April 2015 @ 1.45pm
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Head to Head
Played 241 – Carlton 121 wins, Essendope 114 wins, 6 draws
Last 5 matches v Essendope – DLWLL
Highest Scores – Carlton 27.13.175 (1975), Essendope 28.14.182 (2005)
Lowest Scores – Carlton 1.2.8 (1898), Essendope 2.2.14 (1903)
Last time they met – Carlton 14.6.90 drew with Essendope 13.12.90
Brownlow Medal votes – 3. C Judd, 2. B McLean, 1. P Ryder
Round 2 Result – Carlton 9.8.62 lost to West Coast 20.11.131
Essendope 12.6.78 defeated Hawthorn 11.10.76
So our Blues return to the MCG, after the mother of all shellackings by West Coast,to confront bitter rivals Essendope. The pressure is on Carlton to regroup and for the first time in the home & away season (albeit 3 rounds in) put together a 4 quarter effort. In the most recent clash between these two teams the game finished in a thrilling draw, with Carlton players failing to seize the opportunity to rush a behind which would have won the game. Matches between these teams over the last 5 seasons have either been thrillers or blowouts. There has been nothing in between.
Possible Changes
White looks like missing, which opens up an opportunity for Walker to return on the back of a 29 disposal game in the VFL. Match practice will be an issue, but there will be no question marks over his fitness, as along with Judd & Curnow, 1AW is one of the hardest workers at the club, even when restricted by injury.
Smith may get a rest after playing almost two full games. I’m thinking Buckley may come in as his replacement following his game in the VFL in which he kicked 2 goals. We are crying out for a small forward to kick goals & Buckley may be our best (only) option.
Cripps, if fit, comes in for Ellard. We certainly missed having him as part of our midfield rotation, virtually leaving us one short in the midfield.
Somehow I would like to get Whiley in the team, now that he has 2 VFL practice matches up his sleeve with returns of 21 & 20 disposals respectively. Tutt would probably be the one to miss should we go with this option.
Potential Match-ups
Rowe v Daniher – I’ve gone with this match up because of Daniher’s height, which would pose a problem for the shorter Jamison. Rowe has yet to show the form he displayed in the 2nd half of 2014 while Daniher has yet to really deliver on the hype which was generated following his TAC Cup year. Interestingly, Rowe’s first game as a defender in the VFL was against Daniher at Windy Hill in 2013. Daniher kicked 2 goals in the first 5 minutes of the game, a further goal in the 2nd quarter, but didn’t kick another one for the rest of the game, despite his team’s dominance, as Rowe tightened up on him.
Jamison v Hurley – Jamison is coming off a forgettable performance against Josh Kennedy. Hurley found plenty of the ball against the Swans, but did not trouble the scorers at all. Hurley has not shown himself himself to be a prolific goalkicker, but can be quite creative.
Hooker v Henderson – This is a match up the dopers would like. Hooker coming off his best season at Peptide Park up against a sadly out of form Henderson. Hopefully Hendo can get some good delivery (& sticky fingers) & hit the scoreboard.
Carlisle v Casboult – Again I’ve chosen this match-up as much on height/size as anything. Levi was our best forward against the Eagles & could have finished the game with 4 or 5 goals. He has kicked 4 goals against Essendope in the past, so I can see him being a handful for the EFC defence.
Everitt v Goddard – This would be the way I would go with the sooky one. Although Gibbs has beaten Goddard on a number of occasions in the past, he needs to be in our engine room rather than chasing Goddard. Everitt has the size, mobility & potential hurt factor as a goalkicker to get the better of Goddard.
Docherty v Chapman – History tells us Chapman is a goalkicker & therefore needs to have a quality player on him. Doc is in very good form at the moment & has the ability to hurt Chapman running the other way.
Walker v Cooney – Cooney spends a lot of time forward because of the limitations from his dodgy knees. Given his burst speed (he still has some) & upper body strength, 1AW strikes me as the best option for Cooney. He can also hurt Cooney with his run.
The midfields – Murphy, Gibbs, Judd, Cripps, Whiley, Carazzo, Curnow, Bell v Watson, Heppell, Zaharakis, Stanton, Cooney, Merrett, Melksham. No doubt there will be tags. I would go with Carrazzo on Heppell, with Carazzo niggling the crap out of the hairdresser’s nightmare. Curnow to Watson. You won’t totally stop Watson, but you need to minimise his impact. Ed did a good job against GAJ at Carrara in 2013 & has the aerobic capacity to stay with Watson for 4 quarters. Our midfield was overwhelmed by the Eagles, partially because of lack of enough quality rotations. Hopefully the addition of Cripps & Whiley will address this & give our forwards more opportunities than they have received in the first two rounds.
Who wins & why?
This is a chance for us to strike a blow against drug cheating. Every player in the competition should be hell bent on hammering the drug cheats at every opportunity. Malthouse has made it very clear what he thinks about what went on at Peptide Hill & the players should feel pissed off at having to play against those who have cheated. The best way to deal with cheats is to overwhelm them & send a message that results can be achieved without cheating. For this reason I believe the Blues will come to play & ultimately defeat the dopers by 6 goals.
Saturday 18 April 2015 @ 1.45pm
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Head to Head
Played 241 – Carlton 121 wins, Essendope 114 wins, 6 draws
Last 5 matches v Essendope – DLWLL
Highest Scores – Carlton 27.13.175 (1975), Essendope 28.14.182 (2005)
Lowest Scores – Carlton 1.2.8 (1898), Essendope 2.2.14 (1903)
Last time they met – Carlton 14.6.90 drew with Essendope 13.12.90
Brownlow Medal votes – 3. C Judd, 2. B McLean, 1. P Ryder
Round 2 Result – Carlton 9.8.62 lost to West Coast 20.11.131
Essendope 12.6.78 defeated Hawthorn 11.10.76
So our Blues return to the MCG, after the mother of all shellackings by West Coast,to confront bitter rivals Essendope. The pressure is on Carlton to regroup and for the first time in the home & away season (albeit 3 rounds in) put together a 4 quarter effort. In the most recent clash between these two teams the game finished in a thrilling draw, with Carlton players failing to seize the opportunity to rush a behind which would have won the game. Matches between these teams over the last 5 seasons have either been thrillers or blowouts. There has been nothing in between.
Possible Changes
White looks like missing, which opens up an opportunity for Walker to return on the back of a 29 disposal game in the VFL. Match practice will be an issue, but there will be no question marks over his fitness, as along with Judd & Curnow, 1AW is one of the hardest workers at the club, even when restricted by injury.
Smith may get a rest after playing almost two full games. I’m thinking Buckley may come in as his replacement following his game in the VFL in which he kicked 2 goals. We are crying out for a small forward to kick goals & Buckley may be our best (only) option.
Cripps, if fit, comes in for Ellard. We certainly missed having him as part of our midfield rotation, virtually leaving us one short in the midfield.
Somehow I would like to get Whiley in the team, now that he has 2 VFL practice matches up his sleeve with returns of 21 & 20 disposals respectively. Tutt would probably be the one to miss should we go with this option.
Potential Match-ups
Rowe v Daniher – I’ve gone with this match up because of Daniher’s height, which would pose a problem for the shorter Jamison. Rowe has yet to show the form he displayed in the 2nd half of 2014 while Daniher has yet to really deliver on the hype which was generated following his TAC Cup year. Interestingly, Rowe’s first game as a defender in the VFL was against Daniher at Windy Hill in 2013. Daniher kicked 2 goals in the first 5 minutes of the game, a further goal in the 2nd quarter, but didn’t kick another one for the rest of the game, despite his team’s dominance, as Rowe tightened up on him.
Jamison v Hurley – Jamison is coming off a forgettable performance against Josh Kennedy. Hurley found plenty of the ball against the Swans, but did not trouble the scorers at all. Hurley has not shown himself himself to be a prolific goalkicker, but can be quite creative.
Hooker v Henderson – This is a match up the dopers would like. Hooker coming off his best season at Peptide Park up against a sadly out of form Henderson. Hopefully Hendo can get some good delivery (& sticky fingers) & hit the scoreboard.
Carlisle v Casboult – Again I’ve chosen this match-up as much on height/size as anything. Levi was our best forward against the Eagles & could have finished the game with 4 or 5 goals. He has kicked 4 goals against Essendope in the past, so I can see him being a handful for the EFC defence.
Everitt v Goddard – This would be the way I would go with the sooky one. Although Gibbs has beaten Goddard on a number of occasions in the past, he needs to be in our engine room rather than chasing Goddard. Everitt has the size, mobility & potential hurt factor as a goalkicker to get the better of Goddard.
Docherty v Chapman – History tells us Chapman is a goalkicker & therefore needs to have a quality player on him. Doc is in very good form at the moment & has the ability to hurt Chapman running the other way.
Walker v Cooney – Cooney spends a lot of time forward because of the limitations from his dodgy knees. Given his burst speed (he still has some) & upper body strength, 1AW strikes me as the best option for Cooney. He can also hurt Cooney with his run.
The midfields – Murphy, Gibbs, Judd, Cripps, Whiley, Carazzo, Curnow, Bell v Watson, Heppell, Zaharakis, Stanton, Cooney, Merrett, Melksham. No doubt there will be tags. I would go with Carrazzo on Heppell, with Carazzo niggling the crap out of the hairdresser’s nightmare. Curnow to Watson. You won’t totally stop Watson, but you need to minimise his impact. Ed did a good job against GAJ at Carrara in 2013 & has the aerobic capacity to stay with Watson for 4 quarters. Our midfield was overwhelmed by the Eagles, partially because of lack of enough quality rotations. Hopefully the addition of Cripps & Whiley will address this & give our forwards more opportunities than they have received in the first two rounds.
Who wins & why?
This is a chance for us to strike a blow against drug cheating. Every player in the competition should be hell bent on hammering the drug cheats at every opportunity. Malthouse has made it very clear what he thinks about what went on at Peptide Hill & the players should feel pissed off at having to play against those who have cheated. The best way to deal with cheats is to overwhelm them & send a message that results can be achieved without cheating. For this reason I believe the Blues will come to play & ultimately defeat the dopers by 6 goals.
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