PREVIEW: Round 1 2003

ESSENDON

v.

BRISBANE LIONS

MATCH DATE: Saturday, 29 March 2003
MATCH TIME: 8:10 PM
VENUE: Gabba

The beginning of season 2003 is just over 48 hours away and an AFL club is a very exciting place to be right at the moment. Players are fit and ready to fire. All the training and planning is over – it is now time to put everything into action. The first test for Essendon Football Club this season will be a daunting one – Brisbane at the Gabba. It doesn’t get much tougher. But in reality it probably isn’t a bad place to start. Why not measure yourself against the yardstick of the competition in Round 1? Most people don’t think the Bombers will come close to measuring up. But you need only glance at the selected side for this Saturday night’s game to recognise it as a side still capable of knocking over any opposition. The ruck, the midfield and the new boys will be of most interest to Essendon supporters on the eve of the clash with Brisbane. In the ruck, David Hille has added bulk to his frame without compromising his mobility. If he can break even at the bounces he has the ability to cause problems around the ground. Steven Alessio will start on the bench but will be eager to impress when he get his chance. Kevin Sheedy has thrown down the challenge to him during the pre-season. He wants to see the very best of Alessio. It was just one season ago that Alessio was named Essendon’s best finals’ player. He must get back to that sort of form and his pre-season would suggest he can do just that. The Essendon midfield has been criticised often in the past couple of seasons but for once the Bombers look to have a full compliment of midfielders available. Jason Johnson, Joe Misiti and James Hird have been named as the starting three but Essendon has options – something it has struggled to find because of injuries in recent years. On top of those mentioned Essendon has Dean Rioli, Damien Peverill, Adam Ramanauskas, Mark Johnson, Adam McPhee, Mark Mercuri and Mark McVeigh who can all be rotated through the midfield. The bench also provides options in Joel Reynolds and Andrew Welsh. The new boys – Adam McPhee and Damian Cupdio – also improve a couple of perceived areas of weakness for Essendon. Cupido gives the Bombers some added goalkicking power and he is excellent at ground level. McPhee gives his new club some hardness around contests. It will be interesting to see how they both perform in their first hitout for the red and black. It is a huge challenge for Essendon first up. Brisbane is an outstanding football side and the reigning Premiers. But this Essendon side is still very good. At its best, Essendon can win this game and wouldn’t that just be a grand start to the season.

	TV AND RADIO DETAILS TV COVERAGE Channel 10: Melbourne: 8.00pm Adelaide: 7.30pm Canberra: 7.30pm All times are local times. RADIO COVERAGE Live coverage: 3AW Melbourne 6:00pm ABC Melbourne 7:00pm NIRS Brisbane 5:00pm NewsRadio Brisbane 7:00pm NIRS Perth 3:00pm ABC Perth 5:00pm 5AA Adelaide 7:00pm ABC Adelaide 7:00pm ABC Hobart 7:00pm NewsRadio Sydney 8:00pm NewsRadio ACT 8:00pm NewsRadio NT 6:30pm All times are local times. HEAD TO HEAD RECORD GAMES PLAYED 32 ESSENDON WINS 19 BRISBANE LIONS WINS 13 DRAWN GAMES 0 ESSENDON HIGHEST SCORE v BRISBANE LIONS Round 9, 1988 ESSENDON 29.20.194 v. BRISBANE LIONS 8.6.54 ESSENDON LOWEST SCORE v BRISBANE LIONS Round 1, 2003 ESSENDON 8.13.61 v. BRISBANE LIONS 14.20.104 LAST TIME THEY MET Round 18, 2002 ESSENDON 3.0 7.2 8.3 11.5.71 BRISBANE LIONS 5.2 9.3 11.5 16.12.108 ESSENDON GOALKICKERS: Hird 2, Caracella 2, Heffernan, Lucas, Lloyd, Barnard, Bolton, J. Johnson, Rioli BRISBANE LIONS GOALKICKERS: McRae 3, Headland 3, Akermanis 2, Lynch, Bradshaw, Hart, Black, Power, B.Scott, Notting, Voss ESSENDON BEST PLAYERS: Lucas, Peverill, Bolton, Misiti, Hird, Blumfield Venue: Colonial Stadium     Crowd: 43,036     Full match report... LAST 10 MEETINGS YEAR ROUND SCORES VENUE 2007 8 ESSENDON 18.19.127 BRISBANE LIONS 8.5.63 Dome 2006 17 ESSENDON 25.10.160 BRISBANE 18.15.123 Dome 2006 2 ESSENDON 15.7.97 BRISBANE 17.13.115 Gabba 2005 17 ESSENDON 14.17.101 BRISBANE LIONS 17.12.114 Gabba 2005 6 ESSENDON 12.16.88 BRISBANE LIONS 21.10.136 Dome 2004 12 ESSENDON 14.12.96 BRISBANE LIONS 25.12.162 Dome 2003 16 ESSENDON 14.10.94 BRISBANE 12.14.86 The Dome 2003 1 ESSENDON 8.13.61 BRISBANE 14.20.104 Gabba 2002 18 ESSENDON 11.5.71 BRISBANE 16.12.108 CS 2002 3 ESSENDON 9.13.67 BRISBANE 17.15.117 Gabba

B A C K S	1. Mark Johnson Brilliant in 2002. Will want to pick up where he left off.	33. Adam McPhee Former Docker who has strength and is hard at it.	6. Sean Wellman Ever reliable and very important in the absence of Fletcher.
H B A A L C F K    S	7. Dean Solomon Just great to have him back. A real presence at contests.	21. Danny Jacobs Has just kept getting better. Plays well in big games.	9. Adam Ramanauskas Will provide run through the midfield. Will enjoy the spacious Gabba.
C E N T R E S	43. Dean Rioli Sensational pre-season. Time to reap the rewards.	5. James Hird Hasn't missed a beat pre-season. Primed for a big year.	11. Damien Peverill Might get a tagging role on Voss.
H F A O L R F W    A    R    D    S	2. Mark Mercuri Ready to silence the doubters. Been very good on the track.	25. Scott Lucas Forward or back he will get to a lot of contests.	13. Damian Cupido Former Lion with something to prove. Great skills, super quick.
F O R W A R D S	16. Paul Barnard Overcome ankle injury. Leads hard and hits hard.	18. Matthew Lloyd Bigger and better than ever. Probably cops Leppitsch.	10. Mark McVeigh Brilliant pre-season. Deserves his place and is a goalkicker.
R U C K S	19. David Hille Ready to take the next step. Has bulked up.	14. Jason Johnson Honest as ever. Will enjoy being part of a full strength midfield.	24. Joe Misiti Fitter than he has ever been. Will try and run them off their legs.
I N T E R C H A N G E	27. Steven Alessio Time to repay the faith.	29. Joel Reynolds Going well. His speed could pose problems for the Lions.	12. Andrew Welsh Could play in the middle or down back when given the chance.
	36. Jordan Bannister Gives the Bombers extra leg speed off the bench.
E M E R G	15. Robert Forster-Knight	28. Cory McGrath	20. Ted Richards
IN:	New: Damian Cupido (Brisbane Lions), Adam McPhee (Fremantle)
OUT:

B:	Johnson	Michael	Bradshaw
HB:	C. Scott	Leppitsch	Ashcroft
C:	Caracella	Voss	Akermanis
HF:	Hart	Brown	Lappin
F:	Power	Lynch	White
Ruck:	Charman, B. Scott, Black
I/C:	McLaren, Notting, Pike, Shattock
Emerg:	Brennan, Copeland, McGrath
IN:	Caracella (Essendon)
OUT: