PREVIEW: Round 14 2003

ESSENDON

v.

ST KILDA

MATCH DATE: Friday, 4 July 2003
MATCH TIME: 7:40 PM
VENUE: The Dome

The hot and cold tubs have become an integral part of player rehabilitation in today’s game. Aching bodies are submersed in ice-cold water before being dipped in the more temperate tank. The hot and cold tubs aid the body’s recovery processes off field. Unfortunately the hot and colds have also become a part of Essendon’s 2003 campaign on the field. Only once this season has Essendon strung together successive victories and not surprisingly it means a finals’ berth will only be secured very late this season, if at all. Essendon has the chance to get some momentum rolling when it plays St Kilda at The Dome this Friday night. The Bombers are coming off a solid, if unspectacular, six goal win over Geelong last weekend. It is critical they put another win on the board this weekend as they are one of four teams just four points out of the eight. It will also give them a belief that they are going well enough to knock over Adelaide (AAMI Stadium) and Brisbane (The Dome) in the following two weeks. The ruck will be a most interesting battle tomorrow night. Essendon asked David Hille to shoulder the load against Geelong last weekend and he did the job well. Trent Knobel is a rugged competitor who will certainly make his presence felt. Other than Knobel the Saints are light on in the ruck so it might explain why the Bombers have included Alessio. He will ensure the Bombers have fresh legs at all times and he can also push forward to stretch the Saints’ defence. The key players for St Kilda are midfielders Lenny Hayes and champion Robert Harvey. Hayes has won plenty of the ball this season while Harvey has been back to his brilliant best in recent weeks. Harvey can be very damaging so he might be the player the Bombers choose to tag. Damien Peverill, who returned to form with a vengeance last weekend, might be the man. If the Saints win enough of the ball St Kilda’s forwards will be confident of putting together a winning score. Fraser Gehrig has been a focal point for them and the return of Aaron Hamill is very important. At ground level Stephen Milne is a livewire. Nick Reiwoldt has also been in excellent form. You would think Dustin Fletcher would go to Gehrig, Jacobs might get Hamill with Dean Solomon a possibility on Reiwoldt. Mark McVeigh would seem the likely match up for Milne. The Bombers will be hoping that Damian Cupido can string a couple of good ones together at the other end of the ground. His five goal performance last weekend was probably the difference between the two sides. Matthew Lloyd worked very hard last week although the results didn’t show on the scoreboard. He only kicked one goal but he took eight marks and worked hard well away from the goal-square. He is due for a bag of goals. On paper Essendon looks the winner but that has counted for little in the past 18 months. The coaching staff must ensure the Bombers are switched on mentally – if they are they win. If not, this club’s finals’ aspirations are in serious trouble.

	TV AND RADIO DETAILS TV COVERAGE Channel 9: Melbourne: 7.30pm - LIVE Adelaide: 8.30pm Perth: 8.30pm Sydney: 11.15pm Brisbane: 11.15pm Fox Footy (pay TV): NSW/ACT: 9.30pm QLD: 9.30pm SA: 11.00pm VIC/TAS/NT: 11.30pm WA: 11.30pm All times are local times. RADIO COVERAGE Live coverage: MMM Melbourne 7:00PM 3AW Melbourne 7:00PM ABC Melbourne 7:40PM NIRS Perth 5:00PM 6PR Perth 5:30PM ABC Perth 5:40PM 5AA Adelaide 7:00PM ABC Adelaide 7:10PM NIRS Brisbane 7:00PM NewsRadio Brisbane 7:40PM ABC Darwin 7:10PM ABC Hobart 7:40PM NewsRadio Newcastle 7:40PM NewsRadio Sydney 7:40PM ABC Canberra 7:40PM All times are local times. HEAD TO HEAD RECORD GAMES PLAYED 198 ESSENDON WINS 132 ST KILDA WINS 62 DRAWN GAMES 4 ESSENDON HIGHEST SCORE v ST KILDA Round 17, 1944 ESSENDON 28.21.189 v. ST KILDA 12.11.83 ESSENDON LOWEST SCORE v ST KILDA Round 4, 1906 ESSENDON 1.7.13 v. ST KILDA 6.8.44 LAST TIME THEY MET Round 8, 2002 ESSENDON 3.5 13.8 21.12 26.15.171 ST KILDA 2.2 3.3 4.5 11.6.72 ESSENDON GOALKICKERS: Lucas 4, Caracella 3, Jason Johnson 3, Salmon 2, Heffernan 2, Alessio 2, Blumfield 2, Rioli 2, Reynolds 2, McVeigh, Barnard, Harvey, Hille ST KILDA GOALKICKERS: Riewoldt 3, Davis, Baker 2, Hayes, Plapp, Knobel, Milne ESSENDON BEST PLAYERS: Caracella, Lucas, Jason Johnson, Mercuri, Jacobs Venue: Colonial Stadium     Crowd: -     Full match report... LAST 10 MEETINGS YEAR ROUND SCORES VENUE 2007 4 ESSENDON 15.9.99 ST KILDA 9.14.68 Dome 2006 15 ESSENDON 10.11.71 ST KILDA 11.8.74 MCG 2005 13 ESSENDON 19.5.119 ST KILDA 16.8.104 Dome 2004 17 ESSENDON 14.8.92 ST KILDA 20.7.127 Dome 2004 2 ESSENDON 8.12.60 ST KILDA 13.16.94 Dome 2003 14 ESSENDON 17.17.119 ST KILDA 7.9.51 The Dome 2002 8 ESSENDON 26.15.171 ST KILDA 11.6.72 CS 2001 11 ESSENDON 19.14.128 ST KILDA 13.8.86 CS 2000 12 ESSENDON 25.19.169 ST KILDA 13.5.83 MCG 1999 8 ESSENDON 7.9.51 ST KILDA 13.16.94 MCG

B A C K S	12. Andrew Welsh Consistent season for the second year player	31. Dustin Fletcher Should take Riewoldt	21. Danny Jacobs In career best form
H B A A L C F K    S	23. Mark Bolton Gives team flexibility - can play forward and defence	6. Sean Wellman Gives team run through the centre.	33. Adam McPhee Got a slight knock last week but has trained well all week
C E N T R E S	7. Dean Solomon Needs to improve his disposal	24. Joe Misiti Continues to find the footy	11. Damien Peverill Best on ground performance against Geelong
H F A O L R F W    A    R    D    S	5. James Hird With one game under his belt will only improve	25. Scott Lucas Another reliable scoring option	14. Jason Johnson Always agressive and hard at it
F O R W A R D S	13. Damian Cupido Needs to back up five goal peformance against Geelong	18. Matthew Lloyd Always reliable and dangerous in front of goal	9. Adam Ramanauskas Gives the team plenty of run
R U C K S	19. David Hille Have his work cut out for him against Knobel	1. Mark Johnson Always hardworking	10. Mark McVeigh Did a great job on Gary Ablett jnr last week
I N T E R C H A N G E	37. Marc Bullen Gives the team speed through middle	20. Ted Richards Been in solid form in VFL	29. Joel Reynolds Played his best game of season last week
	27. Steven Alessio Gets another opportunity
E M E R G	16. Paul Barnard Will benefit from hit-out in VFL	28. Cory McGrath Unlucky to miss selection	36. Jordan Bannister Been in good form in VFL
IN:	Richards, Alessio
OUT:	Watson, Barnard (omitted)