PREVIEW: Round 2 2003

ESSENDON

v.

MELBOURNE

MATCH DATE: Saturday, 5 April 2003
MATCH TIME: 2:10 PM
VENUE: MCG

Here’s some good news for Essendon supporters. In Round 1 2002, Collingwood lost to Richmond by 37 points, Port Adelaide lost to the Kangaroos at Football Park by 10 points while Brisbane scored an unconvincing 23-point over Sydney. At the end of the home and away season Port Adelaide was on top of the AFL ladder. Brisbane and Collingwood went on to play in the Grand Final. So let’s put Round 1 of 2003 in perspective. One of the toughest asks in AFL football (Brisbane at the Gabba) is behind us. The rest of the season starts against Melbourne at the MCG this Saturday afternoon. It is Essendon’s first home game of the season and they will be very keen to put last week’s loss to Brisbane behind them and start to build some momentum for the season ahead. Just how will they do that? Firstly they need to be more precise with their delivery of the football by both hand and foot. Essendon just turned the ball over far too often against the Lions’ and many of them were ‘unforced errors’. Secondly, they need to find more avenues to goal – 8.13 isn’t a great return and Essendon will want bigger numbers this week. To do that they must get inside 50m more than they did last week and that means winning the ball in the midfield. It all sounds pretty easy in theory but it will be anything but – Melbourne is a very talented football side that scored an good win over Hawthorn to open the season. The big bonus for Essendon this week is the return of Dustin Fletcher. The star full back will almost certainly get David Neitz – the 2002 Coleman Medallist. If Fletcher can win that battle Essendon will be on its way to winning the game. But Neitz is the type of full forward that has troubled Fletcher in the past – big, strong and leads into space. Sav Rocca and Troy Wilson are similar and have posed problems for Fletcher in the past. This match up will be one of the highlights of the match. Brad Green, Cameron Bruce and Russell Robertson compliment Neitz and form a forward line that is going to be difficult to contain. These three contributed eight goals last week on top of Neitz’ five. Dean Solomon, Danny Jacobs and Adam McPhee could be the three to get the jobs on these players. If former Bomber Gary Moorcroft plays he would go forward and set up an enthralling battle with former teammate Mark Johnson. Melbourne have a quality midfield and they win plenty of the ball and they share it around. Last week against Hawthorn, 14 Melbourne players had 15 possessions or more. Steven Armstrong (21), Nathan Brown (15), Travis Johnstone (15), Andrew Leoncelli (18) and company will make life tough for the Bombers. Former Bomber Chris Heffernan will also spend time in the middle and Essendon fans know all too well how damaging he can be at his best. Essendon simply needs the maximum output from Joe Misiti, Damien Peverill and Jason Johnson first and foremost. Those who swing into the middle will also need to have an impact. Up forward Essendon will again rely on Matthew Lloyd and will want Damian Cupido to further improve on his promising first up effort. Mark Mercuri needs to produce more for his side. Coach Kevin Sheedy has said a trip to Bendigo is on the cards if he doesn’t. They are hard words but Mercuri is a professional – he knows what is required of him. Centre half-forward remains a problem but the return of Paul Barnard is a big bonus. Fletcher also gives the Essendon coaching staff more options. Hird will also improve after a quiet night out against Brisbane. The Bombers can bounce back this week and they will want to. A loss will put them two games behind Melbourne – one of the sides that will also be pushing for a top-four berth in the eyes of many. There is no doubt the talent is there, it is time that it was put on show.

	TV AND RADIO DETAILS TV COVERAGE Channel 10: Melbourne: 4.00pm Perth: 12.00pm Sydney: 2.00pm Brisbane: 2.00pm All times are local times. RADIO COVERAGE Live coverage: 3AW Melbourne 12:00pm MMM Melbourne 12:00pm All times are local times. HEAD TO HEAD RECORD GAMES PLAYED 199 ESSENDON WINS 123 MELBOURNE WINS 74 DRAWN GAMES 2 ESSENDON HIGHEST SCORE v MELBOURNE Round 15, 1986 ESSENDON 27.20.182 v. MELBOURNE 8.12.60 ESSENDON LOWEST SCORE v MELBOURNE Round 2, 1900 ESSENDON 2.6.18 v. MELBOURNE 5.4.34 LAST TIME THEY MET Round 13, 2002 ESSENDON 7.2 12.7 17.11 18.12.120 MELBOURNE 3.4 5.5 10.9 16.12.108 ESSENDON GOALKICKERS: Ramanauskas 3, McVeigh 3, Heffernan 2, Barnard 2, Mercuri 2, Lucas, Bolton, Hille, Blumfield, Rioli, Salmon MELBOURNE GOALKICKERS: Neitz 5, Robertson 4, Woewodin 2, Brown, Bruce, Schwarz, Vardy, Green ESSENDON BEST PLAYERS: Danny Jacobs Venue: Colonial Stadium     Crowd: 41,817     Full match report... LAST 10 MEETINGS YEAR ROUND SCORES VENUE 2007 13 ESSENDON 19.11.125 MELBOURNE 18.15.123 Dome 2006 12 ESSENDON 10.15.75 MELBOURNE 16.15.111 Dome 2005 22 ESSENDON 12.13.85 MELBOURNE 13.17.95 MCG 2005 1 ESSENDON 8.9.57 MELBOURNE 15.13.103 MCG 2004 EF1 ESSENDON 15.14.104 MELBOURNE 15.9.99 MCG 2004 13 ESSENDON 10.9.69 MELBOURNE 13.17.95 MCG 2003 17 ESSENDON 13.10.88 MELBOURNE 10.11.71 MCG 2003 2 ESSENDON 17.10.112 MELBOURNE 10.15.75 MCG 2002 13 ESSENDON 18.12.120 MELBOURNE 16.12.108 CS 2001 8 ESSENDON 12.13.85 MELBOURNE 11.13.79 MCG

B A C K S	1. Mark Johnson Undisciplined at times last week. Key for the Bombers.	31. Dustin Fletcher Will take Neitz. Great to have him back.	7. Dean Solomon Solid last week although Bradshaw kicked four. Will keep getting better.
H B A A L C F K    S	21. Danny Jacobs Excellent last week. Kept Lynch to two goals and got the footy 21 times.	33. Adam McPhee Showed glimpses in his debut. Work rate is very good.	10. Mark McVeigh Good early last week then faded. Need four quarters from him.
C E N T R E S	9. Adam Ramanauskas Got a lot of it last week but not as effective as usual.	24. Joe Misiti Weight of numbers made life tough last week.	6. Sean Wellman Turned it over a couple of times last week. Is better than that.
H F A O L R F W    A    R    D    S	16. Paul Barnard Hard at the ball and the man. Important to Bombers' structure.	25. Scott Lucas Got a bit of it at CHB but didn't hit enough targets.	5. James Hird Quiet by his standards last week. Will improve dramatically.
F O R W A R D S	13. Damian Cupido Good to get Brisbane out of the way. Looked good.	18. Matthew Lloyd Kicked four from limited opportunities.	43. Dean Rioli Brilliant first half before he cramped.
R U C K S	19. David Hille Was doing OK until he injured his ankle.	11. Damien Peverill Worked hard last week but had no real impact.	14. Jason Johnson Spent an unusual amount of time up forward. Bombers need him to win the football.
I N T E R C H A N G E	27. Steven Alessio Did okay when he came on. Will be improved by the run.	2. Mark Mercuri The coach has aksed him for more. Capable of delivering.	29. Joel Reynolds Out-muscled by Leppitsch last week. Still finding his feet.
	36. Jordan Bannister Did a couple of nice things when he came on. Needs to grab his chance.
E M E R G	12. Andrew Welsh	15. Robert Forster-Knight	38. Shane Harvey
IN:	Dustin Fletcher, Paul Barnard
OUT:	Andrew Welsh, Rob Forster-Knight (omitted)

B:	Williams	Lamb	Walsh
HB:	Bizzell	Ferguson	Ward
C:	Yze	Leoncelli	Johnstone
HF:	Bruce	Robertson	Heffernan
F:	Green	Neitz	Armstrong
Ruck:	White, Whelan, Godfrey
I/C:	Wheatley, Brown, Jolly, Moorcroft
Emerg:	Rigoni, Thompson, Miller
IN:	Lamb, Moorcroft, Jolly
OUT:	McDonald (Concussion), Miller, Jamar (omitted)