Assistant coach, Gary O’Donnell, has admitted Jobe Watson came extremely close to playing in tonight's rival match against Collingwood at the MCG.
Speaking on Best 22, he said the coaching staff decided it was better to rest him for another week.
“There is quite a rivalry between Essendon and Collingwood. It’s going to be a big game; unfortunately Jobe is going to miss the blockbuster,” O'Donnell said.
""We aren’t completely confident in his ankle. We’re going to keep him out for the week.
“McPhee will come in a take Watson’s place, he may play on (Travis) Cloke, but we’ll see how that evolves.""
O'Donnell said it would be difficult to stop all Collingwood's midfielders but added that Dane Swan and Alan Didak must be contained.
""Lovett-Murray, Hocking or Henry Slattery may push up to the midfield to cover Jobe’s absence,"" he said
“Collingwood are a very flexible team, they can swap blokes everywhere and you can cover a player but then they bob up somewhere else.
“Hopefully Patrick Ryder and Cale Hooker can keep the pressure on Collingwood’s midfield, and Kyle Reimers had had some success against Collingwood, and could give us a bit of a boost if he could move forward and kick a few against the Pies.""
