The game will provide a good measure of where the Bombers are at this season, but you would be hard pressed to pick a winner on this occasion with the four points seemingly anyone’s for the taking.
The Bombers surprised many armchair experts with their impressive form in the pre-season competition and should have confidence on their side going into the match. Meanwhile the Kangaroos are a highly underrated team in the competition and proved last year that their talented playing stock can take them deep into the finals.
One area of the game where Essendon could hold the advantage is their leg speed through the midfield and their quick ball movement into attack. To capitalise, the Bombers need to ensure their tackling pressure is in top gear in order to create turn-overs and shut down the opposition’s opportunities before the ball is taken deep into enemy territory.
The battle in Essendon’s forward line will be an exciting tussle. The Bombers boast an exciting array of forwards including spearheads in Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas, goal sneaks in Alwyn Davey and Leroy Jetta and a resting ruckman in David Hille or Jason Laycock. While their Bombers height might cause some trouble, all will need to be firing in order to hurt an experienced Kangaroos backline which features the likes of Daniel Wells, Leigh Harding and Michael Firrito.
Ricky Dyson will be looking to impress this week in his 50th game in the red and black guernsey. He has made the most of opportunities presented to him by the new coach throughout the pre-season and has been earmarked by Matthew Knights as the key improver over the break. He looks set to play an important role in Essendon’s midfield which has exhibited a slick new dynamic so far this season and the 22-year old will be wanting to deliver on high expectations.
Fans should be excited to see Mal Michael and Dustin Fletcher prowling the Bomber backline again this year. The pair haven’t played a full game together this year and, with his first full pre-season under his belt since arriving at Windy Hill, Michael could inflict some serious damage. Their possible clashes with Nathan Thompson and Aaron Edwards will be crucial to the final result.
Patrick Ryder and Jay Nash are likely to add support in this area with their linking up by hand and foot exceptional during the pre-season competition, while Courtenay Dempsey is likely to be called upon to provide run out of defence.
Despite no Essendon players debuting in the Round 1 match, Knights has posted a relatively young side. He has given budding defender Sam Lonergan the chance to play just his second AFL match and Bachar Houli and Jetta their fifth AFL games.
