Essendon held off a fast-finishing Brisbane last week at the Dome and would have been delighted with the preseason form of the senior players as well as getting players the calibre of Matthew Allan and Adam Ramanauskas back in the action. On the other hand, St. Kilda have played some impressive football of their own, running over the top of a disappointing Richmond (you may have heard a little bit about that!) and announcing themselves as a club on the rise. This match promises to be a fast-paced and exciting ‘serious serious’ practice match!
TEAM SELECTION
With ten players named on the interchange bench, it will be interesting to see which six players get the opportunity to play on Saturday night. Two new faces have been added with rookie Ricky Dyson and former Bulldog Mark Alvey running out in red and black for the first time.
Andrew Welsh returns this week after the Darwin game, where he lost five kilograms (hard to believe he had a spare five kilograms to lose!) and Jobe Watson is also named despite picking up a slight ankle injury in a Bendigo practice match last week. The starting side is stacked with senior experience and with players the calibre of Dean Solomon, Damian Cupido, Mark McVeigh and Ben Haynes nearing full fitness, the match committee might have plenty of those pleasant ‘selection headaches’ to look forward to this season.
MATCH-UPS
Most interest surrounds how the Bomber defence will line up, particularly the tall defenders. Dustin Fletcher will take Fraser Gehrig. Adam McPhee had a great tussle with Aaron Hamill last year but has been named as a rover, most likely to man up on Nick Riewoldt if he starts on the ball. Mark Bolton and Sean Wellman are also named in defence and will be first to take on Hamill and Riewoldt.
We may have caught a glimpse of the future last week; Matthew Allan playing predominantly in the ruck with David Hille providing a big target at centre half forward. A Matthew Lloyd-Hille combination will be a tough task for a Max Hudghton-less Saint defence and don’t forget Scott Lucas. Lucas is named in a forward pocket and should start the night in attack before reverting to the back line at certain stages. Kepler Bradley has played centre half back in his first two matches but might find himself in a less defensive role this week.
The Saints have a good selection of young midfielders to support Robert Harvey and Essendon need to win the contested ball and use it well to avoid chasing their opponents all evening. Joe Misiti gets to start in the centre after a good game last week and with the help of both Johnson boys, Damien Peverill, Justin Murphy and possibly James Hird, the midfield will look to take control early before unleashing our young, quick running players from the bench.
PREDICTIONS
Both teams will be happy with their form leading into Round 1 and St. Kilda coach Grant Thomas will continue to push for increases for all his ‘Key Performance Indicators’ and be satisfied that his team is ‘going through the process’. I hope by the end of the match, he is processing a St. Kilda trip to Newcastle to play the Swans in a practice match!
Bombers to win an entertaining clash and play off for the silverware next Saturday night – and I reckon Sheeds might reckon that game deserves a third ‘serious’!
OTHER MATCHES
Two out of four last week, which is not too bad considering this is only ‘serious, serious’ practice tipping! Hopefully score two winners this week but if not, the ‘real stuff’ is only a couple of weeks away.
Melbourne v Geelong - The Dome, Melbourne
Neale Daniher is looking for members to sacrifice one coffee a week in order to buy a membership but the turmoil surrounding the club has surely driven some Dees supporters to sip something a little stronger than coffee! But they should be able to win this one and hopefully, we have a 2000 Grand Final replay on our hands. But then I have tipped against both these sides every week and they are still around, so what would I know? DEMONS
