Byron Pickett, Ben Holland, Paul Wheatley, Paul Johnson and Simon Godfrey all played for Sandringham but the reigning Premiers still found themselves two goals down midway through the second quarter.
Essendon’s only listed players taking part were Kyle Riemers and rookies Lachlan McKinnon, Danny Chartres and Heath Hocking. The final score was Sandringham 13.20 (98) to Bendigo 11.9 (75).
""I thought our first half was very good and we were very competitive. It is a pleasing sign as we have a number of new players and new structures in place that will take time to gel,"" Bendigo coach Matthew Knights said.
""Heath Hocking (26 possessions) played particularly well for us. He got plenty of the ball playing forward / midfield. Lachlan McKinnon also stuck to his task well. He played 75% of the game in the ruck against a couple of seasoned players. He needs to work on a couple of things but that will come in time, he has missed a fair bit of footy.""
""Danny Chartres played at centre half back and is improving. He took a couple of nice marks for us and is looking more at home. Jason Cloke spent the day playing on the wing and getting into the back half to help out. He got a lot of the ball and we are looking at it as a new role for him.""
Essendon youngster Kyle Riemers was given a baptism of fire, being asked to run with Byron Pickett. Riemers didn’t take a backward step and generated some rebound for his team.
""It was a big ask but he took the job on. It did get pretty fiery as well for five or ten minutes. There was a fair bit of push and shove. I liked the way he kept his head and didn’t do anything silly,"" Knights said.
Riemers copped a heavy knock midway through the third quarter and he was taken from the ground and didn’t return. He isn’t expected to miss next week. Hayden Skipworth started superbly kicking an early goal but he left the ground with an ankle injury ten minutes into the game and did not return. He is expected to only miss one week.
