Football fans can prepare for a high pressure affair when Essendon meet Richmond at the MCG on Sunday.
Regardless of where they sit on the AFL ladder, history shows the battle between these teams is always fierce and Andrew Welsh predicts a similar style of atmosphere during their round 17 encounter.
“When you come up against your rival sides like Richmond and Collingwood and Carlton, it doesn’t matter where either side are on the ladder because you know it is always going to be a fierce, competitive contest and that is something that we are going to be expecting for this week’s game,” Welsh said.
“I think back over my career so far and the games against those rival sides are the matches that really stand out and stick in your mind because they are so fiercely competed and the clubs have been around for so many years.
“You feel that extra bit of pride to be able to pull on the Essendon jumper when you play against Richmond when you think about the guys who have played in those types of games before us.”
Richmond’s Chris Newman echoed Welsh’s expectations of a tightly contested affair.
“It is always a closely contested match when we play each other,” Newman said.
“I think back to a lot of our night games and they have been really tight and it has come down to the wire. Hopefully it is a little bit different this week and we are up by 40 points in the last quarter.
“I don’t think that is going to be the case, I think it is going to be a really tight game. Essendon is a really quality side. They set the example with how they move the ball and their speed is outstanding. It is going to be a really big challenge but it’s one that we are really looking forward to.
Essendon will be playing for more than pride on Sunday as they search for their ninth win of the season in order to keep their finals hopes alive.
However Welsh said his side are not looking ahead to September just yet, instead they are focusing all their efforts on securing the win this weekend.
“With such a young group we can’t afford to be looking too far ahead because they get influenced easily and if we start looking four weeks ahead then they can become overawed by that sort of thing,” he said.
“We are just focusing on this week and I think that is all we can do is look at this week’s game against the Tigers.”
Historically, young teams have had a tendency to fade out towards the end of the season but the 26-year-old dismissed suggestions that Essendon would be the most vulnerable team vying for the eight.
“As part of the leadership it is our responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t happen,” Welsh said.
“Some of us experienced it early in our careers and we have to share with them (the younger players) how we dealt with that.
“The fitness staff have a program where they can monitor how we are going through a week of training and they might notice that a young bloke is getting a bit tired and would lighten his training load for a couple of sessions.
