ANZAC Day is upon us once more and fans of the 14 other teams can take some pleasure in sharing the day with us, being that ANZAC day falls on Saturday this year. With that said, Collingwood and Essendon still hold a monopoly on the daylight hours, whilst any small victory other fans might feel about how the calendar panned out this year will quickly make way to bitterness once more when they have to face up to work on Monday.
But enough of this pettiness…
We’ve managed to straighten the ship somewhat after a well earned victory against Brisbane, although our next two weeks shape us equally important in the scheme of things. Facing Essendon this week and North Melbourne the next, I would be disappointed with anything but a 4-2 standing by the end of round six.
This pre-season we made it clear for the first time in a long time that we were aiming for a premiership. Every side obviously has this objective in mind, but when a club declares such matters publically then they are accepting the expectations that follow. If all of our talk is to be taken seriously, then Essendon should find themselves chalking up another defeat come Saturday evening.
ANZAC Day has always made for a good spectacle in the past, regardless of ladder positions or the form guide. Both sides tend to lift for the occasion and neither team can afford to take anything for granted. On paper and current form, Collingwood should win, but any such confidence on my part will go out the door once the Last Post winds down.
Essendon has been getting game time into its young defenders Pears and Daniher, with Dustin Fletcher providing some experience down back. With Anthony Rocca getting through his first senior game unscathed last week; John Anthony with some stunning recent form against the Dons; Paul Medhurst playing himself back into All-Australian form and Travis Cloke overdue for a big one — the inexperienced backs of Essendon shape as a tasty proposition for Collingwood’s forwards and fans alike.
Down back, Prestigiacomo was close to our most important player last week doing a fantastic job of shutting down Brown. Whilst Harry O’Brien has been gradually finding his feet again after the loss of his father at the final stages of our pre-season campaign. O’Brien kept Bradshaw goalless last week and has made a habit of destroying Scott Lucas – who is currently struggling – whenever our two sides meet.
We’ll be missing Nick Maxwell down back whilst Heath Shaw is also likely to sit out again this week with hamstring soreness. Tyson Goldsack may get a reprieve whilst Alan Toovey was serviceable enough to assume he will also be retained. Matthew Lloyd shapes us a potential threat, as despite my dislike of the velvet sledgehammer I have to admit he has been in threatening form since the Bombers shocked most punters by defeating Carlton. With Prestigiacomo returning to his glove-like best, he’ll be a sure bet to match up on Lloyd.
Essendon’s biggest asset is their pace, which tends only to come to the fore when things are falling into place for them. With the likes of Lovett, Davey, Winderlich and Dempsey along with the Knights game plan of moving the ball quickly and taking risks, Essendon do have the ability to open games up when the planets are aligned — or when their opposition refuses to apply pressure.
Pressure football is perhaps one of our biggest assets when we’re switched on. Essendon have shown a tendency to come unravelled when the heat is applied, as demonstrated in our NAB Cup meeting when we benefited greatly from Essendon turnovers. In regards to pace, Jaxson Barham was a revelation last week and has come into the side just in time to counter Essendon’s leg speed. Outside of pace, Barham will also go a long way to applying the sort of pressure I just spoke of.
I can comfortably say that on paper we have the forward and back lines covered, but the middle of the ground will be interesting. Essendon got the better of us in the clearance department during the pre-season and I expect a better showing this time around.
Jobe Watson is an excellent extractor and has carved us up in the past, whilst Jason Winderlich has been in a purple patch after nearly being forced into retirement. Winderlich’s speed and ability overhead could be a worry; Toovey shapes as a possible match-up if retained, but may also get given the job on Watson if we choose to man him up. Watson is always an interesting one, as he’s been known to burn the ball by foot and as such often gets left unchecked.
Scott Pendlebury was brilliant on Friday night and fortunately for us, Andrew Welsh will not be available for Essendon to perform another shut-down job. Pendlebury was a match winner with his clearance work against the Lions and shapes as a key player for us heading into Saturday.
Josh Fraser is in considerably better form than David Hille, although Hille often comes away with the points when these two meet. If Fraser isn’t provided with support, he’ll be going on his fourth game in a row playing as a lone ruck and the question has to be asked as to whether the current setup is sustainable for much longer. Cameron Wood played his best game for the year in the VFL last weekend and may come into consideration; although a straight swap between Leigh Brown and Chris Bryan is also a possibility.
I’ll say this every week until it ceases to occur, but we must not relinquish the middle of the ground so willingly. In all of our games we have done this for a quarter or more and during those times we have been punished. If we do this once again on Saturday, we run the risk of allowing Essendon’s pace and game plan to pay dividends. We don’t want the Dons getting their tails up in a free flowing game in front of 90,000 people. We need to make them stop, start and second guess, forcing their current crop of players to resort to Plan B — which basically involves handing the ball over to the opposition.
Essendon can be a difficult team to assess, as their best and worst are leagues apart. They were not at all impressive against Fremantle, Port Adelaide and North Melbourne, but I rated their performance against Carlton. Regardless of the general consensus on where Essendon is at, expect them to have a real dip come Saturday.
We should expect the same – and more – of our boys.
