Round 4 - Western Bulldogs Match Preview
By Mr X
ARE WE MENTAL ENOUGH?
Tonights match will be the walking wounded versus the hungry dogs, out for redemption for last years poor showing.
Can Essendon’s youngsters stand up, in the face of such overwhelming odds?
Can Knights rally the troops and convince them that the 22 that run out on the night, can and will take it up to the Dogs?
Something we’ve lacked the last few seasons, a genuine belief we can win when the chips are down.
Tonights game for myself, has gone from an expectation of winning, to we’d put in a good effort but lose, to acceptance a loss is 90% guaranteed.
But now writing this, with the news of Lloyd’s absence, I find the tables turning abit and pumped for what may come, as it’s a challenge, a challenge to win, a challenge to strategise the chess pieces around to pull of a win, which I now think Knights may just pull off an upset.
The Dogs always kill us with their pace and effort. This year the pace is not such as big an issue as previous years, however the effort is still lacking in certain parts.
Can Knights turn around the defensive pressure from the midfield in 6 days ??? Especially when there are question marks over the fitness of a couple selected.
Where the game will be won, is how we react and handle to the pressure and lack of space the dogs will allow us, as Rodney Eade has already stated it won’t be a shoot out tonight.
In effect, with Lloyd out, it may help our forwardline move around more, therefore create more one on one’s, which would limit the effectiveness of the Dogs players dropping back, like they most likely will.
The question is, can out guys simply not just bomb the ball into out forwardline, if they meet resistance up the ground?
If they can lower there eyes and hit leading targets, then we are a shot. If they bomb it in we will get nowhere.
Key players that need to stand up.
Lonergan – Has the skill and smarts to pinpoint passes. This is what we need in droves tonight, we need him to deliver great passes to the right choice at the right time
McPhee – Needs to run run and run some more .. needs to play the same role he has this season, and not worry so much about whether he should kick more goals or not, just keep running, create space play the same role you have and things will fall into place.
Lovett – Needs to have the same game as he did last week, but lift the intensity even more.
Hille – He needs to have a monster of a game, hopefully it’s down forward moreso than in the ruck. We need him to simply create contests, if he can’t mark it, and just put the fear into the Dogs backman.
Ultimately I think this game will be won or lost even before we step out onto the ground tonight. It’s all about the mental side tonight rather than the physical side.
If we genuinely believe we can win, we will give the Dogs a good shake.
If we don’t believe we can cover the losses of the guys we have out, we will get smashed. I think the first quarter will tell us the story of how we will fair for the night.
Heart says Essendon by 27 points as I think we will rise to the occasion … Head says Dogs by 38
| The Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| B: | Ramanauskas | Michael | Fletcher |
| HB: | Nash | Ryder | Reimers |
| C: | Houli | Watson | Dyson |
| HF: | Davey | McPhee | Lovett |
| F: | McVeigh | Laycock | Lovett-Murray |
| R: | Hille | Lonergan | Stanton |
| INT: | Monfries | Peverill | Slattery |
| Winderlich | |||
| EMG: | Johns | Johnson | Pears |
| Western Bulldogs Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| B: | Callan | Lake | Morris |
| HB: | Gilbee | Wight | Hargrave |
| C: | Hill | Boyd | Cross |
| HF: | Giansiracusa | Hahn | Murphy |
| F: | Akermanis | Johnson | Welsh |
| R: | Hudson | Cooney | Griffin |
| INT: | Addison | Eagleton | Harbow |
| Minson | |||
| EMG: | Skipper | Street | Ward |
| Last Time – Round 15 2007 – Phone Dome | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | 2/4 | 3/4 | Full Time | |
| Essendon | 4.5 | 5.10 | 9.12 | 14.14.98 |
| Western Bulldogs | 4.4 | 9.8 | 12.9 | 20.11.131 |
| Full Match Report | ||||
| Best Players | |
|---|---|
| Essendon | Peverill, Watson, Nash, Monfries, Stanton, J. Johnson |
| Goals | |
|---|---|
| Essendon | Lucas 4, Nash, Monfries 2, Ramanauskas, Lloyd, Stanton, Lovett-Murray, Michael, Lovett |
| Western Bulldogs | Johnson 5, Cooney 3, Eagleton, Murphy 2, Gilbee, Akermanis, Harbrow, Robbins, Everitt, Ray, Higgins, Hahn |
| TV Coverage | ||
|---|---|---|
| Seven Melbourne | 8:30pm | Delay |
| Seven Adelaide | 8:30pm | Delay |
| Seven Perth | 8:30pm | Delay |
| Seven Sydney | 11:30pm | Delay |
| Seven Brisbane | 8:30pm | Delay |
| Fox Sports Plus NSW | 7:30pm | Live |
| Fox Sports Plus QLD | 7:30pm | Live |
| Radio Coverage | |
|---|---|
| MMM Melbourne | 6:00 PM |
| 3AW Melbourne | 6:00 PM |
| ABC Melbourne | 7:05 PM |
| SEN Melbourne | 6:00 PM |
| MMM Adelaide | 7:00 PM |
| 5AA Adelaide | 6:30 PM |
| ABC Adelaide | 7:00 PM |
| 6PR Perth | 6:30 PM |
| ABC Perth | 5:30 PM |
| BIMA Perth | 5:00 PM |
| ABC Brisbane | 7:30 PM |
| BIMA Brisbane | 7:00 PM |
| ABC Canberra | 7:05 PM |
| ABC Hobart | 7:05 PM |
| ABC Darwin | 7:00 PM |
| BIMA Darwin | 6:30 PM |
| Betting | |
|---|---|
| Essendon | $2.78 |
| Western Bulldogs | $1.45 |
| BomberBlitz.com ‘Expert’ Tips | |
|---|---|
| Andy | Western Bulldogs by 24 points |
| SuperSonic | Western Bulldogs by 37 points |
| Pazza | Essendon by 2 points |
| Bomberman007 | Essendon by 11 points |
| Koala | Essendon by 11 points |
| Awesome_Scotty | Essendon by 27 points |
| No32 | Western Bulldogs by 15 points |
| Riolio | Essendon by 13 points |
Posted 11 April 08 in News Match Preview
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