Round 8 - Sydney Match Preview

By Shelton 10
WILL THE MANY CHANGES BRING A BIG CHANGE?
Let’s face it, the last five games have been pretty dismal. As players have gone down, one after the other, with injuries and illnesses of almost every type, the on-field performance has fallen further and further below the standard we set in the pre-season and the first four games.

But the pendulum is starting to swing back. We’re still without the great Scott Lucas and the fierce and zippy Davey and Dempsey, and of course we’ve lost McPhee and Lovett-Murray to suspension for minor but definite acts of indiscipline. But this week’s ins include Fletcher and McVeigh, two true core members of the team, as well as Lonergan, Winderlich, Reimers and Ramanauskas, all of whom will be welcomed back with open arms. And that’s not to mention Laycock, who seemed to respond last week for Bendigo to the kick up the backside he got when dropped. A fit and in form Laycock can do a lot of damage.

We meet a fit and firing Sydney. I have to confess that Sydney are a team that I like a lot. They play good, hard, honest football, based on hard work and support for each other. They are very hard to beat on any ground, and almost impossible to beat on the SCG, where we play them for the second year in a row. The good news is that we beat them there last year. No-one else has beaten them there since.

The lineups look fairly well matched on paper. Without Hall, the Sydney forward line appears a bit thin. O’Loughlin is named at full forward and Mal Michael is named at full back. O’Loughlin is one of Sydney’s stars and very hard to match up; he may be a bit fast for Michael, but our backline is quite flexible.

Sydney’s centre half forward is Roberts-Thompson, and he is named on Patrick Ryder. That’s the first of several very interesting matchups. Roberts-Thompson is a backman trying to reinvent himself, but let’s not forget he was close to best on ground in Sydney’s recent premiership win. Ryder is immensely talented and he just keeps getting better as he matures, but he still has the occasional off week. Will Roberts-Thompson’s strength and determination win the day, or will Ryder’s natural talent and growing maturity prevail?

Sydney have Ryan O’Keefe on one flank, and he is also a very talented player, but not at his best so far this year; Kyle Reimers should give him something to think about. Dustin Fletcher is named in the back pocket on Paul Bevan, and if he’s fully fit should comfortably dispose of Bevan and also do his usual job of holding the backline together. Down back we also have Darcy Daniher and David Myers, who may be just a bit young to go up against Peter Everitt and Jarrad Moore.

In the midfield Sydney seem to have the edge. Hille and Jolley are evenly matched in the ruck, but Lovett, McVeigh and Watson against Goodes, Jude Bolton and Kirk looks like a narrow win to Sydney. On the wings Stanton and Slattery come up against Amon Buchanan and Mark McVeigh’s brother Jarrad. Stanton has been disappointing this year, perhaps struggling with the weight of the no.5 guernsey on his back and with closer tagging than he’s been used to. Is he really fully fit, or is he carrying the legacy of his bad hamstring injury from last year. As for Slattery, there’s no doubting his courage, but for a midfielder he doesn’t get much of the ball. Against them, the Sydney pair appear too hard and experienced, and I fear our two may struggle.

Moving to the forward line, we find Jay Neagle and Matthew Lloyd in the key positions. Lloyd was back in form against Port Adelaide, kicking five goals from extremely limited opportunities, and Neagle really looks the goods. He has the God-given ability to take a pack mark; he has the true forward’s eye for getting where the ball is and getting hold of it; and he loves to kick goals. He’s still very young and raw and he needs to work his bum off to make the most of his talent; but if he does, he’ll turn out a champion. At this stage of his development he’ll have a very interesting afternoon in the company of Ted Richards, who has slotted into the Sydney team very nicely. Lloyd comes up against Leo Barry, who will not beat him for strength or in the air, but will probably have the edge when the ball hits the ground. As is the case with any leading forward, much will depend on how the ball comes into the forward line. If our midfield is struggling, as seems likely, our forwards may be in for a lean day.

Along with our forward KPPs we have Lonergan, Jetta, Laycock and Houli. A good mix of size, speed and tenacity, but up against a formidably well-drilled Sydney defence. Tadgh Kennelly is talented and very, very fast, and Craig Bolton gets the job done week after week. Kieren Jack and Martin Mattner are certainly not household names, but when you get a group of six defenders working as a team and supporting each other behind a midfield that’s generally on top, any group of forwards will have trouble.

It’s in that area of discipline and hard work that we really start to fall behind Sydney. Take kick-outs, for example. Sydney have a system. They know where to run, when to run, and how to support each other. Our kickout system is non-existent, a kind of half-baked version of the huddle that passed its use-by date sometime in 1985. Stoppages are another example. Sydney know how to play them. We don’t.

Essendon are a team with many young players, first and second year out, still no older than 20. Sydney are a team of seasoned veterans, mixed with some young up-and-comers. The return of Fletcher and McVeigh will add bite and maturity for us, but over all it’s hard to see us pulling off another win against Sydney.

For the past few weeks, although all the talk has been about how Matthew Knights has been focussing on constant attack, the fact is that we’ve had trouble getting the ball forward of the centre line. I’m hoping the changes to the lineup, coupled with the week’s rest for everyone, will inject some real life and attack into the team. We need to start by bouncing out of the blocks very hard and getting some goals on the board early. But even being as optimistic as I can, I can’t see us getting up at the end of the game.

Sydney by about three goals. Lloyd to kick four, Neagle three and Laycock two. Fletcher, Houli, Watson and Lloyd to be among our best.

The Team
B:	Daniher	Michael	Fletcher
HB:	Myers	Ryder	Reimers
C:	Stanton	Watson	Slattery
HF:	Lonergan	Neagle	Jetta
F:	Houli	Lloyd	Laycock
R:	Hille	Lovett	McVeigh
INT:	Hislop	Monfries	Ramanauskas
	Welsh
EMG:	Atkinson	Dyson	Johns

Sydney Team
B:	Kennelly	Barry	Mattner
HB:	C. Bolton	Richards	Jack
C:	McVeigh	Kirk	Buchanan
HF:	O’Keefe	Roberts-Thomson	Moore
F:	Bevan	O’Loughlin	Everitt
R:	Jolley	Goodes	J. Bolton
INT:	Ablett	Bird	Malceski
	Playfair
EMG:	Barlow	Brennan	Smith

Last Time – Round 10 2007 – SCG
	1/4	2/4	3/4	Full Time
Essendon	3.2	7.2	7.7	11.8.74
Sydney	3.2	7.4	8.4	11.7.73
Full Match Report

Best Players
Essendon	Fletcher, Winderlich, McVeigh, Lloyd, Hird, Michael
Sydney	Kirk, Schneider, Richards, Buchanan, Everitt

Goals
Essendon	Lloyd 3, Bolton, McVeigh 2, Welsh, M. Johnson, Watson, Stanton
Sydney	Davis 3, C. Bolton, Hall, Goodes, O’Loughlin, Fosdike, Dempster, Schneider, Bevan

TV Coverage
Seven Melbourne	3:00pm	Delay
Seven Adelaide	1:30pm	Live
Seven NSW	2:00pm	Live
Seven QLD	2:00pm	Live

Radio Coverage
MMM Melbourne	12:00 PM
3AW Melbourne	12:00 PM
6PR Perth	12:00 PM
MMM Sydney	2:00 PM
ABC Sydney	2:00 PM
BIMA Brisbane	1:30 PM
ABC Canberra	2:00 PM
BIMA Darwin	1:00 PM

Betting
Essendon	$7.00
Sydney	$1.10

BomberBlitz.com ‘Expert’ Tips
Andy	Sydney by 31 points
Mendozaaaa	Sydney by 47 points
Pazza	Essendon by 1 point
Bomberman007	Sydney by 70 points
Koala	Essendon by 1 point
Awesome_Scotty	TBA
No32	Sydney by 35 points
Riolio	Sydney by 47 points
Shelton 10	Sydney by 18 points

Posted 16 May 08 in News Match Preview