Team selection this year feels more 2016 than 2016 did
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I think your spot on for the outs
And will be put back into his painting by Jackson 
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IN: does not matter as we are gonna cop another belting this week
OUT: B. Scott
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We already had a few beltings can see more this year
The afl needs to do something about teams at the bottom that are rebuilding and getting belted most weeks
They preach equalisation,equalisation my farking arse.
All that is happening is teams at top getting are stronger while clubs like us are getting left behind.
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Essendon is a victim of its own choices Nino, not a result of the system.
We just have to deal with it for a while. Hopefully we can turn it around in a few years. If not, maybe we then have a case to ask the AFL for help.
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If we took out Geelongs best 2 rucks, 3 key defenders plus up and coming young key defender and their best forward maybe we would be a chance
so out: Stanley, Blicavs, Stewart, Henry, OāSullivan, DeKoning, Cameron
We probably still lose but would have been closer.
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Love you Nino, but this is a minnow club mentality like North and Saints.
Itās on usā¦
If we could manage our injuries we wouldnāt even be having this conversation. Weād be competitive while simultaneously blooding hand picked kids who are ready like all the good clubs doā¦
Nice how no one mentions Vossā drinking issues when he was at the Bombers, a la John Barnes.
not much you can do about the foot injuries and acls.
If we didnāt have the soft tissue injuries that would mean the following would be available:
Redman, Ridley, Langford, Reid, El-Hawli
add these four and we still get a slappin.
Its only 5 players so not that much really, its just our Hamstrings seem to be 4-6 weeks rather than 1-3 weeks
Out: Prior, Blakiston, Lual, Day-wicks
b: McGrath Reid Laverde
hb: Johnson Ridley Redman
c: Clarke Setterfield Duursma
hf: Guelfi Caddy Gresham
f: Wright Langford Kako
r: Goldy Merrett Caldwell
int: Parish, Martin, May, Roberts
sub: Perkins
We still got smashed up in midfield, going inside 50 and moving ball forward.
Reid would help release from defence and others might have stemmed some of the bleeding.
A few things to be mindful of against Fremantle in the midfieldā¦
Whilst they have Darcy and Jackson playing in the ruck, they do also play them both at the same centre bounce.
They do this to try and force the opposition into uncomfortable matchups.
I suspect itāll beā¦
Darcy (Jackson relief ruck) - Vigo (2MP)
Serong (Bolton) - Caldwell (Parish)
Brayshaw (Fyfe) - Merrett (Martin)
Jackson (Erasmus / Johnson) - Setterfield (Parish)
They do use Corey Wagner as a run with / tagger at times, but I suspect he wonāt go to the centre bounce. Heāll start in their backline, push up the ground and switch with Jackson. Thereāll be some hand off of opponents to get the Merrett matchup. This will set up the +1 at the front of the contest.
Jackson will probably go into their forward line to create a mismatch.
I think Setterfield takes Jackson at the centre bounces, then switches on to Brayshaw around the ground. The issue is when we rest Setterfield at the bounce and we are left with Merrett, Caldwell or Parish against him.
The wingsā¦
Jeremy Sharp - Duursma
Jordan Clark (Johnson) - Clarke (Lual)
Sharp is a great pocket to pocket runner. Can run all day. So Duursma is the matchup for him. If itās Lual or Martin, theyāll get burned just like Liam Henry did to us a few years back.
Jordan Clark is another good runner, but more endurance based than Sharp so should be a better matchup for Clarke. Heāll burn Lual if heās played there, but I suspect Lual will switch between half forward and wing through the night just like they did in the second half last week.
Wing is a specialists role. Itās why there arenāt many wingman in the All Australian team. Itās valued by coaches, rarely by anyone else. Most other lament that their winger ādoesnāt go at the contest when itās their turnā wish is tough when your role is skewed towards running than body on body ground ball gets. Weāre lucky we have a more balanced one in Duursma (and I suspect his injury issues through his career are due to playing that balanced role). Wing has also been a massive weakness for us in the last decade and still needs work. It requires selfless running. Theyāll be doing 15km minimum with plenty of repeat sprints from pocket to pocket and more often than not, they are barely being used. You can catch the opposition on the weak side of the ground when pushing forward (weāve done this recently with Lual and Clarke). Having said that, opposition teams usually use one of the wings to develop their future midfielders. It helps them build a good fitness base that can also be an asset in the midfield contest.
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Martin?
Martin is an option. But I donāt think weāve played him with Merrett as often. Itās definitely with Setterfield or Caldwell there so he can be more attacking and the other two more defensive. I think because of the similarities in flexibility of their role, theyād prefer to use Merrett and Martin to switch in and out of the bounce. If he plays as the high half forward, he does play more at the contest than away from it, just not at the centre bounce.
I donāt have the match info, but I think he was more damaging at the stoppages around the ground than at the centre bounce in the two games against Richmond and Brisbane. I also suspect they prefer him getting out on a run and getting uncontested / lead up marks given we have a lack of lead up options around the ground.
Also, I think they prefer Martin plugging gaps. Whether thatās on the backline or on the wing.
Itās why player flexibility is one of the more important parts of development to extend a players career. Even Joel Sellwood had to learn to play off a wing from time to time and in his last season, he split his time 50% at CBAs, off the wing and also as a high half forward. Itās why players like Will Brodie have the one great year, then fade away once younger players develop into their midfield role. Setterfield should be in a similar position.
Maybe I have the rotation wrong. Since Parish has been back, Setterfieldās CBAs have gone up. Caldwell has been about the same. Merrett was full time mid last weekend part time the week before. Merrett probably took Durhamās CBAs due to suspension. Martin has been pushed out. Perkins getting a few scraps and thatās about it. Iām just expecting more CBAs from Parish this week than heās had the last few games and maybe thatāll be through Merrett so we can try and exploit another matchup.
It sounds silly, but once the opposition reacts to what youāre doing (like theyāve done with Merrett for the last two months), itās an opportunity to either go head to head with it, or try and put them in an uncomfortable position either as a direct matchup or something favourable within a group.
I know heās a big lump of a lad, but should we be picking McMahon over Mayā¦
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Tim Watson reckons there could be another Essendon debut this week
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I suspect May stays. 2MP will be playing more ruck than normal to chop out Vigo. Vigo will shouldnāt get the same treatment as Bryan and only play ruck. Heāll split the rest of his time in the forward line and on the bench (Iām not sure what his fitness is like). Our three tallest forwards need to keep Luke Ryan and Brennan Cox honest. Both are perfectly capable of coming off their opponent to intercept like Stewart did last year.
I wouldnāt be surprised if we do go with McMahon and he plays more of a traditional Langford role (or even Edwards like role) in place of either ADW or Perkins.
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Yep he seems the next cab off the rank
Smartt would be my guess