Essendon are 7th on the ladder with 12 points and of 141%, Richmond are sitting at 10th of course, with 118%. Interestingly, Richmond have a more potent forward line while we have a better back line in terms of scoring for/against at this point in the season…
Potentially we have lost Boyse, Ferry and Hind to the State squad but if Ferry plays in the Vic squad we might have to use Marty and Francis as KPDs or use an extra VFL listed tall. Both have played these positions last year.
Come along to the G early, drop in at the Punt rd. Oval and support the boys in the VFL. Should be quite a good crowd.
Theres even a presentation at the end. Last year Jerret won it with a big game in the midfield. I reckon this year TBell or even The Langford will be a chance
My point is that the only definitely available senior player of any size to play back this year is Draper. And Richmond were stacked with height pre-season, so going with (say) Marklew at FB and Redman at CHB may not work.
It’s certainly not ideal. The alternative is to go full shootout with Tommy and Smack forward, and hope our midfield wins.
Assuming Maric is fit (he tends to miss a game every month due to back issues), they’ll likely have Chol (198), Moore (193) and one of Elton (197) or Soldo (204). Saw them 2 weeks ago and neither Chol or Moore were remotely threatening, but Chol has had the occasional day out at VFL level.
A chance Lil Hepp will get the chance to come back. Last year he tried out as an inside midfielder and got plenty of time at stoppages and won a lot of it ( roving to the Russian which was a distinct advantage in a lot of games )
Unfortunately, the list is back to normal and there are plenty of mids in the team. Its going to be difficult to get the same opportunity.
B: 20. J Merrett, 63. M Darby, 19. K Mutch
HB: 41. B McNiece, 25. A Morgan, 34. J Long
C: 8. M Gleeson, 5. B Stanton, 57. N Hind
HF: 27. M Redman, 10. A Francis, 24. C Bird
F: 37. D Clarke, 44. S McKernan, 16. J Begley
R: 38. S Draper, 30. K Langford, 40. B Howlett
I: 56. J Peters, 62. M Luxford, 55. D Younan, 69. A Marklew, 59. A Heppell, 54. N O’Brien, 51. A Boyse, 66. K Strachan