Game will be video streamed by the VFL with SEN commentary.
It’s part of a three game sequence vs Footscray, with the women (also streamed) following at 4pm and the AFL at Docklands at 7:25pm (not freely available).
The winner of this game will probably finish the game in second and host the other in the first week of the finals.
Will be in Melbourne for 3 days and was thinking of going for a look on Saturday. Any PT out to the ground or should I Uber it?
I’ve got a hire car but no too keen to leave it out there
West Footscray station is just behind the ground. Various buses more or less directly between the two grounds too.
Thanks. I’ll get the PT App and have a look at which route is best
Essendon’s VFL side is doing fantastically well considering all the injuries the club has. Gives us something to cheer about.
“No emergencies selected for this team.”
Good luck with that.
Hey look, sportstg lied to us. Emergencies exist!
11 of 23 players from the AFL list, including one snuck on at the end of the bench…
B: 59. A. Heppell, 30. B. Zerk-Thatcher, 50. J. Tynan
HB: 49. M. Dea, 36. M. Hartley, 14. J. Ridley
C: 33. B. Ham, 77. H. Hocking, 34. J. Long
HF: 68. N. Dixon, 32. N. Gown, 62. N. Lazzaro
F: 24. J. Houlahan, 46. T. Jok, 72. T. Smith
R: 74. R. Bowman, 39. T. Mynott, 55. D. Younan
Int: 61. W. Berry, 51. J. Brown, 60. B. Fennell, 73. D. Guccione, 76. B. Laguda, 56. D. Landt, 79. J. McQueen, 22. I. Mosquito
23P: 63. B. Huggard
–
In: M. Hartley, J. Ridley, B. Fennell, J. McQueen, I. Mosquito, B. Huggard, W. Berry, D. Landt, J. Brown
Out: J. Laverde, B. McNiece, J. Begley, M. Baguley, D. Myers
Footscray
B: 36. B. Lynch, 40. L. Young, 23. L. Vandermeer
HB: 37. R. Smith, 18. F. Roberts, 34. B. Williams
C: 51. N. Drummond, 50. J. Prudden, 19. L. Webb
HF: 25. B. Cavarra, 2. L. Young, 56. A. Scott
F: 24. B. Khamis, 26. B. Gowers, 28. C. Porter
R: 41. J. Sweet, 14. R. West, 46. L. Jong
Int: 75. J. Boyd, 58. G. Gleeson, 66. R. McComb, 61. L. Nash, 53. L. Sullivan, 57. D. Viojo-Rainbow, 67. J. Wallis, 55. R. William
23P: 73. A. Hodge
–
In: D. Viojo-Rainbow, A. Hodge, L. Nash, R. West, J. Prudden
Out: W. Hayes
So Laverde not even named. That’s interesting.
I’m pretty sure the last time an AFL emergency wasn’t named for VFL was Langford when he ended up a late in the first time Heppell missed a game this year.
Starting to be stretched a bit thin the ole VFL side.
But they keep putting in.
Well done to the leadership of that team.
Only 11 AFL listed players available for the VFL this week.
That represents 13 players unavailable
TBC
Joe
Smith
Hurley
Draper
Parish
Guelfi
Mutch
Francis
Saad
Snelling
Stewart
Laverde
It would be a sensational effort for the VFL boys to get up.
You might want to check the weather forecast first.
Bearing in mind that the Western Oval multiplies the wind chill factor by ten.
Suggest your best option is to drive your hire car through the fence on the Dougie Hawkins wing, (all the play will be over that side anyway), park by the boundary with your lights on so you can actually see through the rain, and toot your horn whenever we go forward.
Hang the expense and avoid hypothermia.
Some Big ins this week with Hartley returning and Mosquito back from his hamstring.
WE look a bit light on in the midfield
Heath Hocking will be required to turn back the clock.
Mynott there as well has a big opportunity to impress and Younan is a bit of a surprise.
(vfl mids missing - Clarke, Snelling, Myers, Begley
Backline and forwardline still look solid
No laverde named so is he the AFL designated Emergency?
Would like to see Jake Long given a crack on the ball.
Will need lots of run from Ham and the VFL listed guys.
That’s a pretty good list of players. All but Mutch are proven AFL standard, most of them are starters and the ones who aren’t would be elite or dominate in the VFL
I’m going to be honest. My attendance is going to be completely weather determined.
Based on the local release list:
Playing:
HepA
Tynan
Hocking
Dixon
Lazzaro
Smith
Bowman
Younan
Berry
Brown
Laguda
Landt
Huggard
Not playing:
Fennell
Guccione
McQueen
LAST ENCOUNTER
2018 Rd 20 @ Windy Hill: Essendon 12.13 (85) d Footscray 4.16 (40)
FORMLINES
Footscray (3rd on ladder, 11-3-1 record) notched a fifth straight win with last week’s 70-point defeat of Frankston. / Essendon (2nd, 12-3) rebounded from a loss to top-four rival Williamstown with an 85-point win against Sandringham in Round 18.
KEY QUESTION
Who wants a home final? This will be a critical match in determining which of these teams will host a qualifying final in week one of the post-season. Both are highly likely to finish in the top four no matter what happens in the run home, but if the Bombers drop this game and get overtaken by the Bulldogs, they’ll struggle to catch up given Footscray has clashes with 13th-placed North Melbourne and 14th-placed Coburg to come.
KEY STAT
These teams seem to specialise in winning the ball in different ways. The Bulldogs rank third in the VFL for average contested possessions – led by Rhylee West and Callum Porter – with six more per game than Essendon, which instead ranks first for uncontested possessions (31 more per game than Footscray). Some perhaps unexpected names in Jake Long and Danny Younan lead the Bombers in this category for 2019.
SELECTION NEWS
Bulldogs VFL captain Josh Prudden and recent AFL debutant Rhylee West are back to boost Footscray’s midfield, which loses Will Hayes to the Western Bulldogs’ line-up.
Essendon has lost four stars of last week’s VFL victory in David Myers , Mark Baguley , Josh Begley and Ben McNiece to the AFL Bombers but gets the omitted Michael Hartley back. AFL-listed excitement machine Irving Mosquito also returns from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since VFL Round 13.
I will be busy at a poetry reading this afternoon, so will not be able to
keep up with the scores. I look forward to coming back to this thread at 5pm to read how the game progressed. GO DONNERS!