McNeice come in because he has earnt it. oH 2 weeks in a row
Pick who comes out you reward players who deserve and puts pressure on players on the borderline
Clarkson says so
Comes in when thereâs a spot, right now thereâs no vacant spot in our backline
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I wonder if we could play McKenna on the wing and play Mcneice in his spot. Mcneice isnât slow and doesnât have he same dash, but is better over head and seems to have good a defensive game
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He was good today but letâs not get carried away. Been found wanting at the top level before
Our defence is elite at the moment, canât fit Francis in. Why make room for mcneice?
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McNeice has shown several times he isnât up to it. Barring injuries I canât see him getting a call up anytime soon
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Makes things happen and doesnât lose contests.
Didnât see the forward positioning stuff because I was watching on tv
When Mo22ie gets a tank, we are gonna need to hand out tissues in the crowd.
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I thought the same - Francis was ok, nothing more. Didnât clunk much.
Has an explosive burst of speed
Whyâs he on the list then, back up fo sho
Depth if we lose a couple of small defenders.
No way are we moving Saad or McKenna just to fit him in
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Most of the AFL boys were at WH today. More importantly, Woosha was there too. I didnât spot him until half time but he spent the 2nd half watching the game very closely.
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I didnât see if Buckley was there, and did the principled thing and got stuck into the Pie fans for abusing Wells.
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The top-of-the-table Bombers kicked a six-goal-to-one second term, ultimately sealing the 15.12 (102) to 9.11 (65) Anzac win at Windy Hill on Saturday afternoon.
Essendon got on the board early through a Jayden Laverde goal just two minutes in, before some hard running from Kyle Langford (25 disposals, one goal) set up Jordan Houlahan (10 disposals, three goals) with a shot of his own.
Things turned sour when Laverde came off late in the first with a hamstring complaint, but being one down on rotations early didnât seem to phase the boys.
The Bombers werenât afraid of taking the game on by using the corridor to their advantage, which worked a treat for them in the first half.
Irving Mosquito (one goal) was a prime example, using his speed to not only close in on his opponents, but to create space and opportunities inside 50.
Essendon had immense pressure across the ground and set up well behind the ball, which left Collingwood struggling to get past the centre circle.
Down by 52 points at the main break, the Magpies were able to turn things around and outscore the Bombers in the second half.
But their chase had been left too late, as Essendon responded to the challenge by matching each of Collingwoodâs fourth-quarter goals with one of its own.
Anzac Medal winner Ben McNiece (26 disposals) defended well across half-back, while Nino Lazzarro (14 disposals) and Sam Draper (18 disposals, 47 hit-outs) also had a good impact on the game.
Vice-captain Danny Younan (19 disposals) was brilliant around stoppages, while Dylan Clarke (24 disposals, one goal) and Langford made great decisions and used the footy well.
Senior coach Dan Jordan was impressed with the clubâs start to the season, which now reads as three wins from as many games and first position on the ladder.
âWeâre really happy with the three games weâve played. Our first half was exceptional today in terms of how we moved the ball and our pressure around the contest,â Jordan said.
âTo Collingwoodâs credit, they lifted after half-time and really challenged us in the second half.
âIt was probably the first time weâve been challenged in that area, so it was good to see our boys build into a more basic, contested type of footy and respond to that.â
Jordan said the boys were âkeen on asserting their authority earlyâ, and if the scoreboard at the main break was anything to go by, they were successful in doing so.
â(I think our early dominance) stemmed from our work around the contest, our work on the outside and being able to get some clearances, and also having some smart ball use and converting,â he said.
âBenny (McNiece) was outstanding across half-back, heâs been building into some really nice form and has progressively been getting better every week. Iâm happy to see him put in a really solid game.â
Looking ahead, Jordan acknowledged it was still early days in âthe long seasonâ.
âWeâve got some really good sides coming up in the next month, so weâll definitely find out a bit more about our group during that period,â he said.
Essendon VFL has another seven-day turnaround before facing Geelong in a curtain-raiser to the Country Game at 11:50am on Sunday, May 5 at the MCG.
The VFL Bombers sing the song at Windy Hill after their solid win over the Pies. (Photo: Ben Johnstone)
ESSENDON 4.3 10.8 11.9 15.12 (102)
COLLINGWOOD 1.4 2.4 6.9 9.11 (65)
Goals: Houlahan 3, Begley, Francis 2, Berry, Clarke, Ham, Heppell, Langford, Laverde, McKenna, Mosquito.
Disposals: McNiece 26, Langford 25, Clarke 24, Younan 19, Draper 18.
Brooke Varney is in the final year of her Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree at RMIT University. As part of their strategic partnership, Essendon Football Club and RMIT University are committed to providing opportunities for students, staff, players and the wider community.
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Iâd like to amend this post: it actually went bounce bounce bounce GOAL.
Apologies for the inaccuracy.
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Woosh is always there, virtually whenever the AFL game doesnât clash heâs there, easily the most consistent watcher of anyone associated with the AFL.
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Not sure if champion data had the work experience kid calling the stats for the VFL game yesterday but watching it was very clear Langford had been done out of some stats, seems theyâve re-coded the game today and his tally has gone up 5 to 29 for the game. No one elseâs changed significantly I donât think.
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Where does that show up? Not on the footy live app.
But that is good
Has been updated in the VFL app, but not Footy Live.
Langford and McNeice now tied on 29 disposals.
There are other changes, such as Draper getting 2 extra handballs to reach 20 disposals.
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Langford has been handballing a lot more this year than previously.
He has either got a new role or he has lost confidence.
He was far more damaging in the previous two seasons.