Matchups
Round 19 - Adelaide
This preview focuses on our Round 19 clash with Adelaide, analysing how both teams stack up on paper. While matchups are fluid during games, this exercise should give a general idea of team selection, helping to anticipate key matchups and possible positional twists.
*To keep things simple, ONE Essendon player is matched to ONE opposition player. Therefore, this is only meant as a guide and not to be taken as gospel.
DEFENCE
RIDLEY
Himmelberg
McKAY
Thilthorpe
KELLY
Rachele
MARTIN
Keays
LAVERDE
Fogarty
McGRATH
Murphy
Bench:
REDMAN
Taylor
Unlike Melbourne last week, Adelaide will look to stretch us for height. In particular, Himmelberg is likely to get a favourable matchup, whether it be Ridley or Laverde. Since Fogarty is a beast who will be engaging in wrestling matchesall night, this does not suit Ridley who prefers to time his run and jumps at the ball. Therefore, Laverde will take Fogarty while Ridley takes Himmelberg. Regarding their smalls, Kelly should take care of Rachele who is not in the greatest form. This leaves our half-backs in Martin, McGrath, and Redman. I suspect Keays may get a defensive forward role on Martin to limit his rebound so look out for that matchup across the night. Murphy may also get a defensive role, instead going into the midfield to tag Merrett (tagged Neale in the second half of round 17). Regardless, there are no obvious matchups for McGrath and Redman, leaving me hoping they might have big days.
MIDFIELD
DUURSMA
Scholl
DURHAM
Dawson
JONES
Dowling
GOLDSTEIN
O’Brien
CALDWELL
Laird
MERRETT
Berry
Bench:
SHIEL
Soligo
COX
Cook
Expanding on the previous section, Murphy may be utilised in a tagging role on Merrett. If I was Matthew Nicks, it is certainly what I would be doing. We do not seem to be able to handle it at the moment with Alex Cincotta, Tom Atkins, and Alex Neal-Bullen all doing tremendous jobs. If they do elect to back in their midfielders and go head-to-head, we should have an advantage on the spread with the likes of Merrett and Shiel providing a nice contrast of outside run to Caldwell’s inside grunt. I still feel as though that we are a contest midfielder short with either Hobbs or Setterfield capable of fulfilling that role. Marvel stadium, however, is a quick deck and perhaps we are looking to significantly exploit this outside advantage. Looking back on our previous matchup with Adelaide (round 6), Dawson got off the chain and had a massive game, propelling his side forward after a slow start. It will be interesting to see whether Durham or Perkins get the job on him. Last time it was Durham, but Perkins has since done some big jobs, most recently on Jordan De Goey in round 17. Lastly, Goldstein has been recalled and should at least provide better service to our midfielders, possessing superior tapwork to Draper.
FORWARDS
PERKINS
Hinge
CADDY
Murray
GRESHAM
Nankervis
STRINGER
Michalanney
DRAPER
Butts
LANGFORD
Keane
Bench:
GUELFI
Bond
MENZIE
Smith
Let’s address the elephant in the room: no Peter Wright. A selection statement made, and probably one that has been coming for a while. I do, however, wonder if tonight was the right time to drop Wright considering we are playing under the roof at Marvel, a ground he has a strong record at. Regardless, the move has been made and we get to see another iteration of our ever-changing forward mix; this time with Draper spearheading it. Scanning for a weakness in Adelaide’s back six, they do seem to lack bounce off the half-back line. Therefore, it is now or never for either Perkins or Gresham to have a big game and show us why they belong. Particularly with Archie, no more defensive work please Brad Scott. He has flair and dash, let him use it. Stringer will most likely get the tough Michalanney matchup. Like McVee last week, Michalanney typically takes the opposition’s goal sneak. Since we lack one, his next most likely opponent is Stringer. Let’s hope Jake shows a bit more fight this time against another relatively inexperienced opponent. Lastly, let’s hope all of Gresham, Guelfi, and Menzie play together. We have looked a small forward short for a while and it would be a shame if Menzie was named as the sub.
VERDICT
We have an unbelievable recent record against Adelaide, having beaten them the last seven times. The last time we lost to them was in 2017, the year the Crows won the minor premiership before eventually losing to Richmond in the Grand Final. It is a surprising stat given how average we have been for the past decade. Regardless, we are again the favourites heading into this matchup and should be getting the job done at Marvel. This level of favouritism is further exacerbated by the absences of Rankine and Walker, two of their most dangerous forwards. Overall on paper, they look the more workmanlike side with players such as Laird, Berry, Murray, Keays, etc all blue-collar inside players; we look the more instinctive side with players such as Merrett, Martin, Gresham, Stringer all x-factor outside players. Hopefully the perfect conditions under the roof bias our outside attributesand limit their inside ones.
TIP: Essendon by 12 points.
James Youil (13-year Essendon Member)
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