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Yes people, it's back again, where the forces of good have to stand against the red and black of evil.
It's Essendon Hate Week 2017.
Squads |
| West
Coast Ruck |
B |
Brad Sheppard (5)
|
Tom Barrass (37) |
Shannon Hurn (25) |
Essenscum
Ruck |
| Nathan Vardy (19) |
F |
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (43) |
Joe Daniher (6) |
Conor McKenna (45) |
Matthew Leuenberger (22) |
| Sam Mitchell (1) |
HB |
Sam Butler (26) |
Jeremy McGovern (20) |
Elliot Yeo (6) |
Dyson Heppell (21) |
| Luke Shuey (13) |
HF |
James Stewart (17) |
Cale Hooker (26) |
Travis Colyer (32) |
Orazio Fantasia (13) |
| |
C |
Andrew Gaff (3) |
Matthew Priddis (11) |
Chris Masten (7) |
|
| |
C |
Darcy Parish (3) |
Zach Merrett (7) |
Brendon Goddard (9) |
|
| |
HF |
Dominic Sheed (4) |
Jack Darling (27) |
Mark LeCras (2) |
|
| |
HB |
James Kelly (47) |
Michael Hartley (36) |
David Zaharakis (11) |
|
| |
F |
Fraser McInnes* (36) |
Josh Kennedy (17) |
Liam Duggan (14) |
|
| |
B |
Matt Dea (49) |
Michael Hurley (18) |
Mark Baguley (12) |
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| West
Coast Interchange |
Kurt Mutimer (38), Jamie Cripps (15), Sharrod Wellingham (12), Jack Redden (8), |
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David Myers (23), Joshua Green (15), Jobe Watson (4), Andrew McGrath (1), |
Essenscum
Interchange |
Weather |
 |
Indoor venue
Maximum Temperature:17
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Changes |
Coming off three straight wins, the Eagles might normally go in unchanged, but have not unexpectedly recalled Jamie Cripps to the team. This results in Josh Hill being forced from the team for this weekend's game.
The Scum are unchanged. The Evil runs strong in these ones. |
Injuries and Suspensions |
The Eagles get back Jamie Cripps this week, while Luke Partington, Jackson Nelson and Drew Petrie return to WAFL duties. The list is looking a lot more healthy now than a couple of weeks ago, though there's still a ruck hole of course.
Essendon are missing only a few fringe players from their full roster. |
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Lead up |
The Scum, having their cheat squad back this year, have certainly improved, and are currently in a heretical position of having won at least as many as they've lost (or 4-4 to summarise). Last up they knocked off the unpredictable Cats. Which may be a good result or a bad one, as no one knows really where the Cats stand.
The Eagles have started to shake off the flat track bully tag with three straight wins, of which two were over current top-eight sides (Port and the Bulldogs), while the other was over a surging Purple outfit. It's left the Eagles sitting third on the ladder (percentage off top) with a 6-2 record, and looking like maybe being a contender after all this season, something that looked unlikely after the MCG pounding by the Hawks in round 5. |
Matchups |
The biggest matchup for this week for the Eagles is the trip to Melbourne, though it's back to Docklands, where the Eagles were successful last up in round one. Certainly a win in this game should bury the ''flat track bully'' tag, leaving the MCG question as the main question mark.
The key contests this week include at each end of the ground, with Josh Kennedy wanting to recover from last week's yips that could have been so costly, while Joe Daniher is starting to lead the Essendon forward line well.
While we all know that playing for the Scum is a curse, many fail to truly see just how wrong it is, and many actual Essendon players are in this group. While the Eagles midfield has an edge in class, there will be a few challenges, and as is often the case, it's the ruck that leads them - Essendon have former Lion Matt Leuenberger leading the ruck, while the Eagles go in with the same makeshift combination of Vardy and McInnes. This makes the Eagles work at clearances critical. |
Recent Meetings
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| You can't really read much into last year's thumping of the Injection-Free Bombers... |
| 2016, Round 15 |
Subiaco Oval |
| West Coast |
|
3.4 |
|
8.5 |
|
11.7 |
|
20.10 (130) |
| Essenscum |
|
4.1 |
|
5.5 |
|
5.9 |
|
7.10 (52) |
| Thu 30th Jun 2016 |
West Coast by 78 |
| 2015, Round 11 |
Subiaco Oval |
| West Coast |
|
2.5 |
|
7.7 |
|
9.8 |
|
14.12 (96) |
| Essenscum |
|
2.0 |
|
3.2 |
|
5.7 |
|
6.10 (46) |
| Sat 13th Jun 2015 |
West Coast by 50 |
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Head to Head |
| Overall: |
|
West Coast |
23 |
|
Essenscum |
27 |
|
Draws |
0 |
| At Docklands |
|
West Coast |
3 |
|
Essenscum |
10 |
|
Draws |
0 |
| West Coast biggest win: |
99 points; West Coast 26.19 (175) d Essenscum 11.10 (76) at WACA Ground, 1988, Round 2 |
| Essenscum biggest win: |
142 points; Essenscum 25.10 (160) d West Coast 1.12 (18) at Windy Hill, 1989, Round 15 |
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Summary |
The Eagles should have shaken off travel demons when holding on against the Power a fortnight back. Docklands hasn't held quite the same problems as a certain other Melbourne ground in the last couple of years, and the Eagles would be confident going in on a ground where the record this year is one win from one game.
Essendon (spit) may be vastly improved (as a football team, there is no improving their general wrongness), but the Eagles should have the class to see this one off. |
Prediction: West Coast by 22 points. |
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