Selection Dissection: Is it a rivalry if they're non-competitive?
Both teams are coming off a win, but one is chasing a top-two finish while the other is celebrating its first victory in almost two years.
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Hawthorn v Essendon
Saturday July 25, MCG @ 4:15pm
On to the next one! Despite the second half being a tough watch at times, we’ll take a 70-point win over the Tigers any day. This week, it’s time to punish the Bombers and hand them a hiding! They’ll be coming off only their second win in their past 31 matches and will be high on confidence, but we really should be winning this game by 50+ points.
Selection should be straightforward this week, with Will Day set to return following a corked calf. Jack Ginnivan will be one to watch after sitting out the second half last week with a sore back, but I expect him to play.
Other than co-captains James Sicily and Jai Newcombe, I’m not sure anyone else needs a rest. With only five weeks left in the home-and-away season, we need to start playing our best possible team heading into finals.
Defenders
A dominant display last week against the Tigers, despite conceding a few junk-time goals. Jarman Impey was best on ground, while it was great to see Josh Battle and Josh Weddle return. Noah Mraz was impressive again in only his third game and deserves to hold his spot.
Essendon’s forward line is stronger than Richmond’s, with Peter Wright and Nate Caddy their main targets, but our defence should once again be too strong this week.
The Midfield
A weird performance against the Tigers last week. We lost the clearance battle, while Newcombe had one of his poorest games of the season. Ward was excellent, particularly in the first half, while Mackenzie was serviceable. He needs to start finding form again after a quiet past four weeks.
Will Day’s return this week will be great to see. Keep an eye on Zach Merrett as it will be a good audition for when he likely joins us next season. Merrett does enjoy playing against the Hawks, so expect him to have 30+ disposals and a goal this week.
Sam Durham is another quality player for the Bombers, and I expect him to go head-to-head with Newcombe in the battle of the mid-season rookie stars.
The Rucks
Meeky backed up his great game against Carlton with another strong performance against Nankervis. Nick Bryan will be his opponent this week and is actually a decent ruckman who works hard around the ground.
I don’t expect Ned Reeves to return from injury this week, but when he is declared fit, it will be fascinating to see what the coaches do. I think they’ll return to the two-ruck setup with a 50/50 split, but I can see the argument against it, with either Chol or Mraz playing the backup role.
The Forwards
The Wizard returned with a bang last week, kicking five, while Mitch Lewis also kicked five and added a few extra dollars to his next contract in the process.
Jack Gunston is due for a bag after kicking only five goals across his past three games. He looked a little frustrated at times last week, so let’s hope he bounces back against the Bombers.
Look for the small forwards in Croc, Moore and Ginnivan all to hit the scoreboard this week. Hopefully, we also see Ollie Greeves get another crack. It was great to see him kick his first AFL goal last week.
It’s likely either him or McCabe who makes way for Day.
Ben Ronke Of The Week
Hussein El Achkar to kick 3+ goals and commentators to dub him the next Wizard. Oh wait, wasn’t that Kako?
What should happen
In - Day
Out - McCabe (omitted)
B: Hardwick - Barrass - Sicily
HB: Impey - Battle - Weddle
C: Morrison - Ward - D’Ambrosio
HF: Moore - Lewis - Ginnivan
F: Watson - Gunston - Chol
R: Meek - Newcombe - Day
INT: B.Macdonald - C.Macdonald - Mackenzie - Mraz- Greeves
Emg: Schubert - McCabe - Maginness
What will happen:
In - Day
Out - McCabe (omitted)
B: Hardwick - Barrass - Sicily
HB: Impey - Battle - Weddle
C: Morrison - Ward - D’Ambrosio
HF: Moore - Lewis - Ginnivan
F: Watson - Gunston - Chol
R: Meek - Newcombe - Day
INT: B.Macdonald - C.Macdonald - Mackenzie - Mraz- Greeves
Emg: Schubert - McCabe - Maginness
In the mix to debut: Aidan Schubert, Cody Anderson
Unavailable: Conor Nash, Jack Scrimshaw, Ned Reeves, Jack Dalton, Karl Amon, Henry Hustwaite
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In the words of Lawrence of Arabia….
No prisoners!
No prisoners!
Just thinking that if we get Crash & Bash back for finals, that will seal off the corridor (and many cages will be rattled).
In the meantime, Having Daysy back will be pretty, pretty good.