Anzac Day. Pies v. Dons.

[think positive]

Any five day turnaround presents as a genuine challenge to all players concerned. To be fair, Essendon only played the night before, so they basically have a 5.5 day turnaround. If we’ve rotated and managed our senior players regularly in the first six rounds, I don’t see why we wouldn’t introduce a change or two after a five day break. Pulling Harrison and Sullivan out of the VFL was a telling decision, especially given the seniors had already played ( I’m assuming here both were fit to play )
No player wants to miss this game but it’s important Collingwood continue to play the long game with our senior players. Not sure what to expect but the possibility of some sort of change to the 22 seems like a serious option to me.

they also had to travel interstate, so I call it even

[lazzadesilva]

Will be close to a full house with both teams in good form.

Good form? You called Port a better team, our season over, the coach's time done...

[RudeBoy]

It should be a top game as the Bombers are clearly a team on the improve. Nevertheless, if we bring our full intensity game to the fore, we should win comfortably.

I'm not expecting any changes to our team, which would be the first time in a long while that we've gone into 3 successive games with an unchanged line-up. This suggests that Fly is happy with the performance of our current line-up, but also recognises that the cupboard in our VFL team is rather bare.

The only possible change, which I don't expect, would be to replace McInnes with a midfielder as the sub.

Pies by 20 pts.

[qldmagpie67]

I tend to agree with Pies2016
Holding Sullivan and Harrison out of the VFL and our plan on resting veterans on a rotational basis (or injury or soreness) and coming off a 5 day break again there will likely be 1 change maybe 2.
For mine I would give McInnes a game in the VFL and bring in some run.
If any of the veterans are deemed sore or if the coach has specific plans then maybe a second change
I remember Pies2016 talking about integrity in selection and hence that the less changes we make the better.
Of all the veterans who played last week it would be hard to leave one out other than for injury or soreness. Sidey was likely the “quietest” in terms of match impact but he wasn’t bad enough to dropped either. Play seemed to be played predominantly on the opposite wing for long periods and young Burgoyne seemed to have a roving license and Sidey stuck to our plan and let him go snd he didn’t really and didn’t really do any damage with his 21 touches even with his extra speed.
Essendon are no joke but aren’t overly consistent quarter by quarter and if bring our best pressure game they won’t be able to handle it.
Merritt is there absolute barometer so using the Australian cricket terminology we need to take there captain out of the game (so to speak)
He’s been in good form so limiting his impact will be vital.
Draper drifting forward adding Wright is back this week means we may be undersized in defence at times as well so slowing down there ball movement is critical
If play like we did the last 3 quarters last week we win
Also we need to start addressing our glaring percentage differential soon. We could had been in the 8 this week except for that.

Pies by 15 points
JDG wins Anzac Day medal

[lazzadesilva]

I’m worried about the impact Wright and Draper will have on their forward line. Our defence will need to be switched on right from the start and cut down their space when running for marks. Overall as others have said, if we play at our best level, we will be able to get the four points in a very exciting and close game. However if the Collingwood that turns up is not “up” for the game, then it becomes a problem that may lead to a loss.

[Culprit]

I see this as a battle of the midfield. Merret is one most say to stop, but I say we need to stop Nic Martin as well. They will play four Talls to expose us but I feel that will bring in our running game. It's an even game despite the odds. A draw.

[CPtechno12]

I’m worried about the impact Wright and Draper will have on their forward line. Our defence will need to be switched on right from the start and cut down their space when running for marks. Overall as others have said, if we play at our best level, we will be able to get the four points in a very exciting and close game. However if the Collingwood that turns up is not “up” for the game, then it becomes a problem that may lead to a loss.

Essendon might be too tall if the play all of Goldstein, Draper, Wright and the other really tall forward. There's been talk about playing one ruck and a forward/ruck - if Draper isn't taking his chances as has been the case - they might go with just Goldstein and a chop out from Wright.

[Pies2016]

Remember when “ we “ were all worried about Ports midfield a few days ago.
System will overcome personnel more often than not. Bombers have got some threats but so have we. We’ve played our brand for 8 of our last 12 quarters and that’s accounted for the Lions, Port and the Hawks. Anything similar should be more than enough to account for the Bombers.

[Gerry Cooper]

One thing I'm always pleased about when I read these pre-game threads is that none of the seers advocating this or that change have anything to do with actual team selection.

[lazzadesilva]

^^^^

Yeah that’s generally the case but occasionally we strike gold from one or two brilliant posters who somehow have the club connections to get it right on!

[Raw Hammer]

Very confident. Essendon were borderline poo vs a lacklustre Crows (and should have lost). We finally played in front of a pro-Magpie crowd in a home game at the MCG (the game vs Sydney doesn’t count, that was still pre season for mine), and the players relished it. If we’re serious, and can withstand the usual Stringer arse and Two Metre Peter aerial dominance vs us, we should win by 20+ points.

[Raw Hammer]

I mean let’s be honest, the reigning premiers have been rewarded with:

Away game at GWS to open our defence
Home MCG game vs interstate team (Sydney) … we had played two games before the rest of the comp. had even started their season
Away team at the MCG on a Thursday night (our third game before the league had played two games)
Away game at the Gabba
‘Home’ game at Adelaide
Home MCG game vs interstate team (Port) with [finally] some fresh legs

[Piesnchess]

Will be close to a full house with both teams in good form.

Good form? You called Port a better team, our season over, the coach's time done...

And beating the better team on the weekend would suggest good form.

Crows were robbed, that halfwit Draper laying his arse all over the ball, automatic free kick, big Texan goals, Dons done, very lucky mob that one.

[Piesnchess]

ha ha, what a joke, the so called Essendon ****, edge allright, first 20mins of crash and bash , thuggery , to upset opponent, then the dickheads run out of gas, and other side hits back hard. We can and will take these overrated pricks, and their shitty edge, Woods by 22 points, lock it in.

[Larry]

Does anyone know if there is an open training on today?