It will be the battle of the sash as neighboring clubs Coburg and Essendon battle for supremacy in the ABC broadcast match of the round at Mantello Oval, Coburg at 1:10 pm this Saturday. Steve O’Brien previews the match.
Coburg who sit 13th on the ladder with 1 win and 3 losses have not been far off the pace. A fortnight ago they led the Northern Blues early in the last quarter only to be overrun by 26 points. Last week they got the jump on the Box Hill Hawks at Whitehorse Road before once again being overrun, this time by 28 points – Nathan Foley in outstanding form.
Essendon, who are currently 7th on the ladder ( 2and 2) showed a form and commitment reversal last week. A week earlier they appeared slow and failed to run and spread in their big loss at the hands of Casey. Against North Ballarat they appeared lightning quick and had options every time they were in possession and defensively shut down their Rooster opponents, recording a 36-point win at Eureka Stadium.
At selection Coburg has been strengthened by the inclusion of Robin Nahas and Jake Batchelor, back from the AFL whilst Shane Tuck comes back from injury. Missing will be Brett O’Hanlon and Matthew McDonough. Sam Lonergan in his second game for his new club should be cherry ripe to go up against his former Essendon team mates.
At Essendon Matthew Firman will play his first game for the club in many years. A former Essendon rookie, he captained and played with great distinction at Geelong. He returned to Essendon this year as one of the VFL listed players. Young star Joe Daniher returns after being rested last week and Travis Colyer is back after AFL duties. They have a huge void to fill with big outs in Tayte Pears, Leroy Jetta and Jake Melksham all recalled to the AFL side.
Josh Freezer who was outstanding against Aaron Edwards last year is still not required and will once again run around for Old Melbournians. Edwards has been on a roll kicking 12 goals in his past 2 matches – he looms as the danger man for Coburg. Luke Davis may have to step out of his weight division and take the match up.
Another interesting battle will be former Calder Cannons team mates Liam McBean for Coburg and Sean Gregory for the Bombers, both very tall but also very slight. McBean has been kicking goals and Gregory, who has been described as a Dustin Fletcher prototype will need to be on his game.
Coburg appears to have possible match ups for Daniher with Ben Griffiths the man most likely for the job. David Astbury could be another candidate.
The 23 rd man for each side will be Omar Abdallah for the tigers and Fabian Brancatisano who was very lively for the Dons in his debut last week
VERDICT: I think Coburg boasting a selected onball division of Orren Stephenson, Foley and Lonergan and possibly Tuck in the centre will pack too many punches for the Bombers and record a 25 point win.
Last Modified on 03/05/2013 11:51