Round 13 1995, Essendon vs. Sydney

Game Statistics



ESSENDON.........4.3  8.6 11.14 17.17 (119)
SYDNEY...........7.2 15.7 19.8  21.12 (138)

Goals:

ESSENDON: Salmon 4, Mercuri 3, O'Donnell, Symons, Wanganeen 2, Cockatoo-Collins, Long Hird, Somerville 1.
SYDNEY: Lockett 6, Rocca 4, Cresswell, Grant, Kappler 2, McRae, Direen, Garlick, Bayes, Heuskes 1.

Crowd:

21,853 at the SCG

Comment:

Well what a disappointment, a loss to Sydney. This would have been one of the games at the start of the year pencilled in as a win. But given Sydney's unlikely good form this year (taking the Eagles to within a point last week, and beating Carlton by ten goals in Sydney), the game was always going to be tougher than Essendon's 1-2 odds suggested. Now I only got to watch the game on TV, as much as I hate the medium for watching football, and there seemed to be one glaring problem with the game by the Dons - we just didn't man up at all. In fact it seemed worse than that, nearly every time a Sydney player came up on screen, he was by himself, with 30 metres of free spcae around him. Now I don't know if that was just the magic of TV or not, but it was clear that we weren't playing close enough to our opponents.

Anyway, the game started as though there would be sixty goals kicked for the match, not surprising since the ground is little bigger than the little league field they set up on the MCG at half time (the ground being shortened another three metres before this game). It was Rocca and Lockett that we had to worry about early, both seemed unstoppable. However, I will say that I believe Fletcher played a pretty good game on Lockett, I mean you can't stop every forward thrust, but he did enough to not be really beaten on the day. One good thing about the game was Gavin Wanganeen's form in front of goals again. It seems every time Sheedy moves him up forward he kicks a goal. The goal he kicked against the Swans was exceptional, his ball control, and evasive skills were magnificent. His class up forward certainly sparked something in the otherwise lack-lustre Bombers. Possibly Essendon's best was Gary O'Donnell, who was a steadying influence on a sinking ship.

It was disappointing to see some guys who had been brought up from the reserves to play in this game not able to make their mark. Dean Wallis and Ben Doolan still have work to do, and it was extremely annoying to see Sheedy bring Morgan into the team only to sit him on the bench for most of the game. When he was on the ground, he really put in, more than many other players. After watching him all year in the reserves, he deserved a game in the seniors more than any other player, because he always puts in. It was certainly disappointing that he didn't play more of the game.

At least we did show our fighting spirit to come back at Sydney in the last quarter (I really thought we had a chance at one stage, although we wouldn't have deserved to win after such a poor first half). If we had have kicked straight in the third term, rather than kicking eight behinds, we could have stolen the game in the last quarter.

This game must be looked upon as a learning experience, and we must learn from it if we are to be competitive with the top teams this year. Another set back for the Dons occured in the reserves, with Ricky Olarenshaw suffering an injury, and who knows when he will be back in the seniors. Anyway, let's hope that something good will come from an otherwise disappointing performance. - Brad

Votes:

Votes are always difficult on TV games (sorry, I didn't fly up to Sydney to see the game), because you can't see what's going on around the ground. Anyway:

3 - O'Donnell
A great game by Gary in a disappointing team effort. Once again lived up to his tag - Mr Reliable.

2 - Somerville
One of the Dons most improved players this year. He has really taken to his ruck work this year, and its showing around the ground too.

1 - Wanganeen
With the flair he has, I had to give him a vote. His magical goal really lifted the Bombers, and he showed again what a danger he can be up forward.

Standing after Round 13:

Our loss means we fall back to fifth place, with North slipping ahead by half a game. Collingwood once again showed how fickle they are, absolutely thrashing the Crows at the MCG, while Geelong and Carlton firmed their favoritism for the flag. Things are certainly heating up. The ladder is as follows: 

---------------P--W--L-D--For-Agst---%--Pts
CARLTON.......13 11  2   1332  968 137.6 44
RICHMOND......13 11  2   1260 1087 115.9 44
GEELONG.......13 10  3   1535 1118 137.3 40
NORTH MELB....13  9  4   1332 1225 108.7 36
ESSENDON......13  8  4 1 1378 1130 121.9 34
WEST COAST....13  8  5   1130 1020 110.8 32
COLLINGWOOD...13  5  6 2 1230 1145 107.4 24
HAWTHORN......13  6  7   1111 1074 103.4 24
Melbourne.....13  6  7   1111 1090 101.9 24
Adelaide......13  6  7   1013 1117  90.7 24
Footscray.....13  5  7 1 1008 1261  79.9 22
Fremantle.....13  5  8   1256 1287  97.6 20
Sydney........13  4  9   1280 1300  98.5 16
Brisbane......13  4  9   1163 1372  84.8 16
St Kilda......13  2 11    934 1381  67.6  8
Fitzroy.......13  2 11    981 1479  66.3  8

Next Week:

We must redeem ourselves next week against Adelaide. Given their shocking performance in Melbourne this week against Collingwood, this shouldn't (shouldn't) be too difficult. The loss of Jarman to Adelaide was also a bonus for us. It is good news that Harvey may be right to resume in the reserves this week, but the good is offset with the bad, in that Alessio will not be ready for another week (again). We really need to win next week to stay in touch with the top four.
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