Round 6 1995, Essendon vs. Brisbane

Game Statistics

ESSENDON..........5.1 12.5 16.9  19.14 (128)
BRISBANE..........4.3  8.4 11.12 14.16 (100)

Goals:

Essendon: Hird, Cockatoo-Collins, Alessio 3, O'Donnell, Long, O'Connor 2, Mercuri, Bewick, Somerville, Young 1.
Brisbane: Hart 5, McAdam, Starcevich, Lappin 2, Fletcher, Leppitsch, Merrett.

Crowd:

17,292 at Optus Oval

Comment:

Where did those boots get too? And why didn't Essendon win by ten goals? Just some of the questions being asked after this fairly lacklustre game of football. The Bombers always seemed to be in control. Each and every quarter they would start out on fire, always kicking a number of goals in the first ten minutes or so. But then, given that they had done the hard work, the Dons decided to have a little rest in the second half of each quarter. This was the story of the day.

There were patches of brilliance by some players - James Hird was one of the best, with some amazing work done on the forward line. Michael Long delighted in his 40 possessions, using his pace to wreak havoc across the small Optus Oval. Mercuri also gathered numerous possessions. But it seems the Essendon will to "overuse" the ball may be a problem. Many people have criticised the Bombers for "playing" around with the ball too much, too many handballs and short kicks, not enough direct play. Yet this is the idea of the game, keep possession until a clear avenue into attack becomes evident, and then go for it. In a game that didn't really reach any great heights, there really isn't much more that can be said.

Standing after Round 6:

Another win for the Bombers, and we remain in third spot, and Carlton and Richmond are still unbeaten. It was good to see Fitzroy get their first win of the season (and see Collingwood third from the bottom). The ladders is as follows:

--------------P-W-L-D-For-Agst--%---Pts
CARLTON.......6 6 - - 671 381 176.1 24
RICHMOND......6 6 - - 569 451 126.2 24
ESSENDON......6 5 - 1 694 451 153.9 22
GEELONG.......6 5 1 - 695 491 141.5 20
WEST COAST....6 4 2 - 495 414 119.6 16
FOOTSCRAY.....6 4 2 - 520 640  81.3 16
FREMANTLE.....6 3 3 - 641 537 119.4 12
HAWTHORN......6 3 3 - 531 456 116.4 12
Adelaide......6 3 3 - 487 490  99.4 12
North Melb....6 3 3 - 507 569  89.1 12
Sydney........6 2 4 - 624 620 100.6  8
Brisbane......6 2 4 - 578 688  84.0  8
Fitzroy.......6 1 5 - 432 728  59.3  4
Collingwood...6 - 5 1 467 598  78.1  2
Melbourne.....6 - 6 - 465 561  82.9  -
St Kilda......6 - 6 - 351 652  53.8  -

Next Week:

A big test for the Dons next week, with Carlton at the MCG. This is only our third game at the MCG so far this year, and the last two have attracted large crowds (especially Collingwood) and I would expect this one to be the same. Carlton are unbeaten so far, and seem to be in top form. The good news for Essendon is that Kernahan and Williams are expected to miss the game.

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