Semi Final 1996, Essendon vs. West Coast

Game Statistics


ESSENDON.......5.4  9.6  15.10  22.12 (144)
WEST COAST.....0.3  4.11  6.13   8.19  (67)

Goals:

ESSENDON: Alessio 5, Hird, Cockatoo-Collins 4, Fletcher 3, O'Donnell 2,Mercuri, Lloyd, Misiti, Denham 1.
WEST COAST: White 2, Heady, Kemp, Lovell, Evans, Cousins, Morrison 1.

Crowd:

85,656 at the MCG.

Comment:

This was one of the Dons most impressive wins for the year, with the team striking form at exactly the right end of the season. The Dons led from start to finish, and the Eagles never recovered from a blitzing first term by the Dons. It was a sea of waving red and black at the end of the game, with Bomber fans carrying on the tradition, excited as ever.

The Dons controlled the game from the very start and never looked back. A five goals to nil first term meant the end of the much travelled Eagles. The players came out pumped out, determined to prove that they were rightful of their position in the semi finals. Peter Somerville dominated in the ruck, and Sean Denham picked up a ton of possessions around the ground.

The second quarter was much mroe even, with the Eagles fighting back against the Dons. But even though West Coast had much of the play, they weren't able to really get back into the match. To make things worse for the Eagles, James Hird marked and goaled from just over fifty metres out right on teh half time siren. His kicking practice at the MCG during the week certainly paid off. The goals that the Eagles got were from quick turnovers, taking the ball from one end of the ground to the other very quickly, almost catching the Dons defense unawares.

Then the Bombers came out after half time as fired up as they did at the beginning of the game. Stephen Alessio, who had been held all day, grabbed the ball from a throw in in the forward pocket and snapped truly (which seems to be his trademark now, doing it on a regular basis). Then he got the ball again and goaled to give him two in around two minutes. For the rest of the quarter the Dons pushed on, and stretched the lead to 51 points.

The last quarter opened as every Essendon supporter hoped it would - Che Cockatoo-Collins goaled within the first minute. And from there it was all Essendon. One of the highlights of the match was after James Hird came back onto the ground (after he was given a rest) on the backline, he grabbed the ball from about half back and ran all the way up to fifty and goaled from about fifty-five. Of course, the crowd went beserk. Then, the jacket-scraf-flag waving started, and the MCG was awash with red and black.

There were many great players for the Dons today, but some of them included: James Hird, well, enough said; Peter Somerville, who dominated in the ruck all day; Sean Denham, who was back to his possession gathering best; Gavin Wanganeen, who's class on the backline and up the ground again shown through; Barry Young, who's tireless effort was impressive all day; Stephen Alessio, who played an amazing second half after being held in the first; Darren Bewick, who continues his recent good form; and Joe Misiti dominated after starting on the bench.

Well, if the Dons are good enough, they are only two games away from another premiership flag. Only Sydney, and then one of North, Carlton or Brisbane, stand in our way. To win this year would be incredible, and after such an impressive performance today, anything is possible. But, of course, we've got to get over Sydney next week, and up there that will be no easy task. - Brad

From the Coach!

Unfortunately due to 'technical difficulties' the video interview will not appear. Instead I've uploaded the usual audio interview with Sheedy.
[Note: all files are in wave (windows wave file) format. The length and size of the file are indicated for each part. There is also a .zip file of all parts together for those who wish to download all parts in less time.]
Part 1: Great win, big crowd, overcame lack of consistency. (63 sec, 337kb)
Part 2: Accurate, especially for goals. (40 sec, 217 kb)
Part 3: Centre dominance, performances of Somerville, Denham, and Bewick. (43 sec, 233 kb)
Part 4: Good win in the reserves, Lloyd and Alessio discussed. (53 sec, 284kb)
All Parts: 401kb

From the Medical Room...

Mark Mercuri was injured in the second quarter and took no further part in the game. The club is quite guarded about the nature of his injury, and whether or not he'll play this week. Paul Barnard and Sean Wellman also suffered minor injuries during the game, but came back onto the field.

The Statistics for the Match:


Possessions    Kicks          Handballs      Marks
BEWICK      37 BEWICK      25 HIRD        14 BEWICK      10
HIRD        31 DENHAM      18 YOUNG       12 YOUNG        8
DENHAM      28 HIRD        17 BEWICK      12 OLARENSHAW   8
DOOLAN      25 DOOLAN      17 WANGANEEN   11 LLOYD        7
YOUNG       24 MISITI      13 DENHAM      10 HIRD         7
MISITI      23 YOUNG       12 MISITI      10 DOOLAN       6
O'DONNELL   20 LLOYD       12 O'DONNELL    9 O'DONNELL    5
WANGANEEN   20 HARVEY      11 DOOLAN       8 ALESSIO      4
LLOYD       15 O'DONNELL   11 BARNARD      7 COCKATOO-CO  4
OLARENSHAW  15 OLARENSHAW  10 HARDWICK     6 WALLIS       3

The Reserves Report

ESSENDON..........17.17 (119)
NORTH MELBOURNE....7.8 (50)
Well the reserves are through to the Grand Final, with an extremely impressive win over minor premiers North. And it could be that the Dons meet North again in the big one, so you'd have to think that the reserves are a great chance to take out the flag this year. Unfortunately Scott Cummings was reported, but hopefully things will go his way at the tribunal. Chris Daniher made his return this week, boxing helmet and all. So too did David Grenvold. Both started fairly slowly, but soon showed their class above the reserves standard. After Chris has played such a great year, it would be great to see him get back into the seniors again.

The other finals...

BRISBANE..........26.14 (170)
CARLTON...........10.13  (73)
Brisbane went wild at the Gabba on Saturday night, far too good for Carlton. They now must come to Melbourne to face North Melbourne at the MCG, a much harder task

Next Week:

The preliminary final against Sydney at the SCG. Much of this game will depend on whether or not Tony Lockett will be fit to play. Obviously his presence will give the Swans a boost, but remember Essendon beat the Swans with Lockett less than a month ago. But this is the it for the Dons, a win here and they have the chance to win another flag, and a meeting with North, Carlton or Brisbane. But the club will be focused wholly on beating Sydney up north, and hopefully they'll be able to come back home with a win (and a Grand Final berth!)

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