Team

[Madden]

In: Lovett - Monfires - Peverill - Reimers
Out: Lovett Murray (inj) - Dempsey (inj) - Slattery - Johnson

B - Ramanauskas - Michael - Fletcher
HB - Houli - Ryder - Winderlich
C - Davey - Watson - Nash
HF - McVeigh - McPhee - Reimers
F - Jetta - Lloyd - Lonergan
R - Hille - Stanton - Dyson
I - Lovett - Laycock - Monfries - Peverill

[rama_fan]

Very, very nice.

Can't complain at all given the injuries we have.

[Madden]

Its the team that is named on the website (http://www.essendonfc.com.au/matches/pr ... round_no=3)

But where the hell is Welsh?

[danstar84]

Its the team that is named on the website (http://www.essendonfc.com.au/matches/pr ... round_no=3)

But where the hell is Welsh?

Must not be completely fit yet. Only played a half in the VFL on the weekend. Probably want to get another game under the belt.

[swoodley]

Its the team that is named on the website (http://www.essendonfc.com.au/matches/pr ... round_no=3)

But where the hell is Welsh?

He only played half a game last week...maybe they want him to get through a full game with Bendigo before they bring him back into the team.

[andrewb]

Emergencies: Johns Johnson Slattery

Good team. Interesting that Dyson has been named as rover - that's a massive vote of confidence from Knights.

Personally given Carlton's lack of height I would have brought CJ or Neagle in. The other option would have been to play Hille at CHF and Ryder in the ruck but we don't seem to have anyone in that team that could pinch hit at CHB.

The half back line looks awesome: Houli, Ryder, Winderlich. That is two years from being the best in the comp.

[robrulz5]

Looks like a good team. We should be too fast for Carlton, we will run them off their feet.

[Doctor Fish]

Looks like a good team. We should be too fast for Carlton, we will run them off their feet.

The media have been calling Nick Stevens "Straunie" due to his weight issues. Hope we can run him ragged...

Go Dons!

[Mrs Mercuri]

Nice looking team, i had a feeling that both JJ and Slats would be dropped this week. I would have maybe included someone like Neagle or Johns just to expose Carltons lack of defensive talls but on the whole its a nicely balanced team. Its great to see Reimers in the senor side as well, he really should have been playing the past two rounds given his amazing pre season form.

Does anyone know the Bendigo side?

[BenDoolan]

I like the team. Ideally, it would have been got to see Welsh back. But, I'm please to see Pev back. Goes to show that if you have a shocker (Slatts) you will be replaced by someone just as capable of fulfilling your role. I've hardly seen Reimers play footy, but from what I saw in the NAB Cup, he looks like he's gonna be a gun. Hope all the inclusions have crackerjack games.

[Rossoneri]

Obviously being very careful with Welsh.

Dont mind that team, but we are still short up front.

[jimmyc1985]

A good team. Glad to see that Knights didn't fall for dropping Slattery in favour of Peverill yet still leaving JJ in the team - that would've left us one midfield dinosaur too many.

Lovett really needs to play a good game. I presume, barring injury, he'll get a chance to string a few games together, and really, this is the sort of game he should be able to excel in. We're on the wide-open spaces of the MCG and playing on a Saturday night with fine weather predicted, Carlton are loose-checking and games involving them are almost always high-scoring - conditions are highly conducive to Lovett playing a good game.

[robrulz5]

No CHF....no win.

Lloyd out to CHF with the resting ruckman at FF.

I'd even back someone like Lovett to play at FF, surely he would beat anyone out on a lead.

[gringo]

A good team. Glad to see that Knights didn't fall for dropping Slattery in favour of Peverill yet still leaving JJ in the team - that would've left us one midfield dinosaur too many.

Lovett really needs to play a good game. I presume, barring injury, he'll get a chance to string a few games together, and really, this is the sort of game he should be able to excel in. We're on the wide-open spaces of the MCG and playing on a Saturday night with fine weather predicted, Carlton are loose-checking and games involving them are almost always high-scoring - conditions are highly conducive to Lovett playing a good game.

If Essendon fall into a shoot out with Carlton similar to last week against Geelong, we are going to lose. Their midfield is vastly superior to ours and will make better use of the ball going forwards than we will. It the players don't go into the game with an accountable mindset we are bound for trouble. Stanton, Dyson and Lovett in particular need to work on this aspect of their game.

[andrewb]

A good team. Glad to see that Knights didn't fall for dropping Slattery in favour of Peverill yet still leaving JJ in the team - that would've left us one midfield dinosaur too many.

Lovett really needs to play a good game. I presume, barring injury, he'll get a chance to string a few games together, and really, this is the sort of game he should be able to excel in. We're on the wide-open spaces of the MCG and playing on a Saturday night with fine weather predicted, Carlton are loose-checking and games involving them are almost always high-scoring - conditions are highly conducive to Lovett playing a good game.

If Essendon fall into a shoot out with Carlton similar to last week against Geelong, we are going to lose. Their midfield is vastly superior to ours and will make better use of the ball going forwards than we will. It the players don't go into the game with an accountable mindset we are bound for trouble. Stanton, Dyson and Lovett in particular need to work on this aspect of their game.

Disagree. Their midfield, on paper, is vastly superior to ours. But Judd's not fit, Stevens is fat, Carazzo can't use the ball and Gibbs is still a few years a way from having an impact. The only prime mover on current form is Murphy. We should smash them in the ruck, Watson should get us the first look on most occasions and I've been surprised at the impact that Houli, Davey, Jetta and Lonergan have had in their stints this year. We will kill them if its a shoot-out.

Need to take Waite / Gibbs out of the game as much as possible at half back and watch Murphy carefully. Fill the space in front of Fev and make sure that they never get a run on. Judd needs a first quarter tag and put a burger on the wing so that Stevens stays out of the play.

[gringo]

A good team. Glad to see that Knights didn't fall for dropping Slattery in favour of Peverill yet still leaving JJ in the team - that would've left us one midfield dinosaur too many.

Lovett really needs to play a good game. I presume, barring injury, he'll get a chance to string a few games together, and really, this is the sort of game he should be able to excel in. We're on the wide-open spaces of the MCG and playing on a Saturday night with fine weather predicted, Carlton are loose-checking and games involving them are almost always high-scoring - conditions are highly conducive to Lovett playing a good game.

If Essendon fall into a shoot out with Carlton similar to last week against Geelong, we are going to lose. Their midfield is vastly superior to ours and will make better use of the ball going forwards than we will. It the players don't go into the game with an accountable mindset we are bound for trouble. Stanton, Dyson and Lovett in particular need to work on this aspect of their game.

Disagree. Their midfield, on paper, is vastly superior to ours. But Judd's not fit, Stevens is fat, Carazzo can't use the ball and Gibbs is still a few years a way from having an impact. The only prime mover on current form is Murphy. We should smash them in the ruck, Watson should get us the first look on most occasions and I've been surprised at the impact that Houli, Davey, Jetta and Lonergan have had in their stints this year. We will kill them if its a shoot-out.

Need to take Waite / Gibbs out of the game as much as possible at half back and watch Murphy carefully. Fill the space in front of Fev and make sure that they never get a run on. Judd needs a first quarter tag and put a burger on the wing so that Stevens stays out of the play.

Hmmm. We shall see.

[Madden]

Its all elementary as they are gonna beat us. I've got that feeling. My feelings with Carlton games are rarely wrong.

f*** f*** f*** f*** f***.

[jimmyc1985]

A good team. Glad to see that Knights didn't fall for dropping Slattery in favour of Peverill yet still leaving JJ in the team - that would've left us one midfield dinosaur too many.

Lovett really needs to play a good game. I presume, barring injury, he'll get a chance to string a few games together, and really, this is the sort of game he should be able to excel in. We're on the wide-open spaces of the MCG and playing on a Saturday night with fine weather predicted, Carlton are loose-checking and games involving them are almost always high-scoring - conditions are highly conducive to Lovett playing a good game.

If Essendon fall into a shoot out with Carlton similar to last week against Geelong, we are going to lose. Their midfield is vastly superior to ours and will make better use of the ball going forwards than we will. It the players don't go into the game with an accountable mindset we are bound for trouble. Stanton, Dyson and Lovett in particular need to work on this aspect of their game.

Well, if that's the case, you're conceding we will definitely lose - Carlton conceded an average of 132 points per game last year, and scored an average of about 99 points per game, so an average game involving Carlton (last year) was one in which 231 points in total were scored. Last year, us and the Bulldogs were the teams with the second highest aggregated points for/points against total - our games averaged about 208 points in total last year. Neither us nor Carlton appear to have changed our game plan a huge amount from last year in the sense that both teams play a very 'open' brand of footy.

In light of this, i'd say it's very likely that Saturday night's game will be high-scoring. The winner will probably have to kick somewhere in the vicinity of 18+ goals to win. If, as you say, we're bound to lose through the midfield, then we either have to shut down Fevola, or hope that Lloyd has a day out.

[j-mac31]

No CHF....no win.

Lloyd out to CHF with the resting ruckman at FF.

Well there's a good recipe for a loss. Lloyd gets lost when he has the ball outside 50 and then there is no one closer to kick the goals. McPhee/ruckman/Ryder across CHF would be a much better option.

[robrulz5]

No CHF....no win.

Lloyd out to CHF with the resting ruckman at FF.

Well there's a good recipe for a loss. Lloyd gets lost when he has the ball outside 50 and then there is no one closer to kick the goals. McPhee/ruckman/Ryder across CHF would be a much better option.

McPhee looked lost last week whenever he had the ball.

Ryder will play in defence and the point of resting a ruckman in the forward line is to actually rest him and not put him in the hardest position on the ground.