Gws v essendon

[MC Gusto]

Gws absolutely smashing the top ups.

Not drawing too much from a praccy match but you'd have to say it doesn't bode well for the saints given we only really took hold in the last

[SaintPav]

yep.

[saintspremiers]

Given round 1 is at Etihad I'm expecting it to be close 1st half.

Then an ugly second half. GWS will beat us comfortably.

[Bluthy]

We had a damn tough road trip to Brissy and back week before, played in hot conditions and then travelled out to Morwell. I knew Dons makeshift team would be fired up in their first game and play a scrappy, contested game against our very inexperienced team. They will be struggling for fitness now like they did in the last qtr against us. GWS have talent galore that is starting to bloom. Nothing surprising in any of this.

[samuraisaint]

we will win round 1 by 5 points.

[Linton Lodger]

The ground we played them on was half the size! No spaces. Ess Top Ups exposed in the space against GWS. We'd had done similar to them at Etihad.

[kosifantutti]

I hear Sydney are really worried about playing us after they got smashed by Brisbane.

[spert]

As far as I'm concerned, round 1 is a win to us.

[plugger66]

As far as I'm concerned, round 1 is a win to us.

I hope you are right but I cant see how we beat them based on last years form and the fact they will improve and we probably will go backwards based on our players lost and gained.

[samuraisaint]

We need a good showing against Hawthorn next week to build on the good form we have shown so far. I don't think we have been too bad at all. Yes, we have injuries and a lot of players who have played less than twenty games, but I am genuinely excited about our prospects of development. I still think we will really struggle but my expectations are different this year than they were last year.
I look forward to guys getting games on merit, and once in given a few matches to acclimatise to the change in pace.

[bergholt]

we will win round 1 by 5 points.

Looks like it. They won by 45, we won by 50.

[bergholt]

We played them round 2 last year and scraped over the line by 7 points.

That team for us was:

Hickey, Jones, Savage, Hayes
Montagna, Riewoldt, Geary, Newnes, Roberton, Gilbert
Armitage, Delaney, Ray, Dempster, Curren, Stanley
Gwilt, Wright, Saunders, Dunstan, Maister, Templeton

Definite outs: Jones, Hayes, Gilbert, Ray, Stanley, Gwilt, Maister (maybe also Curren)
Possible ins: Fisher, Bruce, Membrey, Lee, Lonie, Steven, Shenton, Weller

Are we that much weaker? Maybe not. Hayes is a big out but Steven and Fisher are pretty big ins. The rest are basically a wash.

I don't know much about GWS, but here's some guesses based on the squad that played Essendon:

Definite outs: Patton, Giles, Hunt, Frost, Plowman
Possible ins: Griffen, Patfull, Davis, Palmer, Tomlinson, Buntine, McCarthy

Stronger or weaker? No idea TBH. Probably a little stronger. But obviously we have to take into account the extra experience these guys now have, and the extra pre-season. More of their guys are young and improving, more of ours are old and dropping off.

They should beat us, but still, I'd hope it's not too easy.

[spert]

Well last year's teams were a total uncompetitive flop, and as far as I'm concerned, I see more competitiveness and skill in the couple of outings we have had this pre-season, than I saw anytime last season

[plugger66]

Well last year's teams were a total uncompetitive flop, and as far as I'm concerned, I see more competitiveness and skill in the couple of outings we have had this pre-season, than I saw anytime last season

You missed the first 2 games last season?

[samuraisaint]

Montagna didn't play against them last year either. I think we can defintely get over them down here. Just.

[bergholt]

Montagna didn't play against them last year either. I think we can defintely get over them down here. Just.

Yeah he did:

http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/20 ... 40329.html

25 touches, 11 contested possessions, 4 clearances, 4 tackles, 1 goal

[resaintlee]

I'd like to think we played the first three quarters trying a few new things out, then played the last quarter for the fans.