Melbourne faces an almighty task of defeating an in-form Essendon outfit when they head to the MCG without their inspirational skipper Max Gawn on Saturday night.
The Dees (9-7, 104.4%) had one of their most complete performances last week against West Coast, finally turning around a poor run of form that saw them win just two matches from seven games.
Meanwhile, the Bombers (10-5-1, 99.9%) are sitting pretty in the top four of the AFL ladder, having silenced their critics with a two-goal win over the Pies last week.
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The Dees will turn to Harrison Petty and Jacob Van Rooyen to shoulder the ruck load in Gawn’s absence after Simon Goodwin overlooked ex-Lion Tom Fullarton at selection.
Dyson Heppell returns for the Bombers as Jayden Laverde (managed) makes way.
The match gets underway at 7:30pm from the MCG.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or via Hubbl from 7:15pm.
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There were no late changes for either side, with Taj Woewodin (Melbourne) and Nick Hind (Essendon) named the starting subs.
Bayley Fritsch got the Demons off to the ideal start, booting the opening goal to continue his resurgence after a quiet stretch.
Essendon responded through Kyle Langford though and it was game on at the ‘G. Sam Durham followed it up with a long-range goal to give the Bombers a four-point lead.
The Bombers controlled the play for the majority of the term, with Demons legend David Schwartz on AFL Nation declaring his former club’s defence was “absolutely abhorrent.”
The Dees got two important goals before quarter-time, with Daniel Turner launching a long-range bomb and Kysaiah Pickett capitalising on a Fritsch chase-down tackle.
Essendon took a one-point lead into quarter-time, 3.3 (21) to 3.2 (20).
Hawthorn champion Jason Dunstall noted on Fox Footy Bombers coach Brad Scott would be “alarmed” his side hasn’t gotten more reward despite Sam Draper’s first-quarter dominance (nine disposals, 10 hit-outs, three clearances) against the Gawn-less Melbourne ruck setup.
Rain poured down at the MCG in the second term as the game was played in torrential conditions.
Prioritising territory and simply getting the ball forward, Melbourne kicked the first two goals in the second term to take a 14-point lead.
Essendon got a timely goal through Nic Martin from a classy snap around his body to build some confidence into Brad Scott’s side.
But Jake Melksham swiftly responded at the other end to get the Dees back out to a 14-point advantage.
Jack Viney appeared worse for wear in the second term as he was checked in on by a medico, though it wasn’t clear what the issue was.
Melbourne led 6.6 (42) to 4.5 (2( at half-time.
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Source Agencies
