Essendon hosts Adelaide at Marvel Stadium in an intriguing clash to commence Round 19 on Friday night.
The Bombers (10-6-1, 98.8%) are rebounding from a disappointing loss to Melbourne last Saturday and are looking to continue their recent dominance over the Crows.
Meanwhile, Adelaide (6-10-1, 105.0%) is hoping to cause an upset at Docklands that would send shivers through Essendon as it shapes a finals assault.
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‘We have no idea, we really don’t’ | 01:22
Essendon has won seven consecutive games against Adelaide, dating back to 2017. Further, the Bombers have won four consecutive games against the Crows at Marvel Stadium.
Brad Scott made an interesting call at selection, recalling veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein in place of key forward Peter Wright (omitted) as the Dons take two rucks into Friday night’s clash. Dyson Heppell and Nick Hind were also dropped.
Matthew Nicks’ match committee made an eyebrow-raising call of their own, opting to rest stalwart forward Taylor Walker and include defender Mitch Hinge.
St Kilda great Leigh Montagna had Essendon “in the gun” in the lead-up to Friday night.
“It was really disappointing,” Montagna told Fox Footy of the Bombers’ Round 18 loss to the Demons. “I’ve got them in the gun because they play in the third-lowest pressure rating games for the season.
“When they have played in high-pressure games, they are now 3-4-1. They’re 7-2 in low-pressure games, where it’s under 180 — the pressure number that we use as average — and they’ve failed the test three out of the last four times.
“You’ve got to start to question: are they strong enough around the contest and are they desperate enough? I’m putting it on Essendon. They’ve done some great things this year and they’ve made progress, but in these big games against strong opposition, I don’t think they’ve stood up — and that’s the next level they’ve got to get to if they want to win a final.”
The game gets underway at 7:40pm AEST from Marvel Stadium.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or via Hubbl from 6:30pm AEST.
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Source Agencies
