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North 14.9.93 defeat Essendon 9.14.68
North completely dominated the second half to run out winners against Essendon tonight.
Essendon put a lot of effort into the game early but eventually experience took over. A push and shove at half time was the last contest that Essendon put in.
North will be pleased with the 9 goal to 3 second half but still a lot questions remain unanswered for a team who were thought to be potential grand finalists at the start of the year.
Todd Goldstein played a classic game in the ruck. 27 disposals 55 hit outs. If he played for the other side Essendon may have won.
Harvey was good, Ziebell took control in the last quarter and Ben Jacobs kept Heppell to just 16 disposals.
For Essendon Goddard and Stanton got plenty of it and Cale Hooker took 13 marks up forward, he just needs to improve his goal kicking.
North did enough. They now have a good draw and will push into the eight. They still need to improve if they are to make any noise in September though.
For Essendon it is now time to play the younger inexperienced players and they will benefit from this and look to next year to improve up the ladder.
Overall it was Goldstein’s night and 3 more Brownlow votes to the North big man.
Will James Hird coach? Find out when the North Melbourne Kangaroos take on the Essendon Bombers this Friday night. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:30pm (AEST).
It’s been a tough year for AFL coaches and this week didn’t get any better. James Hird was involved in a cycling accident and ended up in hospital for the night with concussion.
It will be interesting to see if he is able to take on the full job in this match.
His counterpart in Brad Scott has only just returned to duties, after a back operation left him laid up on the couch and unable to coach North. There will certainly be a lot of interest directed to the coaches’ boxes tonight.
These two teams met in Round 7 and North were winners by 11 points. They have not progressed too far since then and are very inconsistent with their effort. It is because of this that Brad Scott is not confident of what North will dish up this week.
Essendon have dropped off and unlike North are probably out of the finals race.
Drew Petrie misses through suspension, stopping the longest run of current players for consecutive games (105 games). He is sure to be missed.
Todd Goldstein is the big factor in this game. He will dominate the ruck and give North first use of the ball. If it wasn’t for Nat Fyfe we may be talking Goldstein up for the Brownlow, so good his form has been.
North is also at their best when they play hard in and under football. Key players in Jack Ziebell and Andrew Swallow need to lead the charge. It will also be interesting to see if ‘Boomer’ Harvey gets the subs vest again.
Essendon want to salvage something from the year and would like to continue on from an improved showing last week.
Michael Hurley had a great game in defence and without Petrie North may find Hurley hard to pass. It will be interesting to see if Cale Hooker plays back or forward as he too is having a reasonable year.
Dyson Heppell is their best playmaker and he allows Brett Stanton to get off the chain and gather the disposals. It is also good to see Ben Howlett back in the team as I think he contributes with strong forward pressure.
Prediction:
North have more to play for and Essendon have dropped away since round seven. North by 18 points.
Will North finally win two in a row and make a charge for the eight or will Essendon show some fighting spirit on the big Friday night stage?
Join The Roar Friday at 7:30pm (AEST) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
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