Roar Guru
A courageous effort from Essendon Bombers was not enough as GWS Giants lead the ladder for the first time in their history, beating the Bombers by 16 points at Spotless Stadium.
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Final score
GWS Giants 18.9.117
Essendon Bombers 15.11.101
The Essendon Bombers travel up to Spotless Stadium this Saturday to take on the second-placed GWS Giants. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 4:35pm (AEST).
With the first of the bye rounds coming into effect this week, both the Giants and the Bombers will be looking to grab a vital win before heading into a well-earned week off, with the Bombers looking for extra reason to celebrate with Brendon Goddard playing in his 300th game.
Coming off their first ever win against West Coast, the Giants possibly grabbed their biggest win of the season, flying up to Perth and beating the Eagles on their own home soil.
It was the opposite of stories for Essendon, with a disappointing loss against Richmond in the annual ‘Dreamtime at the G’ clash being mostly overshadowed by the controversial rushed behind call paid against the Tigers.
It will be a tough task for the Dons, heading up to Spotless where GWS have been undefeated this year.
That isn’t to say that the Dons are completely out of it, however. GWS have won four games out of eight by less than 10 points, three of which were played at Spotless and were by less than a goal.
If the Bombers are to get up on Saturday afternoon, then they will need their midfield to fire against a well-oiled GWS machine. Essendon are ranked 16th for taking the ball inside 50, and GWS are ranked first in clearances, whilst the Bombers are dead last.
Essendon have brought back Brent Stanton, Martin Gleeson and Ben Howlett in replacement for Matt Dea and the injured duo of James Kelly and Darcy Parish, while GWS have only made one change, bringing in the returning Tom Scully for Tim Mohr.
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The player to watch
Toby Greene, who returns from Perth having racked up 25 disposals to go with his 2 goals. Comparisons to Ben Cousins have accompanied the young Giant, so look for him to have a big impact on Saturday.
Prediction
With a season that has been defined as being so hotly contested, you can expect this game to be a cracker, and it makes the match pretty hard to call. While GWS have dominated, as most have expected, there have been speed bumps, and few would have predicted Essendon to be in the position that they currently sit at now.
However, you just can’t go against the favourites, and with the Giants coming off arguably their biggest scalp of the year thus far, I’m going GWS to run away with it.
GWS by 30 points
Can Leon Cameron lead his men to yet another win, putting them strongly in the position of flag contenders? Or will Brendon Goddard find reason to celebrate as the Bombers bully their way into the top eight conversation?
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 4:35pm (AEST).