Essendon Round 9 review

My boys finally won a close one.

The Bombers went in favourites on Sunday afternoon, if only for the simple reason it was an away game for the Fremantle Dockers, who’ve shown a complete inability to do the job away from their home ground.

It was a dour game as there were errors galore and the Bombers ground out an important win within the context of their season. Read on for my lessons from Essendon’s Round 9 match-up.

Fifth win in a row over Freo
The Bombers have had the wood over Freo in recent years. It is their longest streak currently running, tied equal with North Melbourne with five consecutive wins over them.

While I am willing to attribute the bulk of this to the Dockers playing the majority of these matches away from home, it does feel good to have the wood on a side, particularly with the hoodoos the Bombers have against sides like the Western Bulldogs and Richmond.

Livin Laverde Loca Parte Dos
I am thinking I will make this a recurring section for these pieces in the future and there ain’t nothing you all can do about it.

I will use this to draw attention to players who I felt have not received the right amount of attention from the talking heads of the football media and who I believe are under-appreciated.

The winner of the second weekly Laverde Loca award is Mason ‘Red Dog’ Redman. Twenty-four disposals at 95 per cent efficiency and a goal on the run, taking his total to four for the year.

Redman is a halfback who does not enjoy losing and will do everything humanly possible to drag the Bombers over the line.

Other players who were considered for this award: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, who is putting forward an All Australian-quality season at the small forward position with 17 disposals and two goals on the weekend – Sunday was no exception.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti of the Bombers (AAP Image/Scott Barbour)

Then, there was Andy McGrath himself.

He appears to be taking something of a back seat to the demonstrative nature of Zach Merrett, and the speed with which Darcy Parrish has taken as a clearance specialist and inside bull.

McGrath had 27 disposals at 70 per cent efficiency, along with eight tackles and six score involvements (equal third on the Bombers side).

He may be somewhat unfairly compared to the players taken after him in the draft, but I believe this detracts from his own contributions, which are special in their own way.

The Bombers win a close one
As has been made extremely apparent in the media considering the Bombers win, there has been speculation on the inability of the Bombers to get the job done in tightly contested games.

I am willing to attribute at least part of this win to the inability of Fremantle forwards to convert their opportunities (Freo kicked 13 behinds, compared to Essendon’s eight), and it made all the difference when the Bombers got over the line.

The closest wins taste the sweetest (though my cardiologist would almost certainly disagree).

Fremantle would’ve lost very few fans in this game, as well. While their reliance on Nat Fyfe and David Mundy bodes poorly for Fremantle, the smooth-moving Adam Cerra, and Liam Henry show hopeful sparks for the future.

Tobe Watson and Griffin Logue will be handy pillars down back for Fremantle going forward.

What they need to work on is converting their opportunities going forward and making sure their players understand that crisp movement on the outside is as important.

Does it count as resting a player if they’re the sub?
Nikolas Cox has been a very good player for the Bombers in his tenure at Essendon.

Nikolas Cox of the Bombers (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

He was initially rested when the sides were named on Saturday, but it was not to be, as Ben Rutten tempted fate naming him as the medical sub.

Devon Smith, unfortunately, paid the price of damaging his hamstring in the third quarter of Sunday, which meant Cox was to come onto the field, thus invalidating the effectiveness of the rest.

While he was hardly as impactful as Matt Guelfi was when he was the sub with five disposals in a quarter of play, he was extremely serviceable. He will benefit from the lessened load for the Bombers, but the medical sub is a work in progress and still easily abused.

This one’s for the AFL…again
Much has been made of the poor umpiring over the weekend and the lower importance given to the appropriateness of the disposal in the middle of a tackle.

However, this is secondary to the point I am making here.

On Sunday, there was a midfield match-up for the ages in Caleb Serong and Zach Merrett going head-to-head, but this resulted in multiple spot fires that the AFL needs to come down hard on, lest a player gets severely hurt.

The head-high hits cannot stand, no matter how soft. It is time the AFL begins to rate action at least as much as the outcome.

Without further ado, let’s go onto the best:

•Andy McGrath (13 votes)
•Dyson Heppell (7 votes)
•Jordan Ridley (5 votes)
•Darcy Parrish (22 votes)
•Mason Redman (14 votes)
•Nick Hind (13 votes).

Leaderboard:
•Zach Merrett (24 votes)
•Darcy Parrish (22 Votes)
•Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (17 votes).

Thanks for reading, Roarers.

I hope you enjoyed my review of the Bombers’ Round 9 clash.

Tune in next week for, hopefully, a positive review of the Bombers’ clash with the hapless Roos on Sunday afternoon.