Pre-Match. Magpies v. Bombers. All comments.

[inxs88]

With McCreery and Murph out, why not give Ash Johnston a run, he can play well in big matches, can kick long goals too, see what he can do now, pre Finals, I reckon hed get goals v the Dons, whose backs r now woeful, even Scott admits that.

"He can play well in big matches"??? When?

[K]

Yep, with 2 rucks Howe goes back...we are also playing 2 inside mids with another one as the sub. ...

Disappointing if Howe plays back. Need to give the Howe forward experiment at least a month, which it will be if he plays forward.

Draper and Wright are out. No need for more Pies back.

[K]

What should be a regulation win is now a genuine 50:50 game. Bombers will be throw everything at us even though they are very unlikely to play finals.

Err... No...

Bumbers need to win something like 160-40 AND have another game decided by the same sorta margin.

Sheesh... If the Pies can't win this one...

[Piesnchess]

With McCreery and Murph out, why not give Ash Johnston a run, he can play well in big matches, can kick long goals too, see what he can do now, pre Finals, I reckon hed get goals v the Dons, whose backs r now woeful, even Scott admits that.

"He can play well in big matches"??? When?

He is always good for a couple of goals most matches, do you forget that magnificent mark he took in goal square some weeks ago, one of the marks of the season. Hes worth persevering with, he does have footy smarts.

[Magpietothemax]

He is always good for a couple of goals most matches, do you forget that magnificent mark he took in goal square some weeks ago, one of the marks of the season. Hes worth persevering with, he does have footy smarts.

AJ is a work in progress. He is not always good for a couple of goals, especially in games where the stakes/pressure are high. He has scintillating skills which dazzle when they occur, but those sparks of brilliance are separated by too many lacunae of absence and non-impact.
I think Ash may well miss out on a finals berth precisely because of his failure to impact consistently and apply pressure. If this eventuates it will test him. How will he respond? With a massive preseason next year, and the drive to establish himself as a fully fledged AFL player? Or will he head in the opposite direction?

[Magpietothemax]

Every team has fundamental problems, hopefully we can cover up ours...

I have every confidence that the Pies will bounce out of the blocks on Friday night and win handsomely.

No Murphy, Moore, Johnson, Nick Daicos, Mccreery

Gives a great chance for others to shine

We still have a very good team and I think Essendon will be weakened by putting players out to surgery etcetera...

Floreat Pica

Exactly true, every team has fundamental weaknesses. No team is perfect.
Essendon have Wright, Stringer missing from their forward line. Weideman has come in, and Langford is still in, but we have Frampton who surely can cover Weideman while Maynard can cover Langford. Let's face it, half of Essendon's preferred forward line is out, and their gun ruckman is out.
I will be extremely worried if we cannot win this game easily, given what is at stake for us. What is at stake for us is a game to rev up the engine. Fly says that a whole new season begins in September. I don't entirely agree. This game is a chance for us to rekindle, reaccustom ourselves to the energy and desperation we will need in September. There is nothing in life that is completely disconnected from everything else.

[3rd degree]

We are very short down back. I thought Will Kelly or Ruscoe may have been a chance.

[Piesnchess]

I read the article by Cornes the doomsayer, above and I have but three things to point out to him, and other panic merchants in the media and on here. Football matches are all different, every match is different. Fact. As Fly said so well yesterday, home , away games totally different to the Finals , a new season starts in two weeks. I do recall, in 1958, Magpies lost all games to the Dees, including a thrashing in the second semi final to them. WE won the flag. In 1968, I was a young lad at Moorabbin, last game of season, saints played the cats, the saints belted them by over ten goals. The very next week, the cats played saints in the first final, saints were red hot, the cats destroyed them. In 1980 ,last game, the tigers got smashed by the swans in last game, by nine goals, critics said they were done, the tigers hit back hard, belted us in the GF.. EVERY game is different Cornes you flog , heme game form means **** all in finals.

[stoliboy]

Essendon Team announced.

No Sam Draper
No Jake Stringer.

They usually play well against us.

[swoop42]

If Essendon were in their earlier season form and close to full strength you could probably forgive a competitive loss.

Surely though after their 20 goal loss last week and with a number of key players now missing we should be expecting a comfortable victory.

Given the question marks over our current form I'm not buying any notion that we have nothing to play for tomorrow night.

To lose to an out of form, out of contention, undermanned Essendon side would be a real poor look when we're supposedly wanting to right the ship before our first final.

[lazzadesilva]

It’s one of those “damned if you win, damned if you don’t” games. If we win it’s only against a struggling bummer side etc etc. I just want to win without any injuries, piss Essenscum off into their mothballs and concentrate on the real stuff. Time to get serious about having a good crack at the flag this year.

[Mr Miyagi]

I want us to win in a way that makes a statement to other finalists and has them worried about playing us again like they did first half of the season

[Magpietothemax]

^
I agree.
I keep hearing suggestions (not necessarily here on NBB, but definitely elsewhere) that this is a "dead rubber" , and all we need to do is go through the motions of winning.
I believe this is totally wrong.
No team just instantaneously "flicks a switch". Clicking into gear is not a mystery, it is based on the accumulated past knowledge and confidence, plus the motivation to expend energy.
We could win by "going through the motions" tomorrow night, given the extent of Essendon's omissions. However, "going through the motions" will add not one iota of electirc charge to our potential of "flicking a switch" in September. We need to ensure that we don't go into this with any "dead rubber" mentality.

[Haff]

Nah, with those outs we should canter to a win. Anything less than 10 goals in unacceptable.
“We’re top for a reason” better start bloody showing it.

[Magpietothemax]

^ Yeah, I agree.
My previous post was expressed really badly.
I meant to say: no doubt, we could go through the motions and win this game due to the extent of Essendon's omissions. But if we adopted such a pathetic attitude ("dead rubber", "doesn't really count for much" etc) this would be extremely detrimental to our prospects going forward. What you do now has an impact on what happens in the future. We need to go all out tomorrow to play with hunger, and energy.