AFL 2021 Essendon v Melbourne: Dees must consider giving list of stars a rest in run home
Midfielders Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish combined for 78 disposals — which would normally trigger alarm bells. See why the Dees left them alone.
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Melbourne has reached the enviable position where it can ask itself a question most clubs wouldn’t dream of.
Should the Demons give their bulging list of superstars a rest in the run to September?
They are eight points clear on top of the ladder and cruising towards a home qualifying final at the MCG.
On Saturday night they rolled out their first-choice 22 against Essendon, given there are no injured players who will return to strengthen them this season.
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Coach Simon Goodwin has used just 31 players this year, which is the least in the AFL and eight fewer than the second-placed Western Bulldogs.
Twelve Demons have been constants in the 12-2 start to the season, including all of Goodwin’s biggest names.
They are Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Max Gawn, Angus Brayshaw, Jake Lever, Tom McDonald, Kysaiah Pickett, Charlie Spargo, Trent Rivers, Alex Neal-Bullen, James Jordon and Jayden Hunt.
Another five players have missed just one game each – Christian Salem, Ed Langdon, Luke Jackson, Steven May and Bayley Fritsch.
That’s a nucleus that is as large as it is reliable.
The cohesion and chemistry being formed from Goodwin’s rarely-disturbed line-up is almost tangible.
Players are openly talking about how the on-field bonds are growing stronger by the week.
Defensive pillars May and Lever are largely impassable and always seem to know where each other are now.
At the other end, Tom McDonald and Bayley Fritsch have struck career-best form this year.
Geez, Melbourne’s forwards work hard. McDonald powered through 14.4km against the Bombers while Fritsch clocked 14.3km.
The Demons kicked just nine goals, their equal-fewest for the season. But that was due to inaccuracy rather than a structural glitch and they still managed 14 marks inside 50m.
Essendon took just eight.
Let’s face it, if the Demons had kicked straight then the Bombers wouldn’t have gone home sulking over missed free kicks.
Casey’s VFL team on Sunday would give some AFL backlines a fright.
Ben Brown and Sam Weideman are the key forwards in a line-up that also features Jake Melksham, Nathan Jones, Aaron vandenBerg and Neville Jetta.
Given the talent in reserve, Melbourne could strategically manage its men without really weakening its team.
So does Melbourne risk its winning formula and rotate its superstars?
Or maintain a premium on selection and refuse to take any chance where it could flirt with its form?
It is hard to imagine a player who would want to step out of the AFL’s best team, particularly when there is so much hunger below the surface.
But what approach will give the Demons the biggest chance of saving their best football for Grand Final day?
That has to be the objective now.
High performance boss Darren Burgess and football boss Alan Richardson will be working the spreadsheets and crunching the data to work out what is best for their stars.
Geelong attempted to kick-start a management program of its veterans last week when Shaun Higgins was demoted to be the substitute, however it didn’t really work as Mitch Duncan (knee) went down in the first quarter.
Then again, late last season Cats coach Chris Scott prioritised continuity and connection over freshness, wanting his best 22 to march towards the finals together.
The Demons have games against Hawthorn (MCG), Gold Coast (Metricon Stadium) and Adelaide (MCG) which they should be able to win below full-strength.
Will the likes of Oliver, Petracca, Gawn, Lever and May play in all of those games?
It is a luxurious, and foreign, position to be in.
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CAN HIBBO STOP THE GREENE MACHINE?
Melbourne is the hardest team to play against, and Toby Greene is the hardest player to play against.
Greene’s 5.2 against the Demons earlier this year ignited a run that has him on track for his second All-Australian jumper.
So how do the Demons stop Greene at the MCG rematch on Saturday?
“Put a good player on him – he’s pretty dangerous,” Goodwin said.
“He’s very crafty. He can play tall and small and he’ll take up a lot our planning.”
Michael Hibberd has been Goodwin’s clamp so far this season, shutting down Dustin Martin (Richmond) and quelling Jake Stringer after he threatened to blow Saturday night open.
You wonder whether Hibberd is the man for Greene next week.
FALSE FIGURES?
Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish combined for 78 disposals on Saturday night.
You would think those numbers would trigger alarm bells in Melbourne’s coaches’ box, particularly with Merrett recording 26 disposals by halftime.
But it didn’t, and that was because more than half of their disposals came in Essendon’s defensive half.
Only 32 of those 78 disposals (59 per cent) were attacking, and most of those were pushed wide on the wing.
Melbourne’s defensive system meant they were largely non-threatening. It wouldn’t surprise if the ball magnets featured lowly in Goodwin’s votes.
Dees’ $1.5m battering ram denies surging Bombers
Melbourne’s $1.5 million investment in key defenders Steven May and Jake Lever powered the Demons two wins clear on top of the AFL ladder.
Coach Simon Goodwin said the formidable pair had stiffened up his backline after the Demons absorbed 17 inside 50s in the final quarter to blunt a Bombers’ surge.
“If you look around the best teams in the competition they have great key backs,” he said.
“The investment the club has put in was really clear.
“We wanted to build from the back half, make it really reliable the way we defend and Steven May and Jake Lever have been amazing.”
Essendon’s effort wasn’t matched by its composure in the final 10 minutes as entry after entry was gifted back to the Demons, with ruckman Max Gawn drifting behind the ball.
Bombers fans were furious that Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti went unrewarded for nabbing James Harmes right in front of goal in the closing minutes.
Bombers fans booed loudly all night, particularly when the siren put an end to their 11-point defeat.
“We know it’s a tough game to umpire,” Essendon coach Ben Rutten said.
But Rutten said he would not ask questions of umpires’ boss Dan Richardson, who was Essendon’s football manager last year and also worked with Rutten at Richmond in 2017.
Rutten said he had a word to Devon Smith, who coughed up a second 50m penalty to gift James Jordon a goal from a free kick that should’ve been taken on the wing.
However Melbourne’s inaccuracy kept the scoreboard close. The Demons’ shot at goal accuracy of 36 per cent was its worst since Round 2.
Former captain Nathan Jones will play a full VFL game for Sunday and is likely to be the club’s medical substitute again against Greater Western Sydney next week.
The Demons are effectively at full-strength — the only injured player from their best 22 is Adam Tomlinson, who won’t be ready until 2022.
Sam Weideman, Ben Brown, Aaron vandenBerg, Neville Jetta, Jake Melksham and Jones are all hoping to break into the premiership favourites.
Darcy Parish and Zach Merrett combined for 78 disposals — but Goodwin said he was happy for the ball magnets to rack up possessions in defensive areas.
Melbourne entered the game ranked No. 15 for centre clearances.
Melbourne entered ranked 15th for centre clearance differential despite its weapons inside the square.
But the Demons broke even (9-9) on Saturday night and outscored the Bombers 2.3 (15) to 0 from centre bounce.
The Bombers scored just 18 points from stoppages, which was the second-fewest Melbourne has conceded this season.
Dees repel Bombers to consolidate top spot
—Owen Leonard
Melbourne has survived a late scare to bounce back from a disappointing Queen’s Birthday result and strengthened their hold atop the AFL ladder.
The Demons looked home with a 22-point lead midway into the last term of a low-scoring affair, before a dogged Essendon outfit regained momentum and cut the margin back to only 11 points with ample time on the clock.
But a mature Melbourne held its nerve to record the win, as Jake Lever (eight marks) and Steven May (seven marks and 18 disposals at 100 per cent efficiency) denied the Bombers a stirring victory.
Clayton Oliver continued his stellar season with 34 disposals and seven clearances, while for Essendon, Zach Merrett was immense with 41 disposals and nine tackles, and Jake Stringer was threatening with 24 touches and a goal.
The early stages of the match showed Essendon’s intention to move the ball through handball chains, rather than sending long bombs into the intercepting hands of Steven May and Jake Lever.
But the Bombers could not meaningfully advance beyond the wing, while Melbourne struggled capitalise from inside 50 entries.
The impasse was eventually broken by Melbourne’s James Harmes, who kicked truly to score the night’s opening major after more than 16 minutes of play.
For Essendon, it quickly became evident that breaking through the Demons’ rigid defence was going to take some flare.
Enter Jake Stringer, who ran rampant through the centre and bombed home from outside 50 to break the shackles and score the Bombers’ first.
Stringer kicked off the second term by again firing for home from the centre square.
The ball didn’t travel the required journey and appeared destined to be rushed through, but out of nowhere was the 196cm Harrison Jones, roving the contest at top speed, guiding the ball onto his boot and scoring from the goal line.
Melbourne, though, were able to weather the early Stringer show, and maintained a slim lead as the halftime siren sounded to a chorus boos from the Essendon home crowd, disgruntled by a free kick count which read two to eight at the main break.
The Demons controlled the coalface and grew the lead from their contested-ball ascendancy, and after James Jordan was granted a rare double 50m penalty, held a threatening 15-point lead.
Essendon persisted into the last quarter, but the Demons ultimately held off a brave Bombers showing to gain breathing space at the peak of the AFL ladder.
Rutten calls for umpiring consistency after contentious call
Essendon coach Ben Rutten has called for greater umpiring consistency in the aftermath of his team’s brave loss to the ladder-leading Melbourne on Saturday night.
A chorus of boos swirled around the MCG at halftime and on the final siren, after Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti was denied a holding the ball free kick that would have resulted in a simple shot on goal.
McDonald-Tipungwuti caught Melbourne’s James Harmes — who didn’t appear to dispose of the ball legally — in the game’s dying stages, but a non-call ensured the Demons held on for victory.
Rutten was wary of his wording post-match, but suggested a more consistent approach to officiating was integral to umpiring success.
“We know it’s a tough game to umpire,” Rutten said.
“It’s not a perfect game, but I think we just want to make sure that there’s consistency. The players will adapt, the coaches will adapt, so long as there is consistency.
“If the free kicks are there, they should be paid. I think that’s the most important bit.”
Rutten also implied the contentious play-on call was a key moment in the game, but stopped short of blaming the decision for Essendon’s loss.
“In those tight games we look at all those sorts of moments, just as we’re looking at all those moments that we could have potentially done better, or we might like our time again,” he said.
“I don’t think it was a reason why we lost the game.”
Despite the loss, Essendon’s ability to challenge the league’s top side has the head coach buoyed, who pointed to composure as the decisive factor in the game.
“The (players) tried their hearts out (and) they fought for each other, from the first bounce right to the end, which we’re really proud of as a football club, but they identified there were some opportunities where execution let us down a little bit.
“I thought there were some opportunities, especially in that last quarter, for us to connect a bit better inside 50 and potentially hit the scoreboard and put it a bit more pressure on Melbourne, but we just weren’t quite able to find that connection inside 50.”
Essendon’s late surges forward were often met with the intercepting prowess of Jake Lever and Steven May, who ultimately proved the main protagonists in denying the Bombers a comeback victory.
“Those guys have been doing it all year, so we know that they’re very good at that,” Rutten said.
SCOREBOARD
ESSENDON 2.3 4.5 6.7 8.9 (57)
MELBOURNE 1.5 4.8 8.12 9.14 (68)
BEST
Essendon: Merrett, Parish, Stringer, Heppell, Ridley, Langford
Melbourne: Lever, Oliver, May, Petracca, Langdon, Salem
GOALS
Essendon: Jones 2, Wright 2, Stringer, Heppell, Smith, Hooker
Melbourne: Jordan 2, Petracca 2, McDonald, Harmes, Sparrow, Jackson, Spargo.
INJURIES
Nil
CROWD
19,414 at MCG
UMPIRES
Stephens, Gavine Findlay.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
OWEN LEONARD’S VOTES
Merrett 3
Lever 2
Oliver 1
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