AFL Gather Round Essendon vs Melbourne: Sam Draper eyeing ANZAC Day clash after match-winning effort

Sam Draper has spent several ANZAC Day clashes on the sidelines, but he is eyeing a vulnerable Pies side this time. Plus, Melbourne has given an update on Max Gawn.

Glenn McFarlane

@MaccaHeraldSun

10 min read

April 16, 2023 - 12:00PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

The Bombers celebrate their win. Picture: Getty Images

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Essendon’s energising matchwinner Sam Draper says the Bombers are primed and ready to take on Collingwood in a blockbuster Anzac Day clash on Tuesday week, eager to try and exploit the Magpies’ makeshift ruck stocks.

Draper and teammate Andrew Phillips beat former Magpie Brodie Grundy in Saturday’s shock demolition of premiership favourites Melbourne at Adelaide Oval.

And while he is wary of how good the Magpies have been so far this season, he is hoping he and Phillips can put in similarly big performances against a Collingwood side without injured ruck trio Darcy Cameron, Mason Cox and Aiden Begg.

Asked if he thought the Bombers had an advantage in the ruck over their Anzac Day rivals, Draper said: “Potentially, but there is also a risk as well with what the back-up rucks can bring to the table. We will have a look at that, and study that.”

“But this group (Essendon) is full of confidence and it is ready to go.”

Draper can’t wait to take on Collingwood, having had his first Anzac Day game experience last year.

Sam Draper was on fire against the Demons. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

The Bombers led early in the last quarter of last year’s contest before giving up the lead as the Magpies went on to win by 11 points.

“I’ve only played in one (Anzac Day game),’ he said. “I have watched a lot of them from the stands.”

“We lost late (in the game) last year, so mate, I am so pumped to play this year.”

He revealed how coach Brad Scott’s pre-game message that the Bombers “hadn’t beaten anyone (who played finals last year)” helped to inspire the club’s giant killing victory over Melbourne.

“We were happy to start the year at three (wins) and one (loss), but we knew we hadn’t beaten a team that played finals last year, so we are really happy to beat Melbourne.

“Scotty made that (message) really loud and clear, telling us ‘don’t get ahead of yourselves’. He keeps us really grounded and reminds us we still have a long way to go.”

The surprise victory over the Demons was the first time the Bombers had beaten one of last year’s finalists this season, with previous wins coming over Hawthorn, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.

Drapes has a career-high three goals in the first half!#GatherRound #AFLDonsDees pic.twitter.com/jjCInF5gzd
— AFL (@AFL) April 15, 2023

Now they have a five-week block – against Collingwood, Geelong, Port Adelaide, Brisbane Lions and Richmond – that will not only determine their fate this season, but provide an indication of where the young team is at now.

Draper, 24, had 40 family and friends from his South Australian hometown of Old Reynella – 20km south of Adelaide – at the game on Saturday.

He celebrated with them in the rooms after the game, saying he hopes the AFL locks into Adelaide as the venue for Gather Round next year – and beyond.

“Every man and his dog has come up from Old Reynella,” Draper jokes. “They don’t always get the chance to come over (to Melbourne), especially all together, so I would be happy for Gather Round to be here every year.”

He heaped praise on fellow ruckman Phillips for providing him with the back-up required to all him to push deep forward on occasions.

The pair kicked five goals between them against the Demons.

“’Flippa’ (Phillips) is such a great team player and role player,” he said. “I love getting forward and being a dangerous option, so he allows me to do that.

“I am at my best when I am getting on the scoreboard. I love kicking a goal, so I hope that is a real strength in my game going forward.”

Gawn’s expected return date after Dees’ ruck smashing

— Simeon Thomas-Wilson

Melbourne is optimistic captain Max Gawn will return for its ANZAC Day eve clash against Richmond as Demons coach Simon Goodwin described his sides’ loss to Essendon as “not us”.

The Demons were outworked and outclassed by the Bombers at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, going down by 27-points as Essendon sent a statement to the rest of the competition.

Melbourne came into the Gather Round clash as favourites for the premiership with the bookies but were handed a reality check in an off-showing by Goodwin’s side.

“The best way I can sum it up was that it was not us, it just didn’t look like us as a team, our inability to work and win contest,” he said.

Max Gawn is set to return in round 6.

“We know we play our best footy in the contest game but that wasn’t us.

“It is a tough ruthless competition we live in and Essendon is on the up.”

Chief in this poor showing was an unusual frailty defensively by the Demons.

Goodwin said this was rare for his side.

“When the ball went in our D50, the opposition was scoring most times,” he said.

“It is rare for us so we will go to work on that, and we need to be better around the ground.”

The Demons came into the match against the Bombers in Adelaide having travelled to Perth a week prior.

Goodwin did concede that might have played on the minds of his side but said it couldn’t be used as a factor for the poor showing.

“We will have a look at that, six days travelling back it is certainly in the back of our mind did we get our week right,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“We will look at our week and how we structured it but all teams travel, we’ve had our fair share early.”

The Demons now have a nine-day break before they take on the Tigers at the MCG.

And they could have some key players back with Goodwin saying defenders Jake Lever and Mitch Hibberd and forward Ben Brown were close.

Ben Brown was a late withdrawal. Picture: Michael Klein

But their inclusions would pale into significance at the prospect of Gawn returning after he suffered a knee injury in round 2 against Brisbane.

The Demons captain did a big session on Saturday as he ramps up his potential return.

Goodwin said he was hopeful Gawn would return.

“We are really excited at having the big fella back in,” he said.

“We have missed him, Brodie (Grundy) has stepped up and done a great job on his own but we got them to play together and hopefully they will next week.

“From the internal perspective he is going really well, he has done a lot of match-play in the last week and a half.

“So he is really close in terms of where he is now.

“He is an important player, a very proud player and he takes his rehab very seriously.”

Essendon’s game plan of using Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips worked to great effect on Saturday.

Goodwin said this was why the Demons liked Gawn and Grundy.

“I think when you see what Essendon did they had two pretty important ruckmen on the ground and that is why we like having two ruckmen in our team,” he said.

“So having them back together, you can see what pressure you can put on the opposition.”

The Demons will be without Charlie Spargo for the Tigers after he suffered a concussion.

Goodwin said Harrison Petty had received the all clear from the medical staff after he spent time in the rooms during the fourth quarter.

Scott on ANZAC DAY, Heppell and hot start

— Jason Phelan

Essendon coach Brad Scott has challenged his group to bring the same intensity and system that dismantled premiership favourites Melbourne on Saturday into one of the most highly-anticipated Anzac Day clashes against Collingwood in recent years.

The Bombers are riding high at 4-1 on the ladder as they easily accounted for the Demons at Adelaide Oval to set up a mouth-watering clash with the Magpies on Tuesday week.

Scott couldn’t have been more proud of his team’s 27-point victory over an unusually sloppy Melbourne, making special mention of his dual-pronged ruck attack of Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips and lauding Dyson Heppell’s influence after a few weeks of intense scrutiny.

But despite their best performance of the season so far – and their first win over one of last year’s finalists – Scott said the Bombers were “still nowhere near where we want to be.”

Brad Scott addresses his troops. Picture: Getty Images

“I thought the last two weeks we have taken a considerable step forward,” Scott said. “We have got another challenge (against Collingwood) and they will keep coming after that.”

“It (Anzac Day) is another opportunity to test ourselves against a really good side, and test what we are trying to build and the system we are trying to implement.

“There was a bit of clunkiness about the way we were playing (earlier in the season).”

Scott praised the manner in which Draper attacked the contest from the outset against Brodie Grundy, setting the scene by giving his team first use of the ball and kicking three first-half goals.

“It is easy to say ‘let’s get off to a good start’, but you need players who are energisers and igniters, and Draper is certainly one of those,” Scott said.

“It is fantastic to have someone like that in our team because we … gave St Kilda a five or six goal start, we gave Gold Coast a couple of goals head start and we did the same with GWS …”

He also praised Phillips for his role in kicking two goals and providing Draper with back-up in trying to curb Grundy, who was one-out without Max Gawn.

“The output on the scoreboard was really pleasing (from the big men) … we have got a lot of respect for Grundy for a lot of reasons,” he said.

“Draper is emerging, he is showing some really good signs and getting better and better on a weekly basis.

“Phillips has turned the clock back in the last two weeks. Phillips is a really coachable player. You have to be careful when you tell him to do something (because) he does it to the letter.”

Dyson Heppell impressed Scott in the win over the Demons.

Heppell, who turns 31 next month, has already been used as the sub this season, but Scott said the former skipper had the backing of the coaching staff and his teammates.

“That is certainly the best game I have seen him play in my five-game coaching stint here,” Scott said. “He was really important. I was so happy for him. He has been under some intense scrutiny. If he was stung (by the criticism), he just absorbs it and moves on.

“The thing about being a senior player is that you still need to perform. He and I have spoken a lot about that, and he is such a competitor.

“There isn’t a statistic that can capture what he does for us on and off the field. But you talk to the other players, he just steadies everyone around him.

“That is certainly the feedback I have had from the captain (Zach Merrett) and vice-captain (Andrew McGrath).”

Scott said the Bombers’ back seven continue to get the job done with a minimum of fuss, keeping the Demons to a season-low 77 points.

But he was equally happy with the forwards who collectively made the most of their opportunities, with the forwards kicking a score in excess of 100 for the third time this year.

MATCH REPORT

Essendon recorded the finest win of the Brad Scott era in the wet at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, the hard-nosed Bombers passing the stern test presented by in-form Melbourne with flying colours in a 27-point Gather Round victory.

Essendon trailed by nine points in the second quarter but piled on seven unanswered goals to set up a 15.14 (104) to 11.11 (77) win.

Brad Scott told reporters during the week that he wanted “a really solid audit for where we’re at” from the clash against the premiership fancies and his charges came out on the right side of the ledger in most areas.

Both sides had three wins and a loss on the board heading into the clash, but the Demons were widely considered to be in better nick, with their three victories coming with an average margin of 54 points and the Bombers enjoying a softer draw to open the season.

But Melbourne looked out-of-sorts from the outset in the face of Essendon’s hard-at-it approach, Simon Goodwin’s side going goalless in the third quarter to be held to its lowest score of the season, while conceding its highest score against.

Sam Draper had a big influence on Saturday. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips caused Brodie Grundy endless headaches in the ruck, while Darcy Parish, Zach Merrett and Dylan Shiel led the charge at ground level as the Bombers outpointed Melbourne’s vaunted onball brigade.

Clayton Oliver was kept to just two disposals in the first quarter, but found his rhythm after the first break to finish with a game-high 41 touches – 20 of them in the final term.

Ruck trouble

With Jake Lever and Michael Hibberd both sidelined, Melbourne had to shuffle its back six and Scott deployed his ruckmen forward to see if they could cause a bit of trouble.

The strategy paid immediate dividends with Draper and Phillips hitting the scoreboard when resting in attack in the first quarter.

Phillips booted two first-half goals and Draper a career-high three by halftime, with the country SA lad jubilantly pointing to family and friends in the crowd after each major.

Kysaiah Pickett attempts a huge mark in the loss to the Bombers. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Zach Merrett and the Essendon midfield got on top early. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Brown back out

The Demons had to make a late adjustment at the other end too.

Ben Brown was back in after a week out with a back injury, but he was back out again after his sore back forced his late withdrawal.

Jake Melksham replaced Brown in the line-up, and he was lively against his old side, booting two goals as Melbourne put on four unanswered goals to take the lead after trailing by eight points at the first break.

Further reorganisation in attack was required when Charlie Spargo was left unsteady on his feet after a clash with Mason Redman, the Melbourne forward replaced by James Jordon at halftime.

Seventh heaven

The Bombers had their own personnel issues in attack, with Sam Weideman joining Peter Wright on the injury list last week, but they passed the 100-point mark for the third time this season with nine goal kickers.

After Melbourne’s four in a row, Essendon piled on seven unanswered goals, including specials to Jake Stringer and Kyle Langford, to lead by 36 points at three-quarter time.

Christian Petracca’s goal in the second minute of the final term was his side’s first major in 53 minutes, but on a day where everything seemed to work for Essendon, substitute Nick Hind chimed in with back-to-back goals snuff out any chance of a late comeback.