Essendon host the ladder-leading Sydney Swans on Friday night at Marvel Stadium in a Round 23 blockbuster, in a bid to keep their finals hopes alive.
The Bombers are still within touching distance of the top 8, but now sit in 10th position after just the one win from their last five matches.
In Round 22, Essendon were pipped by the Gold Coast Suns in the last 30 seconds by a Mac Andrew kick after the siren, despite having led for most of the game. The home side kicked themselves out of the game with 1.9 in the last quarter, eventually losing by 1 point.
It was the usual suspects who played well for the Bombers with Nic Martin gathering 37 disposals and Zach Merrett picking up 32 touches for himself. Sam Draper and Nate Caddy booted three goals each for the Bombers, while Jake Stringer was also solid up forward
The Swans returned to the winners list with a come-from-behind victory over Collingwood in Round 22 at the SCG, with Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner dragging the home side over the line by gathering 14 disposals in the last quarter alone.
The last time Essendon met Sydney it was a fiery affair with the Swans prevailing at the SCG in Round 2 by 30 points. There were several controversial incidents in the match highlighted by a late bump from Peter Wright which concussed Sydney’s Harry Cunningham. Wright earned a 4-week ban for his hit.
Essendon coach Brad Scott said in such an even season, he’s looking forward to the challenge of taking on the ladder-leaders.
“We’ve played a really sustainable brand on most measures in the second half of the year … there’s a lot to like,” Scott said.
“They (Sydney) played very, very well against us in Round 2, we thought we took the fight up to them early and I think they’ve said it publicly themselves, if you’re a bit off you get exposed.
“For a long time, they were clearly the best team in the competition this year, now it’s up for debate.
“What we do know is their best is elite, their best is very very good and if were not up to standard in the contest we will get a rude shock.”
