The first of Saturday’s AFL Round 6 matches will be played between Essendon Bombers and Greater Western Sydney Giants. The opening bounce is set to commence at 1:45pm local time with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. The home team Essendon Bombers are the long odds on favourites for the match with the game looking like it could be a 100 point plus win for the Bombers. View our match preview and teams for the game between Essendon Bombers and Greater Western Sydney Giants.

Round: Round 6 1:45 PM May 04, 2013
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
Weather: 21° Partly cloudy.

Featured Bookmakers:

Essendon Bombers $1.005 vs Greater Western Sydney Giants $21.00 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Essendon Bombers $1.01 vs Greater Western Sydney Giants $21.00 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Essendon Bombers	1.005	1.01	1.01	1.01	1.005	1.01
Greater Western Sydney Giants	21.00	17.00	21.00	17.00	21.00	19.00

Preview:

The Bombers have been fantastic this year and along with Geelong and Port, remain undefeated after five rounds and safe to say, will still be after six.

They take on GWS who had a golden opportunity to secure a rare win two starts back against the equally struggling Melbourne Demons but the possibility of a win was too much of a foreign feeling for the Sydney-siders and they folded in the last quarter (144-103).

They were handed a similar defeat (148-104) last week by the Gold Coast Suns but not for poor kicking – the Suns kicked 22 behinds, the loss could’ve been a lot greater.

Essendon faced their biggest test of the season last week, on the biggest stage – Collingwood at the MCG on Anzac day – and relished the occasion, posting a 46 point win.

Despite the off-field drama that has surrounded the club since the pre-season the playing group have shown no signs of a club in distress and a flying high on the field.

They’ll be way too good for the GWS who get an unbelievable 81.5 point start. I reckon they’ll give it a nudge!

Teams:

Essendon Bombers:
B: Michael Hibberd, Tayte Pears, Courtenay Dempsey
HB: Brendon Goddard, Cale Hooker, Kyle Hardingham
C: Mark Baguley, Jobe Watson, Nick Kommer
HF: Brent Stanton, Stewart Crameri, Leroy Jetta
F: Jackson Merrett, Scott Gumbleton, Alwyn Davey
Foll: Tom Bellchambers, Ben Howlett, David Zaharakis
Int: Jake Melksham, David Myers, David Hille, Heath Hocking
Emerg: Nathan Lovett-Murray, Nick O’Brien, Elliott Kavanagh

IN: Leroy Jetta, Tayte Pears, Jake Melksham, Nick Kommer
OUT: Jason Winderlich (rested), Travis Colyer, Dyson Heppell (groin), Jake Carlisle (ankle)

Greater Western Sydney Giants:
FB: Adam Kennedy, Tim Mohr, Joshua Bruce
HB: Aidan Corr, Stephen Gilham, Toby Greene
C: Tom Scully, Callan Ward, Jacob Townsend
HF: Rhys Palmer, Jeremy Cameron, Adam Tomlinson
F: Devon Smith, Samuel Frost, Taylor Adams
Foll: Jonathan Giles, Adam Treloar, Dylan Shiel
Int: Zachary Williams, Curtly Hampton, Sam Reid, Stephen Coniglio
Emerg: Thomas Downie, Shaun Edwards, Tomas Bugg

IN: Taylor Adams, Joshua Bruce, Jacob Townsend, Curtly Hampton, Stephen Gilham, Aidan Corr, Samuel Frost
OUT: Phil Davis (back), Nicholas Haynes (omitted), Setanta O’hAilpin (calf), Lachie Plowman (omitted), Lachie Whitfield (soreness), Tomas Bugg (omitted), Bret Thornton (omitted)

In The News:

AFL club Essendon deny doping admission

Essendon deny they have made any concessions that their players took banned substances under the AFL club’s controversial supplements program.

As the game awaits the release of the first report on the club’s ongoing scandal, club chairman David Evans hit back at the latest claim to rock the Bombers.

The Herald Sun on Wednesday said Essendon had conceded players took banned substances last year through the supplements program.

That regime is now the subject of a Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and AFL investigation.

“Contrary to media reports, Essendon have never conceded that our players have been given banned substances in 2012,” Evans said in a club statement.

“We asked for the ASADA and AFL investigation and out of respect to the players, those investigations must be completed without prejudice.

“I want to repeat, our club has not conceded that our players have been given banned substances in 2012.”

Essendon are on the verge of releasing the independent report by Ziggy Switkowski into the club’s governance.

That was commissioned in the wake of the ASADA and AFL investigations, with Evans at the time citing “irregular practices”.

But the Bombers are now unlikely to release the report until next week because of a legal matter.

It is unclear what details will emerge from the Switkowski report or whether it will recommend the dismissal of Essendon officials.

Earlier on Wednesday, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said the ASADA and AFL investigations could take another three months to complete.

Demetriou also refused to be drawn on the Herald Sun report that some Essendon players were prescribed weekly injections of the banned anti-obesity drug AOD-9604 for all of last season.

“My reaction is the same as it has been all along: we will continue to get a running commentary obviously in the media … but there is currently a joint investigation by ASADA and the AFL and we really need to let that investigation proceed,” Demetriou told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Demetriou questioned how a newspaper report said Essendon players had admitted the weekly injections when they had yet to be interviewed by ASADA.

It is understood ASADA officials will start interviewing Essendon players next week.

“It’s only a report in the newspaper that there is an admission,” he said.

“And I’m not going to comment on the investigation.

“We need to await the outcome of the ASADA report. I know that is frustrating to people.

“People should be very careful about some of the commentary, particularly in light of the fact that we haven’t even had one player interviewed as yet.”

Demetriou added that the AFL received a copy of the Switkowski report on Monday.