The second of Saturday AFL Round 17 matches is between Greater Western Sydney Giants and Essendon Bombers. The game is set to commence at 2:10pm local time with the game to be played at ŠKODA Stadium. Away team Essendon Bombers go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Greater Western Sydney Giants and Essendon Bombers.
Round: Round 17 2:10 PM July 20, 2013
Stadium: ŠKODA Stadium
Weather: 16° A little morning rain.
Featured Bookmakers:
Greater Western Sydney Giants $21.00 vs Essendon Bombers $1.001 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Greater Western Sydney Giants $15.00 vs Essendon Bombers $1.01 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:
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| Greater Western Sydney Giants | 21.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 | 15.00 | 21.00 | 21.00 |
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Essendon Bombers
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1.001 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.001 | 1.01 |
Preview:
The Bombers, who sit in third spot on the ladder, continue to defy the off-field drama that surrounds their club and coach and have won their last five straight.
This weekend, they’ll make it six.
All five recent wins have been against sides outside the eight and there’s tough road into the finals for the Bombers with Hawthorn, Collingwood waiting for them in the next two rounds, they’ll need to make sure they have some wins to spare if they wish to finish inside the top four.
GWS continue to search for their first win of the season and two weeks ago, came within four points of registering it against the Western Bulldogs.
Last week however, they were handed a hiding by ‘big brother’ the Sydney Swans and lost by a remarkable 20 goals!
Essendon have played GWS twice before and beaten them by 66 on the first occasion and in the most recent – round 6 of this year, by 39.
However, given that in the last month Port and North have beaten them by 75 and 86 points respectively, would think the line set for this game at 72.5, is in favour of the Bombers.
Teams:
Greater Western Sydney Giants:
B: Stephen Gilham, Phil Davis, Sam Darley
HB: Curtley Hampton, Tim Mohr, Nicholas Haynes
C: Lachie Whitfield, Adam Treloar, Tom Scully
HF: Jeremy Cameron, Adam Tomlinson, Mark Whiley
F: Devon Smith, Jonathan Giles, Gerald Ugle
Foll: Dean Brogan, Callan Ward, Dylan Shiel
Int: Taylor Adams, Tomas Bugg, Toby Greene, Zachary Williams
Emerg: Joshua Bruce, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Adam Kennedy
In: Brogan Adams Tomlinson Ugle Whiley Williams Greene
Out: O’hAilpin R Palmer (foot) Hoskin-Elliott Tyson Edwards Corr O’Rourke
Essendon Bombers:
B: Mark Baguley, Jake Carlisle, Courtenay Dempsey
HB: Michael Hibberd, Cale Hooker, Dustin Fletcher
C: Nick Kommer, Nick O’Brien, Dyson Heppell
HF: David Myers, Patrick Ryder, Cory Dell’Olio
F: Michael Hurley, Stewart Crameri, Leroy Jetta
Foll: Tom Bellchambers, Brent Stanton, Brendon Goddard
Int: Nathan Lovett-Murray, Jake Melksham, Jackson Merrett, Travis Colyer
Emerg: Ben Howlett, Kyle Hardingham, Alwyn Davey
In: Lovett-Murray Jetta Dell’Olio Crameri
Bombers coach praises Stanton
Essendon coach James Hird praised his acting skipper Brent Stanton after the Bombers scored a 31-point AFL win over the Western Bulldogs on Sunday.
Essendon (12-3 win-loss) remain third after their 18.13 (121) to 14.6 (90) win in their round-16 game at Etihad Stadium which drew a crowd of 32,500.
The Bombers went into the match without the league’s reigning Brownlow Medallist and club captain Jobe Watson, who broke his collar bone last week and is expected to miss at least another three matches.
Stanton notched a team-high 29 possessions and contributed a vital last-quarter goal, although Watson’s absence was keenly felt in the engine room as the Bulldogs won the contested-possessions tally 165-135.
“The leaders were excellent tonight,” Hird said.
“Three of our best players were Brendon (Goddard), Brent (Stanton) and Dyson Heppell and also Jason Winderlich (with four goals).
“They’re all part of our leadership team. They really stepped up tonight, those four leaders, and Michael Hurley really worked hard in the forward line.
“So I thought our leadership group did a great job in Jobe’s absence.”
Stanton said the Bombers desperately needed Watson back in their line-up.
“You feed off him and the way he leads is contagious really,” the 196-game veteran Stanton said.
“It is a privilege to be able to captain this football club and the opportunity from James is fantastic.
“We probably did miss him (Watson) a little bit around the football with his leadership but I think the other leaders really stood up and took it by the scruff of the neck when the game got a bit tight.”
Hird said he hoped David Zaharakis, who suffered a bruised back, would be fit to play in Saturday’s clash against the last-placed GWS Giants in Sydney on Saturday.