The fifth of Saturday’s AFL Round 9 matches is between Richmond Tigers and Essendon Bombers. The game is set to commence at 7:45pm local time with the game to be played at the MCG. Away team Essendon Bombers go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Richmond Tigers and Essendon Bombers.
Round: Round 9 7:45 PM May 25, 2013
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 15° Shower or two
Featured Bookmakers:
Richmond Tigers $2.05 vs Essendon Bombers $1.77 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Richmond Tigers $2.02 vs Essendon Bombers $1.81 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:
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| Richmond Tigers | 2.05 | 2.03 | 2.02 | 2.03 | 2.05 | 2.07 |
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Essendon Bombers
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1.77 | 1.78 | 1.81 | 1.78 | 1.77 | 1.77 |
Preview:
Saturday night’s game in Victoria will be a beauty with Richmond taking on the Bombers.
Richmond who started the season well, suffered defeats to Collingwood, Fremantle and Geelong in rounds 4, 5 and 6 have bounced back with good wins in the past fortnight over Port (in Adelaide) and Melbourne last week (106-72).
Essendon, who lost their first match of the season to Geelong in round 7 (113-85) were expect to bounce back immediately last week when travelling north to take on a struggling Brisbane Lions.
However the Bombers found themselves in an arm wrestle that eventually went against them (96-86).
Not having been in this position thus far this season, it will be a good test of the Bombers to see how they bounce back.
They’ll be fully tested by a side that beat them 102-57 when last they met in Round 22 of last year and who are in much better shape now then than.
Should be a great game with the Tri-bet option, the way to go.
Teams:
Richmond Tigers:
B: Steven Morris, Alex Rance, Troy Chaplin
HB: Chris Newman, Brandon Ellis, Bachar Houli
C: Shaun Grigg, Trent Cotchin, Daniel Jackson
HF: Brett Deledio, Shane Edwards, Jake King
F: Ty Vickery, Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin
Foll: Ivan Maric, Nathan Foley, Nick Vlastuin
Int: Matt White, Luke McGuane, Jake Batchelor, Sam Lonergan
Emerg: Aaron Edwards, Robin Nahas, Matt Dea
In: C.Newman, S.Lonergan, I.Maric
Out: R.Nahas, O.Stephenson, M.Dea
Essendon Bombers:
B: Jake Carlisle, Dustin Fletcher, Courtenay Dempsey
HB: Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker, Michael Hibberd
C: Brent Stanton, Jobe Watson, Jake Melksham
HF: Jason Winderlich, Stewart Crameri, Brendon Goddard
F: David Zaharakis, Tom Bellchambers, Michael Hurley
Foll: Patrick Ryder, Heath Hocking, Ben Howlett
Int: Nick Kommer, Mark Baguley, Leroy Jetta, David Myers
Emerg: Jason Ashby, Scott Gumbleton, Elliott Kavanagh
In: C.Dempsey, L.Jetta
Out: E.Kavanagh, J.Merrett
No AFL mid-season slump for Bombers: Hird
Fears that Essendon’s current two-game losing streak is the start of yet another mid-season slump for the AFL club have been dismissed by coach James Hird.
Hird’s first two seasons in charge started well then tailed off badly.
The Bombers won eight of their first nine games last season before fading disastrously to miss the finals.
In 2011, they notched five wins and a draw in Hird’s first eight games in charge, but a five-match losing streak followed.
While Essendon scraped into the top eight, they were thrashed in an elimination final.
But Hird says this year – which began with a six-game winning run – will be different.
“We’re confident that’s not going to happen,” he told reporters on Friday.
“We’ve certainly put a lot of work into the players pre-season-wise.
“We’ve got a very good injury list.
“The last couple of years we’ve had significant injuries this time of year even though we’ve been winning.
“This time I think we’ve got Alwyn Davey, which is our only legitimate football injury as to why someone won’t play.”
Hird, who said the Bombers had trained poorly in the lead-up to last round’s upset loss to Brisbane, said training in the lead-up to Saturday night’s blockbuster MCG clash with Richmond had been much better.
“So we’re confident that we’ll come out and give a good performance tomorrow night,” he said.
The Bombers have recalled Courtenay Dempsey, who was left out for disciplinary reasons last round, and Leroy Jetta, who has played just once previously this season.
Hird said Jetta had needed to work on the defensive side of his game.
He guaranteed star forward Michael Hurley would play despite being subbed off with concussion against the Lions.
The Tigers have regained Chris Newman and Ivan Maric from injury and added former Bomber Sam Lonergan for his Richmond debut.