First Game of the round sees Collingwood and Essendon play the traditional Anzac Day match at the MCG. Usually this match is played in front of a full stadium and that should be no different this time round. The atmosphere will be finals like.

So Collingwood lost to the Roos last week they didn’t play well though there was only a goal difference in the match. There were lots of no pressure turnovers from the Magpies and I reckon they are missing the class of Buckley and Clement holding together their defence. For this match Maxwell returns to the line-up but Rocca from some reports appears to be out not sure whether this is injury related or form related. I don’t think the Magpies are as strong a team as last year despite having match winners in Didak, Davis, Thomas and Medhurst. They have a problem with their talls up forward with no genuine third option after Rusling’s season ending injury putting the pressure on to Rocca or Cloke who are both out of form. Buckley spent a good deal of time up forward last year as well so these are the missing components. In defence they were stretched by the Roos highly competent forward line without Maxwell and Prestigiacomo, though Maxwell returns for this game. The Midfield lacks class without Didak, Davis and Thomas when they go forward and that leaves the ball in the hands of O’Bree and Holland who caused some bad turnovers last week from poor foot disposal. Having said all this, they aren’t a bad team by any stretch of the imagination and they’ll be happy with the form of the Shaw’s, Nathan Brown, and Medhurst.

The Bombers were flat against the Saints last week and apart from a 10 minute burst of 6 goals in the third quarter, never looked like challenging. They are entertaining to watch and have an exciting team that has played good football, sustaining that particularly with an injured list is the major challenge. The injury list includes: Scott Lucas and Mark McVeigh who are top 5 Essendon players as well as youngsters Jetta and Dempsey while Alwyn Davey is out with a knee injury. If they had a full squad to pick from, I would have liked them in this match and though Collingwood have their own injury troubles: Rocca, Rusling, Burns and Holland, the Magpies have the experience and the need to win this match after dropping their last two.

So Collingwood have lost their last two matches and face Geelong, Hawthorn and St.Kilda in the next 3 weeks so this is a must win game. For a few of the Bombers players this will be their first Anzac Day clash and playing in front of a crowd like that (Collingwood home game as well) some may find it all a bit too much. The Collingwood experience and the need for a win should hopefully see them over the line despite missing some players and I expect big ones from Didak, Davis and Thomas after losing form in the last few matches.

I’m tentative on this match as the Magpies are out of form and low on personnel but they will finish higher this year than the Bombers and if they are too make the 8 they need to respond here with a win.



Pick : Collingwood by under 39.5 points
Odds : 2.25
Stake : 6 / 10
Bookmaker : SportingBet
Date : 2008-04-25
Match Result : 154-81
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