STARS ALIGN
Big names back for desperate Dons’ finals fling
ESSENDON captain Dyson Heppell and premiership forward Jake Stringer headlined five inclusions last night as the Bombers loaded up with returning stars in their bid to break a 15-year finals drought.
West Coast named Shannon Hurn despite the premiership skipper nursing a hamstring strain, while ruckman Nic Naitanui has been rushed back for just his fourth game for the season.
Naitanui will play limited game time, with former St Kilda big man Tom Hickey set to line up against Bombers ruckman Tom Bellchambers.
The Bombers have not won a final since 2004 and hold a 1-5 record in interstate finals.
They are 2-2 at Perth Stadium with tonight’s winner set to face either Collingwood or Geelong at the MCG in a semifinal next Friday night.
Inconsistent goalkicker Orazio Fantasia, swingman Cale Hooker and mid-season draft selection Will Snelling also broke into an Essendon team that has dropped three of its past four matches.
Superstar Michael Hurley injured his shoulder against Collingwood in Round 23, but flew west and has been given the green light by medicos to play. Snelling, 22, played just his fifth AFL match more than three years after he made his debut for Port Adelaide.
Defender Marty Gleeson (calf) was ruled out while coach John Worsfold dropped Michael Hartley, Tom Jok, Josh Begley and Dylan Clarke.
Bombers great Matthew Lloyd called for Clarke to hold his place in the team so he could tag either Norm Smith medallist Luke Shuey or Elliot Yeo. Instead it is the Eagles set to apply the clamps with shutdown king Mark Hutchings overcoming a hamstring tear.
WEST Coast’s flag defence — and quite possibly John Worsfold’s job — will be on the line when the Eagles face off against Essendon in to night’s elimination final in Perth.
The defending premiers lost the safety net of a double finals chance after their 38-point loss to Hawthorn saw them slip to fifth spot on the ladder.
West Coast was embarrassingly bundled out by the Bulldogs in a home elimination final in 2016, but it boasts a more powerful and experienced side this time around. The return of Nic Naitanui from an ankle injury will give West Coast’s midfield a far more potent edge, while the frenzied forward pressure applied by the likes of Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan is another strong weapon.
Essendon has had a topsyturvy season riddled by injuries, and the pressure is on coach Worsfold to produce a huge upset against the club he coached and captained to a premiership.
Worsfold is contracted for next year, but rumours are bubbling that he will get the chop if he can’t guide Essendon to their its finals win since 2004. The veteran coach is confident he will remain in charge of the Bombers regardless of tonight’s result, but time will tell if that’s the case.
The elimination final will pit two contrasting game styles against each other.
The Bombers rely heavily on a lethal slingshot style from defence, with rebounding defenders Adam Saad and Conor McKenna key to their chances of success.
West Coast’s precision kickmark method has served it well over the past two years, with the intercept prowess of Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass in defence also a key part of their game plan.