Manuka Oval, Friday, March 8, 6.10pm (AEDT)
MISSING
Greater Western Sydney: Chad Cornes, Dom Tyson, Matthew Buntine, James Stewart and Nick Haynes will all miss the clash, and Jonathon Patton (quad) and Nathan Wilson (shoulder) could be in some doubt after injuries last week. Tom Scully also will need to prove his fitness after experiencing some trouble with his knee.
Essendon: The Bombers should have close to a full list to choose from if David Zaharakis (quad) and Jason Winderlich (groin) return from their niggling injuries as expected.
LAST WEEK
Greater Western Sydney: After a strong start to the NAB Cup, the Giants continued that form in a tight three-point loss to the Brisbane Lions. Despite the defeat, the signs again showed they have made progress, with skipper Callan Ward and No.1 draft pick Lachie Whitfield standouts in the game.
Essendon: The Bombers put in a scrappy performance against Richmond at Wangaratta, and despite appearing set to win the game all night, were pipped at the end by a Ricky Petterd supergoal. It was a disappointing result considering the strength of Essendon's side in comparison to the Tigers, who were missing a number of important players.
WHAT THEY SAY
Greater Western Sydney: "Disappointing result. That's the second time in two weeks we've lost a game when we were beaten by a kick. We should've been able to lock the game up and learn from the Carlton game last week." - Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy
Essendon: "They (Richmond) put some numbers behind the ball and we let that go for a while just to see how our guys would handle it and in the end that probably cost us the game – the fact we let them put two or three [players] behind the ball. That was really where the game was won and we wanted to see if our guys can handle it and we probably didn't handle it as well as we could have." – Essendon coach James Hird.
WE SAY
Greater Western Sydney: The Giants will be hell-bent on showing the football world they have improved and they get a good chance to do that on Friday night. GWS has a luxury of many early draft picks fighting for positions in its round-one team, so expect their competitiveness to again be on show in one of the final opportunities the players get to impress before the season kicks off
Essendon: The defeat at the hands of the Tigers highlighted a few areas for the Bombers to address before the home and away season, but they can sharpen things against the Giants. Draftee Joe Daniher seems a good chance to play for the Bombers for the first time, while promising young tall defender Jake Carlisle will likely take on exciting Giants forward Jeremy Cameron in a match-up we could see for many years to come.
Please note, there is no radio broadcast available for this match.
