When the Bombers blitzed the Saints with a seven-goals-to-one first quarter last Friday, these players were all key drivers in the term that established Essendon's match-winning lead.
The Bombers are fortunate to have the services of the Hille-Ryder ruck/forward partnership.
Most ruckmen want to spend 80 per cent plus time in the ruck because few are capable of performing as effective forward targets.
Both Hille and Ryder are dangerous off the full-forward line, which enables them to be a terrific pairing and for Essendon to have them both on the ground at the same time for the majority of the match.
St Kilda has been very successful over the last two seasons by playing two big ruckmen plus a 197cm forward in Justin Koschitzke.
More and more, Koschitzke is looking too slow and cumbersome as a forward and is moving with the limited agility of most ruckmen.
There must be serious consideration of speeding the Saints team up by including another runner, leaving out the second ruckman, and using Kosi as the back-up to Michael Gardiner.
St Kilda's winning formula has been successfully attacked in recent weeks, so the selection balance of height and strength versus speed and run might need a subtle adjustment in favour of increasing the latter.
As a big full-forward Koschitzke is averaging only a goal a game, which is just not enough to justify his current role unless he adds the extra string to the bow of being the second ruck option as well.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
