Friday’s AFL 2018 Round 21 match is between Essendon Bombers and St Kilda Saints. The opening kick is set to commence at 19:50 local time with the game to be played at Etihad Stadium. The home team Essendon Bombers are the favourites for the match.
View our preview and teams for the game between Essendon Bombers and St Kilda Saints.
When: 19:50 | Friday 10/08/2018
Where: Etihad Stadium
Preview:
After their narrow defeat to the Hawks, the Bombers’ finals hopes are over but they will be far too good for the struggling Saints.
Cale Hooker was superb for the Bombers at the back against the Hawks and he’s been much better since they moved him there.
He and Michael Hurley are a good team in defence.
St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said his side ‘became a rabble’ in their loss to the Bulldogs and they are a rabble at the moment.
I don’t expect there will be a response.
KEY BATTLE:
I don’t expect many one-on-one battles in the game.
The Verdict
Essendon are very strong at Etihad Stadium and should be convincing.
The Bombers have won five of its last six matches as a home favourite by a margin of 1-39 points.
Zach Merrett has recorded 30+ disposals in each of Essendon’s last three matches against Victorian opponents.
Unibet Odds:
Essendon Bombers at $1.21
St Kilda Saints at $4.50
Odds:
Tip: Essendon Bombers at $1.18
Value Bet: First Goal Scorer: Jack Billings at $19
More Info:
Teams:
Essendon Bombers: 
B: McNiece, Hurley, Zaharakis
HB: Saad, Goddard, McKenna
C: Fantasia, Merrett, Parish
HF: McGrath, Brown, Baguley
F: McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hooker, Colyer
FOLL: Bellchambers, Heppell, Myers
I/C: Langford, Francis, Smith, Stringer
EMG: Clarke, Leuenberger, Laverde, Dea
Unchanged
St Kilda Saints: 
B: Geary, Carlisle, Newnes
HB: McKenzie, Brown, Webster
C: Freeman, Steele, Sinclair
HF: Lonie, Membrey, Billings
F: Gresham, Marshall, Armitage
FOLL: Pierce, Steven, Ross
I/C: Acres, Long, Rice, Paton
EMG: Dunstan, Goddard, Phillips, Coffield
IN: Marshall, Pierce, Long, Rice, Paton
OUT: Battle, Hickey, Dunstan, Clark, Coffield
AFL News:
Coach John Worsfold expects another busy AFL trade period for Essendon amid a growing likelihood they will fall short of finals this season.
The Bombers were among the most active clubs during the 2017 trade window, bringing in former Western Bulldogs premiership player Jake Stringer as well as Devon Smith and Adam Saad.
But the Dons’ dreadful performance in the first half of the season means they are unlikely to secure the top-eight finish most pundits had been anticipating.
With three rounds remaining the 11th-placed Bombers are two games outside the finals and need everything to go right to be part of September action.
Worsfold says the Bombers are likely to again be aggressive at the trade table with list manager Adrian Dodoro having already identified a number of potential recruits.
“We’ll be very active in terms of discussions within the trade period … whether anything happens, I’m not sure,” Worsfold told reporters.
“Adrian Dodoro’s doing a huge amount of work on presenting to list management committee around potential availability of players that would fit the need we might look for in a trade specifically.”
The Bombers have struggled to fill the void in their engine room left by the retirement of former skipper Jobe Watson.
Worsfold said Kyle Langford, Andrew McGrath and Matt Guelfi had all shown good signs running through the midfield this season but the Bombers remained open to recruiting a big-bodied on-baller.
“Our midfield over the last eight or 10 weeks has performed really strongly … we’ve obviously (also) got some young players in the VFL and a couple of them have had a taste of it this year,” he said.
“In terms of getting in someone who is potentially at an already mature elite level next year, that may be something we look at.”
Worsfold expected Dyson Heppell to face St Kilda on Friday night despite the skipper having struggled with groin soreness in recent weeks.
Stringer (shin) is also a likely starter but it’s unclear whether Joe Daniher (groin) will play again this season.
Assistant coach Mark Harvey had flagged that Daniher was set to participate in match simulation but Worsfold said that was incorrect.
“He’s still a bit off that,” Worsfold said.
“When Harvs talked about match simulation, he was probably talking about Joe on his own on Saturday, trying to run and replicate game stuff.”