Essendon’s finals temperature check: Run home, wildcard player, why they can win it and more

SEN’s The Run Home team of Andy Maher, Josh Jenkins and Julian De Stoop have undertaken a finals temperature check on the teams still in contention.

They have taken a close look at some varying categories which could decide whether they qualify for finals in some cases or even contend for the premiership.

The categories are: The Run Home, Recent Signature Win, Wildcard Player, Medical Room (key outs), Why They Can (make it/win it) and Why They Can’t (make it/win it).

Next up is the Essendon Bombers, who are currently 8th on the ladder with a 10-6-1 record and have lost three of their past four games.

The Run Home

Round 20: v St Kilda (MS)
Round 21: v Fremantle (MCG)
Round 22: v Gold Coast (MS)
Round 23: v Sydney (MS)
Round 24: v Brisbane (G)

De Stoop’s prediction: 2-3

Recent Signature Win

Jenkins: “Round 17 over Collingwood, it was a big moment at the time; it was one they could have easily coughed up; there were 80,000 in the house; if they lost, they would have been crucified.”

Wildcard Player

Mason Redman

Jenkins: “It’s a positional change for Mason Redman.

“I’d put Mason Redman in the guts because he is a get-back and get-forward player. At the moment, he is a surplus to their needs in the backline.”

Medical Room (key outs)

Darcy Parish (Calf, Test)
Zach Reid (Pectoral, 8 Weeks)
Matt Guelfi (Hamstring, 4 Weeks)

Jenkins: “Guelfi, not a pressure player, but they need him as a defensive forward; if they bump into Geelong in a final, Tom Stewart is the man for him.”

De Stoop: “Parish as well who is back this week in the AFL or VFL, he is Essendon’s best clearance player.”

Why They Can

Jenkins: “They can’t win it, so I'm just going to move over to the next one.”

Why They Can’t

Jenkins: “Sam Draper needs to command the number one ruck role; their forward mix is completely off the boil; they’ve got no forward pressure whatsoever, and they’re not certain of what their tall forwards look like.

“They're too unstable.”