By Guy Incognito
So it comes down to the last round, against an old and bitter rival, who would have thought we’d be were we are now. Is this the start of a new 80’s era rivalry? Will we see fireworks the like of the 85 GF and the “line in the sand” game a few years back?

This game should be a brutal test of attrition with both teams having a lot of injured players both out and running around on the ground, it could almost be a battle of last man standing wins. Both teams pride is on the line. Hawthorns simply due to the fact they are last year’s premiers and could be the first team in awhile to miss the next seasons finals series. Essendon pride is a work in progress, rebuilding phrase. Lloyd himself has said they are trying to regain some respect in the football world after 4 long years out of the 8, and having multiple chances to sow up a finals spot already, this is a big test for both sides. Ultimately they probably won’t be playing for much other than one week of finals actions, but what that could mean for both sides would be enormous.

Where the game will be won
Pace, dare and flair

We’ve struggled in this area in the later part of the year, bar the Brisbane and Saints game.

Lovett, Winderlich, Atkinson, Dyson All need to have a big impact for mine.

Lovett for me has struggled to take the game on, at all costs, all the time, since the Second Carlton game. I don’t know if he got in trouble for the over celebrations, but his spark doesn’t seem to have been as bright since then.

Winderlich will hopefully be better for the run last week, but we need his line gut running this week. He is one who really needs to stand up. Obviously the question is, how bad is his back, and therefore can he ?

Atkinson is the key for mine. He was the spark for our run and dare since he has come in, and has seemingly started to give a second wind to our tiring side. Will he be able to have the same mindset of nothing to loose, and take the game and anyone who gets in his way, on ??

Even the other lesser speed demons like Lonergan , NLM, Hocking and Prismall need to take the game on. We’ve looked very ordinary when our guys seemingly play it safe. We need the whole team to take it on. If they can do it against the Saints and win, they can sure as hell do it against Hawthorn.

Where the game could be lost
Quite simply, defensive pressure. We have a great chance with the hawks big named forwards out, to totally dominate them. If our midfield and forwardline put on the same sort of pressure that the boys put in against the Saints, then the Hawks should surely struggle to score.

However we’ve seen what happens when our team turn up thinking they don’t have to do the hard yards defensively.

Key players
Lovett – As mentioned before, just a bit off his best. He needs to have a blinder. There are probably only 2 players who can catch Lovett, so he needs to seriously bust his arse

Prismall – This is the reason he wanted out of Geelong, to get games. Last week was prolly one of his worst games for the club. This is were he needs to stand up and show why we’ve wanted him for the last 2-3 odd years. Could tear the game open if he is on.

Pears – Without Franklin (unless a court injunction is given) he will be on a lesser light. He needs to control the back half. I don’t think we need him running the ball down the ground as much as he has, especially when he has played on some big names, but what we really need, without their big stars down there, is him to just maul anyone who even thinks about trying to score.

Obviously the other keys are Ryder and Watson, but they speak for themselves really.

To sum up, if all this talk from the club about wanting to restore respect, about the succession plan and everything else, if they are even half serious about any of it, they should come out with the mentality of smashing the Hawks and indeed smash them. It has almost been handed to them on a silver platter and if they can’t win this game, then serious questions need to be asked.

We should win by about 38 points.

That being said, we all know what happens when the evil Essendon turn up, so I’m not confident one way or the other.