Speaker 1: This Sunday Night's King's Birthday Eve matched the biggest meeting
Speaker 1: of Carlton Essendon in twenty five years, with both teams
Speaker 1: at the business end of the ladder for the first
Speaker 1: time together since the turn of the millennium. Josh Barnes
Speaker 1: will join me coming up to preview the blockbuster and
Speaker 1: then less than twenty four hours later, the decimated Pies
Speaker 1: and devastated D's will hope to fill the g again.
Speaker 1: Glenn McFarlane is coming on to chat about the ins
Speaker 1: and outs of both teams chances as well. But first
Speaker 1: here's Josh. Well. After a mid season break and then
Speaker 1: a mini pre season, Josh Barnes is back on the
Speaker 1: heralds Unfooty podcast today.
Speaker 2: Barnsey, it was a bit like one of those ones
Speaker 2: where they send them down to the VFL for three
Speaker 2: weeks to do some training and get the body right
Speaker 2: all that sort of stuff. Have I missed anything in
Speaker 2: the last few weeks, Andy, what's been happening?
Speaker 1: Not a whole lot. I think Melbourne had the week
Speaker 1: off last week, so yeah, they played like it. Oh
Speaker 1: they played Yeah, that depends on your definition. That was
Speaker 1: quite the watch. Must admit didn't get all the way
Speaker 1: through that. Hopefully it's an aberration. We'll wait and see,
Speaker 1: but we're not going to talk about that. We're going
Speaker 1: to talk about what bills as being the biggest game
Speaker 1: of the year could be the biggest game of the century.
Speaker 1: If you ask people in the inner North and northern
Speaker 1: suburbs of Melbourne, it's Cardon and Essendon on Sunday evening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be massive. I'll be there and
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see what can happen. It's a bit
Speaker 2: more positive than Melbourne chat. Isn't any talking about Sunday night.
Speaker 2: But it's going to be the biggest game between these
Speaker 2: sides since definitely at least since twenty eleven when they
Speaker 2: played elimination Final Cut and won that easily. They've got
Speaker 2: to take over ninety thousand in the stands that day.
Speaker 2: They played in the preliminary final in two thousand andy
Speaker 2: if you remember that, remember well that pretty easily on
Speaker 2: their way to that dominant premiership. A proad from that.
Speaker 2: These two haven't really have played two meaningful matches this
Speaker 2: century really when you look at it, so this is
Speaker 2: going to be a monster of a game. They got
Speaker 2: a three thousand there last year. For this Queen's Birthday,
Speaker 2: e fixed out they're going to beat that both they
Speaker 2: all report so far on ticket sales and it's going
Speaker 2: to be a huge one. Who would have thought we'd
Speaker 2: have Essendon second and Carlton fifth heading into Queen's Birthday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's interesting because I think Essendon has definitely
Speaker 1: flown under the raidar you know that people haven't talked
Speaker 1: about them and still aren't talking about them as a
Speaker 1: genuine contender necessarily come the end of the year. But
Speaker 1: they are definitely talking up Carlton because Carlton, you know,
Speaker 1: they've they've got everybody excited. They almost they got to
Speaker 1: a prelim last year when people didn't expect them to
Speaker 1: and they've really built on that this year with some
Speaker 1: pretty stellar forward player and their mid film in Patrick
Speaker 1: Cripps is you know, if not the best, he has
Speaker 1: to be in the top five players in the competition.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's going to be an exciting one. It's
Speaker 1: twenty five years since that nine to ninety nine pre limb,
Speaker 1: that famous cart and winning the Prism, when everyone expected
Speaker 1: Essendon to just go right on with the business. And yeah,
Speaker 1: twenty five years later, maybe lightning will strike twice and
Speaker 1: we'll get another Crackerjack game.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was not a firm believer, but a quite
Speaker 2: believer in Essendon coming into this year. It's easy to
Speaker 2: forget that they were sixth on the ladder Round fifteen
Speaker 2: last year. They fell away badly. We all know that
Speaker 2: there's no hiding from that. They were awful in the
Speaker 2: last few rounds, particularly they're huge loss to GWS, but
Speaker 2: there was a lot of injuries, a lot of running
Speaker 2: out of gas I think by the end of last year,
Speaker 2: and I thought they were better side than what they
Speaker 2: showed in the last few weeks, and they've proven that
Speaker 2: so far this season. They've turned things around. I think
Speaker 2: the obvious thing that we just spoke about before we
Speaker 2: started recording this is their percentage is still on the
Speaker 2: one hundred and two ESSEN, which is usually an indicator
Speaker 2: of how you actually are as a team. Is youer percentage?
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's not that positive. I don't think anyone
Speaker 2: really believes that they're a flag contender, but if they
Speaker 2: beat Carlton this week in a huge game like that,
Speaker 2: they have to be sort of stamped as a serious
Speaker 2: team to watch.
Speaker 1: Seinenth on the percentage ladder. So Adelaide's percentage in fourteenth
Speaker 1: is significantly better, Brisbane in thirteenth is significantly better. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting one, isn't it. So that they're they're
Speaker 1: winning games that maybe you know that that predicted result
Speaker 1: the lovely Melbourne Finals stat that the players all clung
Speaker 1: to last year. But yeah, they're winning games that maybe
Speaker 1: that the stats show that they shouldn't be winning. And
Speaker 1: often when you get to the end of the year,
Speaker 1: they're the ones that get you into the finals and
Speaker 1: you build on from there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this comes after they lost to Gold Coast
Speaker 2: obviously on the weekend, and that was a back and
Speaker 2: forth final quarter really only decided by that fifty min
Speaker 2: penalty in the final ninety seconds or so of the game,
Speaker 2: and that was one that they probably could have won really,
Speaker 2: so if they'd pinched that, they'd be clear in second
Speaker 2: and holding on. How have you rated the Blues lately
Speaker 2: anywhere where do you sort of see them?
Speaker 1: I think the Blues are definitely in the top three contenders.
Speaker 1: You know, their their list profile and all if you
Speaker 1: want to go get into the jarg and it seems
Speaker 1: to suggest that they are up there. They're still winning
Speaker 1: games even with a significant injury at list. You know,
Speaker 1: their injury list has been spoken about as being you know,
Speaker 1: in the other than say Richmond and Collingwood. They're they're
Speaker 1: the most hampered by sgiven injuries, but they seem to
Speaker 1: still find players to feel those spots and to win
Speaker 1: their way. So now I think Carlton, as they get
Speaker 1: players back, you know, if they can stick around, if
Speaker 1: they can sneak into the top four by the end
Speaker 1: of the year, they are a genuine chance.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're They're sort of in that part
Speaker 2: of the season right now where you just have to
Speaker 2: win and forget about how you're playing. Almost given there.
Speaker 2: They've been holding onto this injury list for ten weeks now. Really,
Speaker 2: every time they start clearing players more get added on.
Speaker 2: It's been a real battle for them along. They're not alone,
Speaker 2: as you said, Richmond and Colin would have probably worse
Speaker 2: off than them, but it's been a real struggle and
Speaker 2: they've just managed to find ways to win, find ways
Speaker 2: to get overline and stay in touch with the top four.
Speaker 2: The top four that, as we just discussed, is not
Speaker 2: very impressive really at the moment, Sydney is head and
Speaker 2: shoulders above everybody else in the ladder. But in second
Speaker 2: we spoke about, so their percentages is not not that good.
Speaker 2: Geelong has been bad for five weeks now Port Adelaide,
Speaker 2: nobody ever believes in them. They've struggled when it counts.
Speaker 2: So there is a top four spot there for the taking, really,
Speaker 2: and Carlton I think should grab it.
Speaker 1: This could be one of those years, and we spoke
Speaker 1: about twenty sixteen was one of those years. And going
Speaker 1: back even further like nineteen ninety was one of those
Speaker 1: years where the teams who are there or thereabouts who
Speaker 1: don't win the premiership will possibly look back on it
Speaker 1: and say that was the year that we could have
Speaker 1: because there wasn't a standout. You know, Sydney are at
Speaker 1: the moment, but can they keep it going all season?
Speaker 1: Everyone else is sort of you know from second to
Speaker 1: ninth or tenth. You know they're interchangeable. So you know,
Speaker 1: you just wonder can a team twenty sixteen style the
Speaker 1: Bulldogs finished seventh, You know, can a team who finishes
Speaker 1: in that sort of area Bob and have a really
Speaker 1: good run top in that four week finals? I think
Speaker 1: there aren't the standouts and I think that makes it exciting.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Now, last time you had me on here and he
Speaker 2: before I was sent down to the two through a
Speaker 2: good month to sort myself out. I was on the
Speaker 2: record saying that the top three at the time were
Speaker 2: clearly above the rest. I was GWS, Sydney and Geelong
Speaker 2: at the time. What marks do you give me over
Speaker 2: the past four or five weeks.
Speaker 1: Well, Geelong seemed to go overseas with you, I think.
Speaker 2: Well, to be honest, I flew back in on Saturday
Speaker 2: from Dublin and I think as I was crossing back
Speaker 2: into Australia along was down by twenty five points to Richmond,
Speaker 2: and then they started picking it up.
Speaker 1: So it can't be a coincidence. Well, you know, don't
Speaker 1: go away again. So yeah, Geelong they look you know,
Speaker 1: they looked great at the start of the year. As
Speaker 1: soon as they start losing, they look old and slow.
Speaker 1: But it's a profile that's happened to Geelong for ten years,
Speaker 1: so they could pick it up again. The signs aren't
Speaker 1: great GWS. I don't think GWS there ever ever go away.
Speaker 1: So yeah, they've lost a few games, they're still middling,
Speaker 1: they're still in there. Wait for them to pick it up,
Speaker 1: wait for Jesse Hogan to burst out and kick another six,
Speaker 1: and you know, win games. I mean I think Sydney
Speaker 1: is as you said, still, you know there's some daylight second,
Speaker 1: but third to tenth anyone could win it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I put gws still alongside Carlton's two signs that
Speaker 2: should make the top four from here, I think in
Speaker 2: the right position. As we've said, teams above them should
Speaker 2: probably start filtering down at some stage. So I think
Speaker 2: those are three your top four, really, Sydney Giants and
Speaker 2: the Blues. I think that's where I sort of sit and.
Speaker 1: Then put it on the record Barnsey. Who will finish fourth?
Speaker 2: Then well that's a big question, isn't I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't really know, to be honest. I think gee Long
Speaker 2: as a fair chance if they get through this month, okay,
Speaker 2: but they didn't get through last month's okay. Port Adelade
Speaker 2: seems to win a lot of games. Freemantle's coming with
Speaker 2: a bit of a rush at the moment. The way
Speaker 2: they're playing their footy looks pretty good. I don't think
Speaker 2: Colin can make it that high from here. Melbourne you
Speaker 2: can probably right off of that, and then you've got
Speaker 2: the Western Bulldogs is probably the last team in contention
Speaker 2: on the ladder at the moment for a top fourth spot.
Speaker 2: I don't see from them. I can't rely on them
Speaker 2: too much, so I don't know. I think it's probably
Speaker 2: going to be either one of Geelong or portolatle get
Speaker 2: enough wins against poor teams. Geelong has a after this
Speaker 2: next month. They have a good draw thanks to finishing
Speaker 2: in the middle of the ladder last year, they should
Speaker 2: probably come home reasonably strongly, so maybe they'll finish fourth.
Speaker 2: But they can't seem to win games at home as
Speaker 2: easily as they used to, so who knows. That's not
Speaker 2: really answering your question is no, I think Freemantle is
Speaker 2: the best of those options in terms of their form
Speaker 2: at the moment.
Speaker 1: Sydney Carlton, GWS Frio is the Josh Barnes top four.
Speaker 2: Would that be the biggest nightmare for ticket sales? Is
Speaker 2: GWS and Freemantle both in the top four.
Speaker 1: Well, particularly if they finished second and third and they
Speaker 1: both get home sorry first and third they both get
Speaker 1: home prelims, or if they finished fourth and fifth, so
Speaker 1: they you know, anyway, third and fifth.
Speaker 2: That's why we're going to near Carlton Ands and do
Speaker 2: a lot of heavy lifting. Think the way things are
Speaker 2: shaping out on his gold coasts in the top eight
Speaker 2: at the moment, we're going to be relying heavily on
Speaker 2: the Blues and Bombers. That's hopefully they can kick start
Speaker 2: that absolutely week.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah on Sunday, It's going to be an exciting one.
Speaker 1: Barnsey enjoy thanks for joining me. Thanks Eddie, and here
Speaker 1: on the Herald Sun Footy podcast where we just talked
Speaker 1: King's Birthday eve with Josh Barnes and let's talk King's
Speaker 1: Birthday Glen McFarlan, welcome.
Speaker 4: Hey, you and Andy are right, two massive games and geez,
Speaker 4: I think the Sunday night might be completely out of
Speaker 4: his shadowing the Monday one.
Speaker 1: At this stage, Well it is, yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: think there'll be a bigger crowd. You've got two more informed.
Speaker 3: Teams, the twins playing against each other.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and then the Monday you've got a Collingwood team,
Speaker 1: you know, crippled by injury, and you've got a Melbourne
Speaker 1: team coming off crippled by poor form. Well just a
Speaker 1: you know, embarrassing, a shameful.
Speaker 4: I can't remember many games like that where I watched
Speaker 4: and I just thought, this football club has been obliterated.
Speaker 4: And you look at that midfield. That midfield is a
Speaker 4: premiership winning midfield. We've seen it and they were completely
Speaker 4: torn apart.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's not that it's not a team that is,
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of their powers with all
Speaker 1: you've got, you've got essentially as midfield that is, at
Speaker 1: their height of their late ENnies, there should be Yeah,
Speaker 1: they should be dominating.
Speaker 4: Absolutely and they have. They have done that in the past.
Speaker 4: And now you look at it. There was always a
Speaker 4: couple of little floors with Melbourne forward lines all even
Speaker 4: when their premiership yet it was a floor as well.
Speaker 3: But now what.
Speaker 4: I'm looking at is I'm looking at floors both, you know,
Speaker 4: not just forward, not just back, but in the midfield
Speaker 4: as well, so every line. And we're talking about a
Speaker 4: couple of games they've had. Two of the last three
Speaker 4: games have been terrible mel really bad. It's like falling
Speaker 4: off a cliff in a way. And I don't think
Speaker 4: you can blame Alice Springs, and I know internally they're
Speaker 4: not blaming Alice Springs. The venue has been the reason
Speaker 4: behind that, you know, shocking result against Fremantle.
Speaker 1: Well, it's not like they're playing against Alice Springs. In
Speaker 1: Alice Springs, correct, I don't have to travel as well.
Speaker 1: They travel further than Melbourne travel correct.
Speaker 4: So with that with Alice Springs as well, when you
Speaker 4: look at it, like in terms of traveling, I think
Speaker 4: Melbourne you know, probably have got lesser travel than Freemantle
Speaker 4: will actually get there. And the bottom line is it
Speaker 4: was a I wasn't there, but I watched every kick.
Speaker 4: If I'm sure you would have, I would have given
Speaker 4: it away. But with that, like last year was a
Speaker 4: really awkward conditions up there last year, this year clear
Speaker 4: perfect conditions, not oppressive, not bad weather. So there's no
Speaker 4: excuses in regard to that. So and I can tell
Speaker 4: you now Melbourne is locked in for the next two years,
Speaker 4: so they're not going anywhere, so that the Alice Springs
Speaker 4: game will go ahead.
Speaker 3: So all the debate about, oh.
Speaker 4: Why are they playing at Alice Springs, Well, if they
Speaker 4: weren't playing at Alice Springs, they'll probably be playing at
Speaker 4: Marvel that game.
Speaker 3: Freemant will play Marvel okay too, so well.
Speaker 1: And also it doesn't you should be able to play,
Speaker 1: you should you're not selling. As my point before, you're
Speaker 1: not selling a home game to up the stadium to
Speaker 1: play Freemantle on the correct.
Speaker 4: Correct and fret I'd never played there before as well, so.
Speaker 1: And they just made Melbourne look witch's hats. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: they ran around them and there's no system and you know,
Speaker 1: Freemantle we're on. But still there's no excuse for ninety
Speaker 1: two points.
Speaker 4: I spent first half of the game trying to work
Speaker 4: out how good freemanl I was and by the end
Speaker 4: I'm like, well, yeah, they're good, but how bad Melbourne were?
Speaker 4: And I kept thinking there'd be a spike. There was
Speaker 4: no spike. They can't kick goals and this in this instance,
Speaker 4: and you take Lever out of the defense, they can't
Speaker 4: save goals at the Melbourne that Melbourne. You know, you
Speaker 4: look at Stephen Mays, who's been a remarkable player for Melbourne.
Speaker 4: He looked out of sorts. And when Stephen May looks
Speaker 4: out of sorts, I know you're a Harrison Petty forward,
Speaker 4: that kind of guy. I'm not sure which way you're going,
Speaker 4: but I think you'll find that at some stage you'll
Speaker 4: have to go back.
Speaker 1: Is that not papering over cracks though?
Speaker 3: It's a few cracks. We're talking. We're talking serious cracks
Speaker 3: at the moment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you take Harrison Penny out of the forward line,
Speaker 1: who do you put in there?
Speaker 3: For a start?
Speaker 1: You've tried Ben Brown, He's hardly got any he's left
Speaker 1: and even at his best for Melbourne, the system never
Speaker 1: really worked.
Speaker 3: Hasn't worked for anymore, that's right.
Speaker 1: You know, Shane McCadam is a ghost in the forward
Speaker 1: line since he can't.
Speaker 3: Get near the horribly out of touch.
Speaker 1: You know, there's Fulson who they brought in to be
Speaker 1: the Grundy replacement, that was brought in to be the
Speaker 1: Jackson replacement, but they haven't wanted to give him I
Speaker 1: think he was a little bit injured but then really
Speaker 1: wanted to give.
Speaker 3: Him the go.
Speaker 4: So there's a lot of internal debate going about what
Speaker 4: happens with Harrison Petty.
Speaker 3: That's the thing.
Speaker 4: The coach is very keen and you know, very interested
Speaker 4: in keeping him where he is at the moment, but
Speaker 4: you know, out of necessity they might need to go
Speaker 4: back and does he stay at the end of the year.
Speaker 4: There's all you know, we know how hard Melbourne Adelaide
Speaker 4: came for Harrison Petty last year. Do they come as hard?
Speaker 4: They certainly don't offer as much, do they. That's the thing.
Speaker 1: No, they don't because they offered what they offered based
Speaker 1: on one game against Richmond last year.
Speaker 4: It's a good game, good if you can get that
Speaker 4: situation where you play a couple of good games and
Speaker 4: all of a sudden they come for you. But he's
Speaker 4: a better player than what he's playing. That's what I think.
Speaker 4: The most important thing is he is a good player.
Speaker 4: Is he a defender?
Speaker 3: Is he a forward?
Speaker 4: Well, we don't really know, but they're gonna have to
Speaker 4: find out pretty soon.
Speaker 1: They are. And I think they're playing against Collingwood who
Speaker 1: don't have a forward line correct. You know, they've got
Speaker 1: injuries all over the ground. So if they can't, you know,
Speaker 1: make a statement again, I think it needs to be
Speaker 1: more than just beating Collingwood. It needs to be making
Speaker 1: a statement. Doesn't have to be a huge result, but
Speaker 1: they need to show that they are a better.
Speaker 4: Team because Collingwood, even without the players, they're very spirited.
Speaker 4: You saw what the Dogs did before against Sydney. The
Speaker 4: Dogs were terrific against Sydney the week before, so I
Speaker 4: think it was you know, and the Dogs lost a
Speaker 4: few players again last week as well, but it was
Speaker 4: a very creditable performance from Collingwood. They could have put
Speaker 4: the Dogs away in the first quarter, just didn't kick straight.
Speaker 4: So a lot of interesting looks at you know, how
Speaker 4: far some of the guys that are out from Collingwood
Speaker 4: until they come back, and you know they'll get Will
Speaker 4: Hoskin Elliott back this week. He was close to playing
Speaker 4: last week, so he'll play Reeth McGinness maybe from that concussion.
Speaker 4: Then there's a bit of a gap until the Cavalry
Speaker 4: comes back and so got to get through that period
Speaker 4: of time.
Speaker 3: Big watch on Jamie Elliott as well.
Speaker 4: There's been a lot of talk about whether he whether
Speaker 4: that vascular issue in his foot is really causing concern
Speaker 4: and whether you know, there's some speculation that he might
Speaker 4: not play again.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 4: The clubs will put out a statement later today, but
Speaker 4: having spoken to a few people there yesterday that they're
Speaker 4: optimistic that he can still play a part in this season.
Speaker 4: You know, in the medium term that he that he
Speaker 4: can get back onto the field. He's certainly carrying an
Speaker 4: issue there and will be a fitness thing there as well.
Speaker 4: But fascinating game because the Pies will come you know,
Speaker 4: minus some players, but with plenty of spirit.
Speaker 3: And will the Demons have that same spirit? That's the key.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And there's a there's recent history between the two teams.
Speaker 3: There is. They don't like each other, let's be honest.
Speaker 1: And it's the first time they've met since the.
Speaker 3: She there is too, isn't it.
Speaker 4: How do you reckon Melvin crowd are going to treat
Speaker 4: Bradon Maynard the interesting?
Speaker 1: I mean that they'll do the usual booing every time
Speaker 1: against the ball. And I don't think I don't think
Speaker 1: on the flip side, I don't think there's a that
Speaker 1: Melbourne is the sort of team that comes up after them.
Speaker 4: Jack Viney, There's not many. There's not many, is there.
Speaker 4: I was just going to say something bad then I
Speaker 4: was going to say, are they a nice footy team?
Speaker 3: In a way they are?
Speaker 4: They used to have that hunger, that that you know,
Speaker 4: real ruthless element to it.
Speaker 3: It seems to have dissipated.
Speaker 4: I think, you know, Max is pretty ruthless, but not
Speaker 4: in an aggressive way. He's ruthless with the way he
Speaker 4: that he gets through Jack Viney is he's ruthless at
Speaker 4: the player.
Speaker 3: And you know, in a fair way, there's not many others.
Speaker 3: Stephen May. Maybe there's not many others.
Speaker 1: You know, as we said, the Sunday night game is
Speaker 1: fascinating because I think it could be absolute cracker Jackie versus.
Speaker 3: Fifth ninety two thousand, maybe.
Speaker 1: But the Monday game is fascinating just for the permutation.
Speaker 1: It is the end of the rest of the season.
Speaker 4: Because you looked at it earlier this year would have thought, well,
Speaker 4: Collinod and Melbourn going to be right there and the
Speaker 4: whips are cracking, and you know, you look at the
Speaker 4: ladder now there and they're both in a fair bit
Speaker 4: of trouble when you look at it. So you're looking
Speaker 4: at their their ninth and tenth, ninth and tenth the pies.
Speaker 4: You know they've both got the you know, both got
Speaker 4: the seven wins, and you look at their both percentages
Speaker 4: around about the same. Gee, they're eerily similar to percentages
Speaker 4: one oh four point six Collingwood one oh four point
Speaker 4: three Melbourne. So surprised that they're there at this stage.
Speaker 4: There's still plenty of time, but they want to get
Speaker 4: a move on now. Some of these clubs really want
Speaker 4: to start getting a move on now.
Speaker 1: Yes, so we'll both be biting our fingers.
Speaker 4: It's ten yes, Monday, mon. I'll be there Sunday night
Speaker 4: and they're Monday as well.
Speaker 3: Looking forward to it absolutely. Cheers Maacket, Thanks Andy, cheers.
Speaker 1: That'll do us. On this edition of The Herald's Unfooty Podcast,
Speaker 1: I'm Andy Belaiz and my thanks to Josh Barnes and
Speaker 1: Glenn McFarland Today, as always, keep an eye out for
Speaker 1: the latest trade buzz in Moneyball on Wednesday morning. People
Speaker 1: one will have his mid season review Thursday midday, a
Speaker 1: full suite of Super Coach live blogs from every game,
Speaker 1: and then, of course robbos can't misstackle on Sunday night.
Speaker 1: Catch you next time.