Round 16 – North Melbourne v Essendon: Sheez, what a game by Harry!

 

Round 16
North Melbourne v Essendon
Sunday 28 June 2026
Marvel Stadium

 

Gee, that was a disappointing result for the Bombers against North Melbourne.

 

After the bye I expected them to return refreshed, confident and keen to have a real crack against the Roos, and to finish off the rest of the season on a high note. Sadly, not to be.

 

Instead, Essendon were flat-footed, slow, always chasing or attempting to chase, and made some terrible and poor decisions with the ball  highlighted by Jacob Farrow’s shocking, and embarrassing  incorrect disposal metres out from North’s goal, the free kick  resulting in an easy goal for North. He just did not know what to do with the ball! I did! As my old junior coach always said, ‘if in doubt son, kick it long son, kick it long’! 

 

I felt extremely sorry for Farrow, there was no experienced leader down back with a cool head to direct traffic. You only had to look at the game Luke Parker played in North’s backline – he was that experienced leader with a cool head, and the Bombers sadly lacked someone of that calibre. Farrow ended up being one of Essendon’s better players and I’m sure he will learn from that horrible mistake.

 

The Bombers had many players down on the day, our forward line struggled to kick goals and we were fortunate North kept us in the game due to their wayward kicking for goal.

 

We were smashed in the clearances and the backs constantly were under pressure, real sustained presuure from the smooth ball handling skills and delivery by the likes of Harry Sheezel, Luke Davies-Uniacke, and Caleb Daniels. All had plenty of the ball, knew exactly what to do with it, and delivered accordingly. Durham and Parish flashed in and out of the play but could not provide that full game consistency we were hoping for.

 

I was surprised by the postioning of some of the Essendon players. I don’t know how many games Harry Jones has played on the backline but he looked all at sea and out of his depth there. I think Nik Cox may have been a better option.

 

Archer Day-Wilks has been doing some nice things up forward this year but he appeared to spend a lot of time on the backline this match. I suppose it comes back to team balance particularly if you play both Kako and El-Achkar. Although El-Achkar kicked a couple of goals, he and Kako did not have the expected impact they were selected for. Unfortunately, I think we believe they will be Essendon’s answer to Nick Watson! A fair way to go before that happens but you have to keep playing them – they are the future of the club.

 

Mason Redman had a good game for the Bombers but not enough of his team mates were there to help him out.

 

I don’t know where the Bombers go from here; perhaps finally give Gerryns a game, play Visentini in the ruck and provide the  time and exposure to further develop his game, try out mid-year pick Artemis to determine if has has a place in the side, but it is time to move on.

 

I’ll be at Marvel next Sunday cheering the Bombers on against St Kilda, hopefully the result will be different.

 

Go Bombers!

 

My Malarkey Votes

3. Harry Sheezel  (played a blinder)
2. Caleb Daniels
1. Luke Davies-Uniacke

 

NORTH MELBOURNE     2.6    5.9    8.15   10.19 (79)
ESSENDON         2.2    4.6    5.8   9.11 (65)

 

GOALS 
North Melbourne: Konstanty 2, Darling 2, Spargo 2, Davies-Uniacke, Simpkin, Trembath, Larkey
Essendon: Durham 2, El Achkar 2, Caddy 2, McKay, Robey, Merrett

 

BEST 
North Melbourne: Sheezel, Davies-Uniacke, McKercher, Trembath, Harvey
Essendon: Durham, Reid, Robey, Redman, Caddy

 

INJURIES 
North Melbourne: Wardlaw (right knee)
Essendon: Redman (left knee soreness)

 

Crowd: 37,054 at Marvel Stadium

More Round 16 Reports Here

 

 

More from Col Ritchie can be read Here

 

 

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