pension333: AFL: Five things to look out for this weekend

A familiar name runs out for the Dons; Patrick Dangerfield's skills; pain for the Demons; and other talking points

1) A Daniher back on the Dons team sheet

In a move that is sure to please football romantics, Essendon youngster Joe Daniher looks set to make his debut against Carlton on Friday night. After a scandal-plagued season there's no doubt this will be something of a tonic for besieged Dons fans. Carrying on the legacy of his famous family will be no small feat for the 201cm forward, but the entire league will be watching as he takes the first steps of his journey. With 22 goals in seven VFL appearances, he looks ready.

The Blues will be buoyant themselves given the return of stars Chris Judd and Eddie Betts in this crunch game. The possible appearance of Daniher and the return of Michael Hurley have taken the media focus off Carlton's Jeff Garlett, but you'd think he was central to Essendon's planning given his career-best form and 27 goals from the opening 10 games of the season. Betts and Garlett will also be doing well to curb the influence of Michael Hibberd, whose rebound from the Dons defence seems to improve with every outing.

2) How good could Patrick Dangerfield be?

"I'm not sure if there's been a more exciting 100 games at this club," said the Adelaide coach, Brenton Sanderson, when paying tribute to Patrick Dangerfield as he approaches his milestone game. Sanderson will show his players a highlights tape of Dangerfield before the clash against Sydney and you'd think the only problem that will pose is deciding what to leave out. Sanderson added: "It's frightening to see how good this kid is." But it's equally scary to consider what Dangerfield's ceiling may be. He looms as the key threat to the Swans' stealthy but significant progress this season.

The Swans themselves will salute a far less flashy player; Marty Mattner fittingly announced his retirement on Thursday in the lead-up to the clash between two clubs he represented with such stoic distinction. It's hard to think of a player who better epitomises the fabled 'Bloods' culture in recent years than the unfashionable but efficient 30 year-old, a key plank of their premiership-winning defence of 2012.

3) How bad can things get for the Saints?

Despite a relative honeymoon period in his first year at the helm, Scott Watters and St Kilda are facing a significant rebuild. Even giving the encouraging form of Dylan Roberton, the Saints shabby-looking defence could be in for a torrid day against Coleman medal leader Josh Kennedy and his brutish offside Jack Darling. The Saints struggle when rebounding from the defensive fifty and their atrocious foot skills coming out of defence against the Roos last week highlighted how much they'll struggle in games when the usually serviceable James Gwilt doesn't bring his kicking boots.

Going in St Kilda's favour will be the loss of confidence West Coast are surely feeling after their own capitulation against the Tigers on Monday night. The Eagles were considered a realistic premiership contender in the pre-season but now find themselves in tenth position and coach John Worsfeld weighing up his own future beyond this year. It is a remarkable turn of events in the West but if they are to make the eight, they'll need to use this game against the struggling Saints as a platform. So far this year they have made no mistake dispatching struggling teams, but a loss here would be disastrous.

4) A genuine test of North's mettle

Such has been the frustrations of North Melbourne's season that virtually every week looms as a "danger game" for the stuttering Roos. This trip away to the Gold Coast will be no different and North must be quietly pondering the fact that Gold Coast are not only snapping at their heels for a position in the top eight, but have performed above expectations against a number of premiership contenders this season.

North only scraped across the line by seven points when the two teams clashed at Metricon stadium last season and Brad Scott must be quietly nervous about a game that could see his side's stocks plummet. The form of Suns' Rory Thompson has been the cause of serious optimism for Guy McKenna this season, but even if he's able to stifle the impact of Drew Petrie, the emergence of Aaron Black will be another worry for Gold Coast's defence. The 22 year-old tore St Kilda apart with five goals last weekend and many North fans will be keen to see if he can back it up this week.

5) More pain for the Dees

It's hard to know what would have been a worse outcome for Mark Neeld when he fronted the Melbourne board on Monday; losing his job or being told to carry on under the weight of such oppressive scrutiny. His reprieve feels uncomfortably like a temporary stay of execution and the words "no further comment at this time" were probably a little more loaded than Neeld would feel comfortable with. And if the poor Dees fans didn't already have enough to deal with, they've also been confronted by the thought of Jeff Kennett staging a leadership coup.

It's hard to imagine the Melbourne receiving anything less than a regal belting in their Queen's Birthday clash with Collingwood, even if the Pies form has been patchy of late. The struggling Demons will need something truly special from their beleaguered midfield division if they're to extract anything positive from this game. Curbing the influence of Swan, Ball and Pendlebury will be one thing, but providing any kind of support for the valiant efforts of Nathan Jones will be another. Chris Dawes will be keen to exert some influence on the game against his old side, but delivery to him will again be the main stumbling block. A tough day at the office is in store for Neeld and his team; and only something truly astonishing will keep the wolves at bay.

Russell Jackson

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/jun/06/afl-five-things-to-look-for-weekend

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