'What is happening!?': Wild swings in epic clash... and 19yo could be ...

Essendon hosts Adelaide at Marvel Stadium in an intriguing clash to commence Round 19 on Friday night.

The Bombers (10-6-1, 98.8%) are rebounding from a disappointing loss to Melbourne last Saturday and are looking to continue their recent dominance over the Crows.

Meanwhile, Adelaide (6-10-1, 105.0%) is hoping to cause an upset at Docklands that would send shivers through Essendon as it shapes a finals assault.

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Essendon has won seven consecutive games against Adelaide, dating back to 2017. Further, the Bombers have won four consecutive games against the Crows at Marvel Stadium.

Brad Scott made an interesting call at selection, recalling veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein in place of key forward Peter Wright (omitted) as the Dons take two rucks into Friday night’s clash. Dyson Heppell and Nick Hind were also dropped.

Matthew Nicks’ match committee made an eyebrow-raising call of their own, opting to rest stalwart forward Taylor Walker and include defender Mitch Hinge.

St Kilda great Leigh Montagna had Essendon “in the gun” in the lead-up to Friday night.

“It was really disappointing,” Montagna told Fox Footy of the Bombers’ Round 18 loss to the Demons. “I’ve got them in the gun because they play in the third-lowest pressure rating games for the season.

“When they have played in high-pressure games, they are now 3-4-1. They’re 7-2 in low-pressure games, where it’s under 180 — the pressure number that we use as average — and they’ve failed the test three out of the last four times.

“You’ve got to start to question: are they strong enough around the contest and are they desperate enough? I’m putting it on Essendon. They’ve done some great things this year and they’ve made progress, but in these big games against strong opposition, I don’t think they’ve stood up — and that’s the next level they’ve got to get to if they want to win a final.”

The game gets underway at 7:40pm AEST from Marvel Stadium.

Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504), streaming on Kayo or via Hubbl from 6:30pm AEST.

ROLLING UPDATES

The Bombers made a hot start to the game, kicking the first three goals. Two of the them came via Harry Jones, who looked ominous playing off a wing.

Essendon young gun Nate Caddy provided the highlight of the first quarter, soaring high to pull down an eye-catching mark.

“There’s the future right there,” commentator James Brayshaw said.

Fox Footy analyst Garry Lyon said Adelaide was “weak” from a pressure perspective early. But the Crows responded with the next three goals of the game to take the lead early in the second quarter.

The downside for Adelaide, though, was that Nick Murray was subbed out with a knee injury, with Brayden Cook injected into the game.

Essendon then responded with the next two goals via Sam Durham and Kyle Langford. Durham’s remarkable rise in 2024 continued, with 15 disposals in just over one quarter.

“They’ve got to do something about Durham now. It’s out of control,” Matthew Richardson said in commentary.

But quick goals to Zac Taylor, Ben Keays and Darcy Fogarty — the latter thanks to some brilliant ball movement — put the Crows back in front.

“They look slick,” Brian Taylor said of the Crows in commentary.

Darcy Fogarty then booted his second before Keays dribbled through his third to make it seven straight Crows goals. Sam Berry nailed another minutes later to make it eight straight.

“What is happening?” Brayshaw said.

Essendon kicked the last two goals of the second term to cut Adelaide’s lead to 23 points at half-time, but its sloppy disposal from defence was alarming.

“The back six handball game has been woeful,” Fox Footy’s Nathan Buckley said.

The Bombers got the ideal start to third term, with four quick goals to Jade Gresham, Caddy (two) and Kyle Langford to cut the margin to one point.

“Can you believe it?” Brayshaw said.

Adelaide responded with a couple of goals to Josh Rachele and Keays, with the later’s major an unlikely long-range soccer goal.

But Sam Draper and Jye Caldwell responded with their own majors for the Bombers to set up a 10-point lead at three quarter-time as the wild, engrossing contest continued.

Just before the three quarter-time siren though, Caddy was involved in a collision with Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson that left the latter dazed. Caddy could face scrutiny from the Match Review Officer for it.

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