“You have got to be very careful about knocking those two (Steven Alessio and John Barnes). You have got two very experienced ruckman – they both played in last year’s premiership side and they know what big games are about and what the pressure is like. You have got to be very careful about knocking blokes at this time of year,” Madden said.
Madden said it was unfair to pin a side’s hopes on its performance in a single position. “You really can’t pinpoint one position as the key to winning in football nowadays. In today’s game you have to look at the side right across the board – that depth is the key,” he said.
Madden has been very impressed with the emergence of Ottens in the past few seasons. “I think Brad Ottens is an excellent player. He is very mobile, very strong, very quick and with skills – I have seen him really develop over the past three years, he said.”
“I think Essendon will win tomorrow night. Richmond played very, very well last week. They played exceptional football last week but Essendon played very poorly – rarely have I seen this Essendon side play two bad ones in a row. I think it will be close – unlike some people – but I do think Essendon will win.”
