Essendon coach John Worsfold says an extra cautious approach to managing Joe Daniher is behind the decision to hold the star forward back from Friday’s clash with Sydney.
Daniher has played three senior games since returning from a near year-long injury absence, but a five-day turnaround into Friday’s match has seen the club avoid taking any risks.
“We monitor him extremely closely at the moment, so taking everything into account, the best scenario for Joe is that he doesn’t play on Friday,” Worsfold said on Thursday.
With Mitch Brown (wrist), Shaun McKernan (hamstring), James Stewart (groin) and Sam Draper (knee) all on the sidelines, Essendon’s height has been tested, but the Bombers will be boosted by ruck Zac Clarke’s return this week following two weeks out with a calf injury.
“We need some tall players; we’ve unfortunately had some injuries to a lot of our talls.
“Zac will spend some time in the ruck and some time up forward and compete for us, give us a good target to go to and help bring the ball to ground for us.”
Exciting young Bomber Brayden Ham has been rewarded for his outstanding form in the VFL since a promising senior debut in round five and Worsfold said the 20-year-old was “rapt” to break back into the AFL side.
“He’s a really good mover and understands the way we want him to play.
“His form has been solid all the way through, even going back into the VFL.
“He was rapt to get the call-up again and we look forward to seeing him up on the SCG.”
Worsfold said dynamic forward Orazio Fantasia has had “a really good week” ahead of the important match and will take his side after overcoming the illness that saw him withdrawn on game day in the last two rounds.
He will be joined by midfielder David Myers in the line-up and Worsfold said the 29-year-old will add important experience and grunt to the side.
“He certainly brings that big body and that hard worker into that midfield and really complements those other guys.
“He’s freshened right up now and we’re rapt to have him back.”
The addition of that pair is set to shake up the side, with young Bombers Jordan Ridley and Kyle Langford unfortunately forced out of the team due to team balance.
“With David Myers and Orazio coming back in, it changes the mix of our midfield group,” Worsfold said.
“We’re having a look at, with Ridley coming out, a slight change with our back structure. Also in the midfield with ‘Myersy’ coming in, it gives us a chance to look at something different.”
Small forward Mark Baguley is the final omission and Worsfold revealed the veteran will take the chance to refresh his body.
“‘Baggers’ is not going to play this weekend, he’s going to be just rested and freshened up.
“He carries a few sore spots and he’s carried one for the last week or two, and we just think with a five-day turnaround there is a high risk that he won’t be able to give us the output that he normally gives us.
“We’re going to give him the opportunity to freshen up. “
Mark Baguley will rest up this week after carrying soreness in recent weeks. (Image: AFL Photos)
Worsfold is looking forward to the opportunity to bounce back after a disappointing 32-point defeat to Geelong last week, but he said his side will need to be consistently at its best to beat the bottom-of-the-ladder Swans.
“They haven’t struggled as much as what people are saying, they’ve been in all of their games, so they’re still a very good team.
“We’re going to have to absolutely put them under the pump over the course of four quarters to make sure we get the win, so that’s our focus.
“We were disappointed with our overall work rate last week. We matched Geelong in some areas, but there are areas we need to improve in and we’ve got to focus on bringing that this week.”
