Who will take the milestone man?

The centerpiece to the Bomber’s engine room plays his 200^th game this weekend.

Watson is Essendon’s captain, a Brownlow medalist and the barometer of his side and therefore needs to be held in check.

First cousin Seb Ross will no doubt line-up on the skipper at times this weekend and may very well be handed the job all on him all afternoon.

Has Jack Newnes finally broken out?

47 games, elevation into the leadership group and a bigger role to play, everything was ticking along nicely during the pre-season for a Jack Newnes breakout season.

While he played some seriously good football in the first couple of months, his numbers weren’t much more impressive than last year. It was in Adelaide in round seven where he really showed Saints fans the player he has become, registering 23 touches, seven marks, five tackles and a goal playing off the wing.

If there were any questions marks about this year being Newnes breakout season they have been answered. His last six weeks have been outstanding, culminating in his nine and seven tackle games against Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.

Newnes has jumped over 100 spots in the AFL player ratings since the end of last season.

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Can the Saints redeem themselves?

Two points was the margin last time they met and had the Saints not “shot themselves in the foot  with ball use” as Richo put it, the result could have easily gone the other way.

The major difference this time around will be the addition of Riewoldt and Montagna. Roo has averaged 3.3 against the Bombers over the span of his career while Leigh Montagna rounds out the top four for average player ratings between the sides since 1993.

Straight shooting, consistent effort and the Saints trademark ferocity could see this one go down to the wire and if Adam Schneider has the ball in his hands in the dying the moments of the game, you can bank on it that the 256 goal forward will kick truly.

Is Tim Watson right?

Last month Tim Watson said on SEN that St Kilda is closer to premiership than Essendon.

“They’ve got an old list, and if you look at St Kilda with their development, they will get there quicker than what Essendon will.”

It’s hard to argue with the ex-Bombers champion and ex-Saints coach, but at some point St Kilda have to prove it and this week’s clash is a great opportunity.

Essendon has lost four in a row and are playing a very defensive-minded game that lacks confidence, while the Saints are coming of a show stopping win and an admirable loss.