Injured forward Josh Jenkins expects an exciting shootout at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night in what he believes could be the match of the round between the Crows and Bombers.
Adelaide was the highest scoring side last season and again leads the way for points scored so far in 2017. Incredibly, the Crows have surpassed the 100-point barrier in 24 of their last 33 games, including in all three wins this season.
Essendon has been one of the most improved teams of 2017 after regaining a number of senior players from suspension to guide their young talent.
Jenkins, who was originally recruited by Essendon as a rookie in 2010, says the two teams shared similar qualities.
“I see a lot of us in them,” Jenkins said on The Pods Cast, which is released on afc.com.au on every home game day of Season 2017.
“I think their young players are similar to our young guys… they’ve got some real quality, young, speedy outside players.
“They’ve got an ability to play a really high-scoring, attractive game of footy.
“They’ll be smarting a little bit off that loss to Carlton in the wet.
“This is perhaps going to be game of the round.”
Jenkins will spend a second game on the sidelines as he continues his recovery from a rib injury sustained in Adelaide’s Round Two victory over Hawthorn.
The 28-year-old sat in the stats box next to the coaches for last weekend’s Showdown victory and said he was amazed at how composed Crows coaching staff were in the heat of battle.
“It’s actually very calm in the coaches’ box. I was really surprised at how smoothly everything went,” Jenkins said.
“It was remarkably quiet. There wasn’t one spray given to any player. There wasn’t even any venting or anything like that.
“You see some of the emotions of some (other) coaches. It’s probably a credit to the way they (our coaches) operate that everything runs really smoothly, and we came away with a pretty comprehensive win in a hot game in the end.”
Jenkins’ former housemate Rory Atkins steps in a special guest on this week’s edition of The Pods Cast in the absence of regular co-host James Podsiadly.
The duo, alongside hit 107's Amos Gill, also discuss the controversial player ratings due for release in the new AFL Evolution video game, and Jenkins delivers an Easter themed 'Top Four'.
Adelaide confronts Essendon at 7.10pm at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Click on the player below to listen to The Pods Cast
