At Etihad Stadium on Thursday 24th February.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/eagles-earn-home-nab-cup-quarter-final/story-e6frf9jf-1226005762271

Surely it'll be St Kilda.

Wouldn't bank on it given theioff seasons problems. They will finish bottom half of the list

Happy it's a melbourne game! \o/

Couldn't careless who we play...does it matter? No.

What really matters.

1.We don't get any injuries

2.All Players have a crack and build on confidence

would have liked the friday night match...so i could pickup the saturday morning paper and have a good read about my demons!

Wasn't 2007 in Tassie or was that 2008 against Hawthorn?

2007 - Hawks at Etihad

2008 - Cats in Geelong

2009 - Hawks at Tassie

2010 - Freo at Subi

Surely it'll be St Kilda.

You would think so, but in reality hard to call. Essendon have to do the two teams/play all the kids split games thing, but St Kilda will be resting quite a few senior players it seems.

Essendon very confident .... already.

Thursday? Probably not that strange as it wasn't that far back that these games were played on Monday nights.

Essendon very confident .... already.

They are ?

Thursday night is one thing, but why on earth is it a 7.10pm start and not 7.40pm, like Friday night?

That's really pushing it for the majority of supporters who work. Makes no sense!

Thursday night is one thing, but why on earth is it a 7.10pm start and not 7.40pm, like Friday night?

That's really pushing it for the majority of supporters who work. Makes no sense!

I think the idea is so that people can get up for work the next day in a better fashion- pathetic, really.

Crappy ground, but another chance of exposure to a ground we traditionally struggle playing on. We all know that we can kill it at the G, but i love that we're playing pre season games at grounds we usually drop games on. Can only be a good thing for the younger players.

Yes i agree, let's play the next month on Grounds we don't like...learning to win. Round 1 against the Swannettes, 50,000+ at the MCG.

Very good point Mallee. Is it being Televised on F.T.A?? surely not. That is a major drag 2 weeks in a row....

Thursday night is one thing, but why on earth is it a 7.10pm start and not 7.40pm, like Friday night?

That's really pushing it for the majority of supporters who work. Makes no sense!

It makes sense to me.

Thursday night is one thing, but why on earth is it a 7.10pm start and not 7.40pm, like Friday night?

That's really pushing it for the majority of supporters who work. Makes no sense!

Get's families home earlier for a Friday work day.

I just can't wait to see the Dees live in action in a semi-important game. I really hope we (dees fans) come to Etihad in full force. It pains me when i cast my mind back to '08 when we played the Dogs and the Saints at the same venue- and it was like we were an interstate team!

Certainly won't be Brisbane, Bombers just thumped them by 10 goals. St Kilda v Brisbane about to start. Essendon went in with a pretty strong squad, I would guess over 90%. Brisbane went in with a much younger and inexperienced squad.

will hold opinions till Ess v Sainters.. Bummers had no competition to speak of and still got sloppy. Bit more purposeful than last year... no more dangerous though

Saints and Bombers Draw we will play Essendon next Thursday

Bring on the bombers, rip 'em to shreds Melbourne.

Saints and Bombers Draw we will play Essendon next Thursday

Bummer ... for me, would have been much more interesting/useful to play a more mature team like St Kilda. Essendon - hard to get worked up about, whatever the outcome.

Bummer ... for me, would have been much more interesting/useful to play a more mature team like St Kilda. Essendon - hard to get worked up about, whatever the outcome.

watch the board go into meltdown if we lose though.

Sweet. Thursday and Sunday twilight were the only times I could go. And we should beat the Bombers too.

Looking good.

It may also mean Collingwood play St Kilda

We should be able to handle the bombers, but a lot depends on who we play on the night. We have also struggled against fast attacking teams in the past, so that should be a good test for us.