View Full Version : Why we lost against Brisbane!
1. Smashed in the middle.
2. Werent allowed to run through the corridor like last week.
3. Woeful kicking in front of goal!
Add your thoughts!
Brisbane's very intelligent gameplan
DapperDon
2 May 2009, 21:45
played shit.
retroparty
2 May 2009, 21:50
Pathetic kicking skills. Way too many turnovers when no pressure was being applied from the opposition.
We did against North and we've done it again tonight.
Aren't going to win many football games if we have shit foot skills every 2nd week.
* Brisbane's game plan killed us. Currently, we have no apparent counter to teams employing this tactic against us.
* Abysmal kicking for goal. We had more scoring shots right up until the end, yet were getting smashed on the scoreboard.
* No consistent targets up forward.
* Brisbane's game plan killed us. Currently, we have no apparent counter to teams employing this tactic against us.
* Abysmal kicking for goal. We had more scoring shots right up until the end, yet were getting smashed on the scoreboard.
* No consistent targets up forward.
Exactly.
vs Kangaroos - they flooded and stopped the run, and we sucked!
vs Collingwood - lucky to win, when we didnt go through the middle looked scratchy.
vs Brisbane - "see above vs Kangaroos"
We dont have another tactic if teams shut down the run through the guts.
We need a forward taking marks in the F50 ie. Pavlich!
Sam the RAMA fan
2 May 2009, 22:05
We got smashed all over ground.
To many turn-overs and to many behinds!!
Very dissapointing.
I thought there were a few shots they could of taken at goal in the first qtr, but decided to pass/play on and then lost the ball. :o
We missed many shots at goal while the Lions pulled them out of their arses at any angle.
They played tougher and we were out tackled.
When teams play a lock down gameplan, we're stuffed.
We have too much quality watching the game from the stands.
Wahooti Fandango
2 May 2009, 22:09
We were outmuscled during stoppages. Brisbane simply hacked the ball forward (like the Swans) and then fed it laterally to Power et al. They also shrugged many of our tackles.
Murph_S13
2 May 2009, 22:13
Awful at half forward, especially Lucas. Teams that now have the chance to plan against Ryder in the ruck will exploit in a way that Collingwood were unable to.
Midfielders must have viable targets when they get the ball. Our forward line appears static, predictable and too easy to defend against.
It's gonna be a long, long season from here on in.
essendon
2 May 2009, 22:15
Handball f......ken happyy, ffs what is plan b ???
Are we ever gonna win interstate ???
Should have watched a f....cken comedy from the video shop instead of saturday night bullshit handball competition it makes me absolutely sick
they should have stayed home instead of going interstate and forfeited.
Going back to watch the replay of the carlton and collingwood games everytime we go interstate so i dont waste another saturday night
if u think i'm wrong then u must enjoy watching our pathetic efforts interstate - our record interstate is crap so why cant we fix it ... Our only excuse is b/c of kids and thats about it ...
Its gonna be a long month coming up - haw, saints, rich & geel.
I've started praying already .......
Good luck to our boys
AndyLesPaul
2 May 2009, 22:18
168 Kicks, 190 Handballs.
Very scrapy handballs though.
we need to kick more.
Gotta say I'm really worried about the future of our backline. With Fletcher missing we are now relying on Pears, Myers, Daniher, Hooker, Hurley etc.. They MAY end up being ok, but they are going to get smashed for the next 3 to 4 years. Tonight was a perfect example with Bradshaw and Brown running riot.
Heaven help us!:confused:
One dimensional forward line with no other viable marking options apart from Lloyd
They were too strong in traffic (only Watson could really contest)
Turnovers (again) hurt us and their foot skills and counter was far better
They had two very good targets to go too
We kicked poorly for goal
Johnson killed us and we have a complete inability to shut down an opposition mid
bacon buster
2 May 2009, 22:40
i can think of 4-5 easy shots in the corridor that we missed
i can think of 4-5 difficult shots from the boundary that they scored.
if you reverse those results, the scoreboard looks very different. i felt the game was very similar to the kangaroos game. corridor was blocked basically.
however, the bottom line was the intensity and defensive pressure was lacking. ifthey got through one line, there was no pressure on the next, and they swept away. how many times did luke power run 40 metres under no pressure?
next 4 weeks look tough. but young teams generally don't win interstate, so who knows.
edit: positive - hooker looked great tonight, never seen him play before, and i was impressed. not sure what his best position will be though.
9 Goals & 14 behinds. It must have been a very wet & Windy Gabba. :eek:
Gotta say I'm really worried about the future of our backline. With Fletcher missing we are now relying on Pears, Myers, Daniher, Hooker, Hurley etc.. They MAY end up being ok, but they are going to get smashed for the next 3 to 4 years. Tonight was a perfect example with Bradshaw and Brown running riot.
Heaven help us!:confused:Are you kidding? Pears manhandled Bradshaw most of the game tonight. He also did the same to Pavlich. Daniher has shown enough promise to be considered our third tall at the very least, and Hurley showed a lot in his game. Our backline is actually what excites me the most.
It is our forward line post-Lloyd/Lucas that should be of concern.
bOmBeR_BoY1
2 May 2009, 22:56
We think we are better than we actually are.
We are 9-12 at VERY best. The sooner the majority of supporters reliase, the better.
We'll be OK in a couple of years, but way too soon under a new coach.
sen entertainment bloke
2 May 2009, 23:02
In the first half there was a bit of the converse of our last 4 minutes last week going on.
Four minutes to go to quarter time, Brisbane kicks 3 goals.
Four minutes to go to half time, Brisbane kicks 3 goals.
And 36 points down at quarter time.
Inaccurate kicking was a major problem.
Lloyds 900th is out of the way, shouldn't have much trouble against the reigning premier next week. :)
windyhill
2 May 2009, 23:03
Briz were embarassed last week and dropped a winnable one v coll the previous week. We were coming off a monumental high v coll. We are still no more than a 20-30% chance when travelling interstate. Much like the port loss, we didn`t look too bad as funny as that sounds.We struggle to win two in a row. We seem to play one good one, one average one.Briz will not kick goals such as the ones they slotted tonight for the rest of the year.
We move on, hawfforn, interesting.....
[QUOTE=
Lloyds 900th is out of the way, shouldn't have much trouble against the reigning premier next week. :)[/QUOTE]
Can I have some of what your on please. :p
loydy's touched goal at 3/4 time was totally not touched, i was there sat right behind the two big sticks bullshit umpire
We missed many shots at goal while the Lions pulled them out of their arses at any angle.
We have too much quality watching the game from the stands.
Our midfield was dominated by the experienced quality players at Brisbane. The sooner McVeigh, Welsh, and Prismall get in there the better. Watson was going at it alone for much of the game. Lonergan tried hard but was battered, and Stanton tried hard but just isn't a great inside player as yet.
Our shooting for goal was really terrible, while Brinsbane was full of shit with the goals they were hitting. Must have drilled about 9 from 45+ out on the boundary.
Shane Hird
3 May 2009, 00:20
Our midfield was dominated by the experienced quality players at Brisbane. The sooner McVeigh, Welsh, and Prismall get in there the better. Watson was going at it alone for much of the game. Lonergan tried hard but was battered, and Stanton tried hard but just isn't a great inside player as yet.
Our shooting for goal was really terrible, while Brinsbane was full of shit with the goals they were hitting. Must have drilled about 9 from 45+ out on the boundary.
Well its about time he f'in well became an 'inside player'...cause he failed tonight as an 'outside player'..
Tripwire
3 May 2009, 00:23
Played at the GABBA;)
loydy's touched goal at 3/4 time was totally not touched, i was there sat right behind the two big sticks bullshit umpire
Definately, was so pissed off at that one, kinda got a sore throat yelling at the umpires. This might seem like a bit of a whinge, but the umpires seemed against us for the first 3 quarters. Not sure if it was the crowd pressure but there were many times when Essendon frees should have been payed, but were let go. Monfries in particular was involved in a couple where he was clearly being held without the ball and i think copped one in the head as well. Most blatant was the decision against Dempsey. Was absolutely shocking, made pretty much no impact with the other player and almost took the mark FFS, ended up in a Brown goal.
Unfortunately, the umpires didnt lose us the game it was the bad kicking for goal.
on the whole i've been quite pleased with knights but believe on 3 occasions he and the coaching staff have got things greatly wrong. first one was the defensive matchups last year on anzac day - courtney johns on pendlebury etc..., no heavy tag on brent harvey v north a fortnight ago and then this brisbane match. clearly when hille went down they needed to bring in another recognised ruckman (bellchambers) - not only for the ruck but to release players for other roles. i think they got cocky after the magpies win and made minimal changes as they were over confident. they went with virtually the same game plan against brisbane as they did against collingwood - ryder rucking for the most part, just lloyd/lucas up forward and mcphee defending the main forward. last week that worked well with mcphee beating cloke, ryder beating fraser and we were lucky to win. this game was a different story - the forwards of brown/bradshaw are far superior to cloke/rocca etc and it was ridiculous to have mcphee lineup on j.brown. if bellchambers plays then it release hooker/ryder/mcphee into other roles. ie hooker could play defensive role from outset and mcphee/ryder could go forward making a difference as lucas sure aint giving much. might not have won the game but sure would have made a better contest. if it were me i'd have gone with:
pears - j.brown
fletcher/hooker - bradshaw
bellchambers - rotating ruck/bench
ryder - rotating forward/ruck
mcphee - high forward/wing
lucas - forward
lloyd - forward
at least with this setup we would have 3 good sized key defenders with suitable matchups and 4 key forwards. as it ended up we only had 2 targets up forward with one of those (lucas) not giving anything so effectively only 1. in defence mcphee was a terrible option for brown - not only was he comprehensively beaten but we also lost his valuable disposals as he was too occupied to play his own game.
this brisbane match was winnable if we did everything right but that was no where near the case.
hateitorlovett13
3 May 2009, 01:17
I think there were a few fundamental errors on our behalf.
One was concerned with our forward line. Currently, we have no key forward. Lloyd seems to be caught between playing up the field and playing as a KPP half the time, to the stage where I lost count of the number of times we seemed to have no tall in our forward 50 when a kick came through and Brisbane were able to clear with relative ease. Lucas is absolutely useless to us atm, and needs to be dropped. For Gods sake Knights, it will be best for both Lucas (give him time in the magoos, chance to get some confidence up) and the team as a whole. I actually think that it would be better to bring an unfit and underperforming Neagle into the side than Lucas; though I am not too confident that Knights will make any change.
Another was our game plan. I love it when we play it well, but Knights seemingly does not change our plan around when it doesn't work. Tonight, they dominated the corridor and our midfield was horrible (bar Watson), and we were getting killed for accountablity and pace (which is pretty poor considering the speed we have available). I did not like it at all when I saw Hocking, Stanton, Watson and Hooker lineing up in the centre at one stage- not one explosive player to win us the game in there. Lucas has to go, and we need to work on our skills too.
Thirdly, we need more consistency out of guys like Lovett. He has played well this season without really tearing a game apart, and tonight there were so many times when we were just screaming out for a bloke like him to go for one of his signature runs and stamp his authority on the game- we all know he can, and we see glimpses of it a lot. On the contrary to mxett, I think our backline is probably our most promising future prospect, with our foward line and midfield (mainly forward line) needing a lot of work.
We are a good team, but we just do not seem to play to our full potential every week. Perhaps its a mental thing, but we seem to continually lose the games we should win, and win the games that nobody else gives us a chance at. Changes are needed Knighter, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Losing hurts, but we will bounce back, and there were a lot of positives out there tonight which is rare from a 40 odd point loss.
TimeIsRunningOut
3 May 2009, 01:39
We missed many shots at goal while the Lions pulled them out of their arses at any angle.
They played tougher and we were out tackled.
When teams play a lock down gameplan, we're stuffed.
We have too much quality watching the game from the stands.
Definitely noticed this. I know it's just good football from the opposition, but it was massively annoying (mainly because we were doing the exact opposite up the other end).
http://i42.tinypic.com/2q3rp0m.jpg
They won't kick better all year.
essendon
3 May 2009, 01:52
Definitely noticed this. I know it's just good football from the opposition, but it was massively annoying (mainly because we were doing the exact opposite up the other end).
http://i42.tinypic.com/2q3rp0m.jpg
They won't kick better all year.
In every game we play there is an opposition player or team that steps up against us, either with a bag of goals, or freaky, arsy goals from the boundary like tonite, or some player plays the game of their life against us, I mean Power couldnt get a kick last week, Browns kicking them from the boundary, against North Harvey was quite all year and then wins the medal Hale kicks a bag it just shits me every week
lemon chicken
3 May 2009, 02:05
it was ridiculous to have mcphee lineup on j.brown.
Agreed. Didnt like it one bit.
Definitely noticed this. I know it's just good football from the opposition, but it was massively annoying (mainly because we were doing the exact opposite up the other end).
http://i42.tinypic.com/2q3rp0m.jpg
They won't kick better all year.
Might have been coz it was their home ground and they practice there a lot.:thumbsu:
Are you kidding? Pears manhandled Bradshaw most of the game tonight. He also did the same to Pavlich. Daniher has shown enough promise to be considered our third tall at the very least, and Hurley showed a lot in his game. Our backline is actually what excites me the most.
It is our forward line post-Lloyd/Lucas that should be of concern.
Yes Pears did well on Bradshaw for 3/4's but eventually was made to look like a beginner. Myers is a worry. Hurley showed a bit in a few games but is still so young. Daniher the same but less poloshed.
THIS is our future backline. They are atleast 3 years away from matching a decent forward line. With no other decent experienced key backs when Fletch goes we are in for years of big scores against.
The forward line is another issue. If Gumby doesn't come good, which is a real possibility given his back issues, I agree, it will be worse.
ghostdog
3 May 2009, 09:31
Yes Pears did well on Bradshaw for 3/4's but eventually was made to look like a beginner. Myers is a worry. Hurley showed a bit in a few games but is still so young. Daniher the same but less poloshed.
THIS is our future backline. They are atleast 3 years away from matching a decent forward line. With no other decent experienced key backs when Fletch goes we are in for years of big scores against.
The forward line is another issue. If Gumby doesn't come good, which is a real possibility given his back issues, I agree, it will be worse.
This wasn't a reflection on Pears' ability, but on his mentality. The team gave up, so Pears gave up.
Myers is a worry because he's not as fit as he could be. When he is he won't be a worry. His reaction time is terrific and he reads the play well.
Daniher is what, 18? 19? Fletch was 18 when Kernahan kicked 7 goals on him in a Grand Final. He learned. So will Daniher. So will Hurley.
I agree, maybe this is how far away we are from matching a top 4 side's forward line. Did you expect to be top 4 this year? It would have been an unrealistic expectation if so.
The forward line issue, I agree, looks more urgent. If a premiership window even exists, perhaps we should look at recruiting an established key forward, or an up and coming key forward. I'm thinking something similar to Barry Hall's move from St Kilda to Sydney.
This wasn't a reflection on Pears' ability, but on his mentality. The team gave up, so Pears gave up.
Myers is a worry because he's not as fit as he could be. When he is he won't be a worry. His reaction time is terrific and he reads the play well.
Daniher is what, 18? 19? Fletch was 18 when Kernahan kicked 7 goals on him in a Grand Final. He learned. So will Daniher. So will Hurley.
I agree, maybe this is how far away we are from matching a top 4 side's forward line. Did you expect to be top 4 this year? It would have been an unrealistic expectation if so.
The forward line issue, I agree, looks more urgent. If a premiership window even exists, perhaps we should look at recruiting an established key forward, or an up and coming key forward. I'm thinking something similar to Barry Hall's move from St Kilda to Sydney.
I am not saying I expected anything different at all. I'm a realist, we are 10th to 14th depending on injuries.
But with Fletch gone for almost half the game, and playing against a decent pair of key forwards, it really dawned on me the inexperience we will be left with down back. It will be fun to watch their development but bomber fans will need thick skins for a few years until they mature in strength and mind.
ghostdog
3 May 2009, 10:11
I am not saying I expected anything different at all. I'm a realist, we are 10th to 14th depending on injuries.
But with Fletch gone for almost half the game, and playing against a decent pair of key forwards, it really dawned on me the inexperience we will be left with down back. It will be fun to watch their development but bomber fans will need thick skins for a few years until they mature in strength and mind.
I agree. Here's hoping we don't end up with the kind of perpetual trouble Richmond has.
I think our defence has the potential to be one of the toughest around in a few years. Really impressed with Pears and Daniher. They listen to the coaching staff, which is obvious. Looking forward to Pears > Roughead (fingers crossed). Daniher was okay against Fevola. I really like his willingness as an attacking defender. I think the turn around to run back to defence (of Pears and Daniher) needs to be more immediate, but some of the run from half back from those two has been terrific.
Looking forward to Hurley as well. His match on Tredrea was terrific, and he will only get better.
Slattery_20
3 May 2009, 10:17
9.0 to Brown and Bradshaw
2.4 to Lloyd and Lucas
With about the same amount of delivery. That was the sealer.
We have 2 avenues to goal, Lloyd and the smalls. The smalls were pretty well held back by Brisbane's tackling pressure, meaning Lloyd (and Lucas) needed to stand up. Were found wanting.
Of course we could go on about the 4 or 5 good players in the stands, blah blah, we were not without a chance in that match.
Bombermania
3 May 2009, 11:20
I think the fundamental problem with the Essendon game plan is and I have noticed this a fair bit whilst sitting up on the third level of the Dome.
Someone like Stants or Lovett will gather the ball across the midfield or Mc Phee will take a mark across half back and I will look up to the forward 60 and normally what I see is either no one home or the forwards running around in circles without anyone running towards the guy with the ball.
Sure there always seems to be someone wanting a handpass or ready for a short kick but for a side with several long kickers it is frustrating to see no movement across the half forward or deeper into the forward line.
The form of Lucus is a worry, I am a huge fan of Scotty and hope he can regain form, at the moment he seems to be getting under the ball making it harder to mark.
Whilst I may be wrong but prehap the midfielders need to either kick lower or play Lucus across the backline until he regains some confidence. a week in the magoos might help but I am Inclinde to think the problem with Lucus could be a problem of ball delivery.
longytap
3 May 2009, 11:30
loydy's touched goal at 3/4 time was totally not touched, i was there sat right behind the two big sticks bullshit umpire
Spot on mate, i was just behind the behind post and it was at least 1 meter over the line before it was touched( if it was touched at all). Im not one to blame umpires ever but i thought some of the decisions were appauling! :thumbsd: oh and is it possible David Myers could turn out to be the biggest recruiting error in essendon history? He's gotta go back to Bendigo, i was watching him very closely and he looks not up to AFL level.
sen entertainment bloke
3 May 2009, 12:32
9.0 to Brown and Bradshaw
2.4 to Lloyd and Lucas
With about the same amount of delivery. That was the sealer.
We have 2 avenues to goal, Lloyd and the smalls. The smalls were pretty well held back by Brisbane's tackling pressure, meaning Lloyd (and Lucas) needed to stand up. Were found wanting.
Of course we could go on about the 4 or 5 good players in the stands, blah blah, we were not without a chance in that match.
I agree with this. You never know how much the momentum would have have been gained if a point had actully been a goal. When the goals start going through, fumbles start to dissappear and the whole team gets going. That's exactly what happened in Knights first game as coach against the Kangaroos. Hille grabbed one out of the ruck at a boundary throw in and slotted and the whole team took off. If that kick had of been a point who knows.
Just got start getting better dividends for forward entries if we are going to be competitive week in week out.
Brisbane outplayed us but not by what people are suggesting on here.
We shot ourselves in the foot by not converting - it killed us.
I couldn't believe we were already 4-5 goals down at quarter time. It was such a strange match. We dominated large chunks of play but just could not convert. Brisbane counter-attack really destroyed us.
james_omahoney
3 May 2009, 13:02
Why we lost against Brisbane:
Injury List.
Essendons inaccurate kicking v Lions accuracy
Bradshaw and Brown were on fire 5 and 4 straight is unbelievable and saps the opposition when they were kicking them from the boundary
HighettBomber
3 May 2009, 21:21
Our kicking generally was terrible, particularly into the forward line and obviously kicking for goal. When McVeigh and Prismall come in that will impove things considerably. Houli and Reimers might also make a difference.
Lucas is just deplorable at the moment, we have to keep playing him because there isn't really anyone else, but i think we probably should play Neagle also as we need another option down there. Otherwise play Darcy or Hurley as forwards if they come back in.
Good and bad kicking happens, lads. Go back and re-watch the game against us last year at the Dome, when you beat us. I labelled that the night of "Essendon's no miss policy", and we couldn't convert.
Were you guys on this forum after that game saying, "the reason we won is because we kicked goals out of our arse, and they missed sitters"?
Swings and roundabouts.
sen entertainment bloke
4 May 2009, 13:13
Good and bad kicking happens, lads. Go back and re-watch the game against us last year at the Dome, when you beat us. I labelled that the night of "Essendon's no miss policy", and we couldn't convert.
Were you guys on this forum after that game saying, "the reason we won is because we kicked goals out of our arse, and they missed sitters"?
Swings and roundabouts.
Have you been on your forum after this game saying "the reason we won is because we kicked goals out of our arse, and they missed sitters"?
Your sentiment about straight shooting is o'k.
9.0 to Brown and Bradshaw
2.4 to Lloyd and Lucas
With about the same amount of delivery. That was the sealer.
If your looking for a simple answer to why we lost then this would be it. The Bris mid group killed us as well.
Good and bad kicking happens, lads. Go back and re-watch the game against us last year at the Dome, when you beat us. I labelled that the night of "Essendon's no miss policy", and we couldn't convert.
Were you guys on this forum after that game saying, "the reason we won is because we kicked goals out of our arse, and they missed sitters"?
Swings and roundabouts.
WTF are you on about?
That game last year we had way more scoring shots, 13 more inside 50's and our kicking, 24.11 was very good, but not much better (comparatively) to yours of 18.10. At every change we had clearly more scoring shots.
The freaky thing about this game, was we got hammered by 7 goals on the scoreboard, yet had half a dozen more inside 50's and until the very end more scoring shots.
It was a very weird set of circumstances, our game last year was nowhere near it.
To have 13 more inside 50's, you'd expect to win by a comfortable margin.
To have 6 more inside 50's, losing by 7 goals is not an expected result.
Not saying we deserved to win or anything, but it was a night where just about everything went right for ya's, and yep, you take those nights when you can get em.