Why We Lost.

[George Washington]

Woeful Goalkicking. Once the seed of doubt was planted in the first quarter it spread and spread. This game is one of momentum and confidence, and our poor kicking resulted in at least 3 12 point turnarounds in the first half alone. Combine that with the umpire shepherding Winderlich, and Hooker giving away a free for being sat on you have the difference between the two teams in the first half. As soon as we lose the momentum our heads go down and we lose the plot.

What makes Geelong so great is their unwavering belief in the plan and their confidence in their own abilities. In the last quarter nobody wanted to kick it, we were flicking handpasses around endlessly as nobody wanted the responsibility.

We kick straight in the first half, apply scoreboard pressure and we would have won that.

Changes for next week:

Out: Davey
In: Jetta

We have to persist with these young guys, it is the same team that beat St Kilda only 7 days ago.

[Ben the Gooner]

It was lost further up the ground for mine. They set up to corral rather than tackle, and we lost our heads. We didn't have the skills or the belief to work our way out of it.

A better team would have put us to the sword to the point where the goal kicking would have been completely irrelevant.

[AndyLesPaul]

Our forward kicking did hurt, but the midfield wasn't great. Warnock made the fat lady sing at the start of the forth, 3 quick goals in some crazy succession.

some dumb moves like when Stanton was awarded the shot at goal, and then costing us the goal by bumping into the man on the mark. A lot of tension surrounded the match.

[HFF_07]

It was lost further up the ground for mine. They set up to corral rather than tackle, and we lost our heads. We didn't have the skills or the belief to work our way out of it.

A better team would have put us to the sword to the point where the goal kicking would have been completely irrelevant.

Spot on BtG Teams have figured us out and played the way that made us lose matches in succesion over the past few years..

[Ben the Gooner]

I've never seen it done to that extent though. I'm expecting it to happen for the next three weeks, and I want to see some players have the balls to do something about it.

[bombers2011]

Agreed & one thing's for sure. Next week will be UGLY.

[DVD Player]

We can beat the Dogs, Saints, Hawks. Yet we get thrashed by Carlton, and lose to West Coast at home. Really frustrates and confuses me!

[rines]

It was lost further up the ground for mine. They set up to corral rather than tackle, and we lost our heads. We didn't have the skills or the belief to work our way out of it.

A better team would have put us to the sword to the point where the goal kicking would have been completely irrelevant.

One of the few times I concede the floor to you BTG. Couldn't have summed it up better...

But back to the old chesnut... gameplan/execution or selection? ie any time a team basically nullifies our speed then we look really unsure of what to do with the sherrin..

[16 FLAGS]

No defence !!!!

[Ben the Gooner]

One of the few times I concede the floor to you BTG. Couldn't have summed it up better...

But back to the old chesnut... gameplan/execution or selection? ie any time a team basically nullifies our speed then we look really unsure of what to do with the sherrin..

Composure will come with experience, regardless of who is in the box, so I'm looking forward to how we go against the benchmark next Friday. ATM, if any team us going to punish you on the turnover, it's Collingwood.

[HighettBomber]

TRhe number of brain fades and skill errors was nothing short of attrocious. We have by far rthe weakest minded playing list in hte AFL. They simply cannot turn things around mid game, drop their heads way too easily and cannot kick goals or spot up team mates under pressure. Knights doesn't help by never actually trying anything different mid game. Very disappointing game.

[Mumbo Jumbo]

We a poorly drilled team. We are not discliplined effectively by our coaching team. This is why we lost.

[hayesy_27]

very frustrating to watch tonight. I think essendon has the lowest confidence in its teammates and there own skill. On several occasions and we do it each week when in trouble we handball to a stationary player as if to say heres the footy its ur problem now. We refuse to go long and back our teammates to win the footy in the air and on the ground. It does work guys! we have glimpses of it eg. long and high to hardingham on a couple of occasions and the guy ripped them down. Back yourself bombers and dont leave it to Watson and Fletcher every week to be the only ones who back their own ability.

[George Washington]

very frustrating to watch tonight. I think essendon has the lowest confidence in its teammates and there own skill. On several occasions and we do it each week when in trouble we handball to a stationary player as if to say heres the footy its ur problem now. We refuse to go long and back our teammates to win the footy in the air and on the ground. It does work guys! we have glimpses of it eg. long and high to hardingham on a couple of occasions and the guy ripped them down. Back yourself bombers and dont leave it to Watson and Fletcher every week to be the only ones who back their own ability.

Ryder the number 1 culprit tonight of the quick dish off handball to stationary or under pressure teammate; "Here its your problem now!"

[Son of Whispy]

People can say poor execution in front of goal and a couple of decisions went their way cost us the game. But the pure facts are that our pressure was down, they goat alot of very easy goals on the turnover and that's what killed us. Can't blame selection, game plans or anything else. We we're our worst enemy.

Carlton weren't that great with the ball by the way IMO, but they were more desperate and much more effecient, and when they got a sniff, they buried us.

[Son of Whispy]

Ryder the number 1 culprit tonight of the quick dish off handball to stationary or under pressure teammate; "Here its your problem now!"

Can't blame just Ryder. There were a lot of players guilty of that.

[George Washington]

Can't blame just Ryder. There were a lot of players guilty of that.

I wasn't, he had lots of mates. I just noticed it particularly from him tonight.

[kelvin_sheedy]

All about the gameplan. Unsustainable.

We were all over them in the first quarter yet we continued to try and handball out of situations and got caught on the counter.

Add to Prismals woeful display and it sums up our season.

Bye bye Knights. we can't sustain this shit,

[Tony Delaney]

Turnovers especially early.

Missed shots at goal thus not exerting any scoreboard pressure.

Not stopping Carltons run on equated to running out of legs simple as that probably due to a shortened bench and trying to play catch up all night.

[Tailypo]

Working to get the shot on goal and then stuffing it up is not good for our confidence at all. We kicked ourselves out of the game early.

Of course, it doesn't help when Carlton just waltz into goal uncontested at the other end. Teams know that we're most vulnerable on the turnover with their forwards doubling back into space with our defenders caught in front. We were never really allowed the luxury of Fletcher playing deep to help us out here.

[gbatman]

Carlton turned up to play and for once actually played physical footy against essendon, you are unlucky you had us this week, we would have come out and beaten any one after we picked a physical side and the baking the team copped. Both sides young, both sides inconsistant and mentally immature. You hard the toughness last week, will be interesting to see if we have it next week...

[yodellinhank]

All about the gameplan. Unsustainable.

We were all over them in the first quarter yet we continued to try and handball out of situations and got caught on the counter.

Add to Prismals woeful display and it sums up our season.

Bye bye Knights. we can't sustain this shit,

Really have to wonder if the style suits our list. I'd like to see one of these (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/opposite-forces-20100803-115fc.html?rand=1280881853151) (Graph on areas of ball use) done on Essendon.

[Tailypo]

Carlton turned up to play and for once actually played physical footy against essendon, you are unlucky you had us this week, we would have come out and beaten any one after we picked a physical side and the baking the team copped. Both sides young, both sides inconsistant and mentally immature. You hard the toughness last week, will be interesting to see if we have it next week...
Knowing these two teams, you will lose to Richmond and we will beat Collingwood* :cool:

*and then lose to Brisbane the following week.

[yaco55]

Lots of pre-season has to be spent on goalkicking. The reality is that we have lost 3 or 4 games through this deficiency in our play. The players definitely lose confidence when goals become points. And this seems to affect the other parts of our game.

We are also a young team that is frightfully inconsistent from week to week and quarter to quarter.

As mentioned in an earlier thread - 'How to cure a leaky defence' - time needs to spent in the pre-season working on defensive strategies.

[kelvin_sheedy]

Really have to wonder if the style suits our list. I'd like to see one of these (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/opposite-forces-20100803-115fc.html?rand=1280881853151) (Graph on areas of ball use) done on Essendon.

It's rooted.

I don't know how many times people have to see the obvious but it's absolutely stuffed.

Add to that the nonsensical coaching moves and it is actually quite funny. Ryder did sweet fa in the ruck and Hill was giving us something yet Ryder starts the last quarter and Hille is forward. 5 mins later game is dusted.

[Ben the Gooner]

Another point - the zone from a kick in might as well be a guard of honour.

[Jarrod Waiteee]

Why didn't NLM play? He thrashed us early in the year..

[micool]

gameplan lost us the game last night

[lemon chicken]

Ratten started very early in the week about getting a win and he hardly put a foot wrong, congested the corridor and stopped any run, put pressure on our defenders, Robinson to take Fletcher out of the game, Carrazzo to tag Stanton wherever he went (IMO it was even 2 critical goals at the start of 4th qtr), clearances heavily in their favour as well as hit outs and they had their 3rd and 4th string rucks. Our rucks should of dominated but were embarassed.

[HARKER]

The funny thing about our sides right for now, is that we could play the same game next week and have Essendon win by 75 points, and no-one would be surprised.

What ever happened to those last kick wins we had all those years ago, between our sides? :(

[Pevers-Legend]

Add to that the nonsensical coaching moves and it is actually quite funny. Ryder did sweet fa in the ruck and Hill was giving us something yet Ryder starts the last quarter and Hille is forward. 5 mins later game is dusted.

That has everything to do with the team selection which, along with goal kicking cost us the match.

We did not have a target across half forward - it was evident so many times they got the ball at half back and had nothing to kick to.

Hurley was the only true CHF style player we had yet he persisted with him in defence where he was completely ineefectual.

It was nice to see 1 change - but a lack of a CHF on match day killed us. Plus you could throw in shocking games from Monfries, Zaka and Reimers and we were shot across half forward.

[kelvin_sheedy]

That has everything to do with the team selection which, along with goal kicking cost us the match.

We did not have a target across half forward - it was evident so many times they got the ball at half back and had nothing to kick to.

Hurley was the only true CHF style player we had yet he persisted with him in defence where he was completely ineefectual.

It was nice to see 1 change - but a lack of a CHF on match day killed us. Plus you could throw in shocking games from Monfries, Zaka and Reimers and we were shot across half forward.

I lost count the amount of times we where breaking from half back and had players running free on the wings or one on ones forward but we persisted in trying to run through the middle with handballs.

This is a gameplan issue and instruction from the coach.

I keep on saying this gameplan is not sustainable. It was so easy to see the swarm coming and the inevitable turnover when trying to run and create from half back.

We have no get out plan. It's do or die. Run through or cop a goal. I just can't sit and watch the debacle. it's schoolboy stuff.

[Nasty Penguin]

That has everything to do with the team selection which, along with goal kicking cost us the match.

We did not have a target across half forward - it was evident so many times they got the ball at half back and had nothing to kick to.

Hurley was the only true CHF style player we had yet he persisted with him in defence where he was completely ineefectual.

It was nice to see 1 change - but a lack of a CHF on match day killed us. Plus you could throw in shocking games from Monfries, Zaka and Reimers and we were shot across half forward.

If Hurley was thrown forward the margin would have been even bigger than it was. He's been solid in defence the past few weeks. If anything Neagle needed to step up to the CHF position which he failed to do. The Hille/Ryder combo up forward has been working all year (when both are on the park) so why dispute it?

Monfries and Zaka both had pretty good games but Reimers needs to be able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Way more upside to Gus and Zaka than Reimers.

[dirtywhitepacker]

One word answer to this I'm afraid: INTENSITY

[Nasty Penguin]

One word answer to this I'm afraid: INTENSITY

Not just intensity but some scoreboard pressure. Couldn't get in front all night missing easy shots when it matters is embarrassing at this level. Maybe the AFL need to scrap the point posts and just have the goals instead.

[Smokin]

I thought everyone by now had realised Ryder and Hille going forward are effective as the THIRD tall drifting in, NOT playing a key down and needing one of the rucks to be a full forward. But obviously not. Thought Hurley was a good option again to go forward as we were struggling forward, but like the Melbourne game obviously the coaching box dont like to change much.

It may sound like sour grapes, Yes, structure was an issue and we did so much wrong, but still the bottom line was that the scoreboard never reflected the game in progress. We controlled such large chunks of that game, to get absolutely nowhere on the scoreboard. I always felt the game was only a quick 2-3 goal spurt by us of totally opening up, but not only did we open the butcher shop again kicking for goal, we did it through the midfield and probably gave up 6-7 goals from some of the worst turnovers you would ever see.

Ultimate pressure is scoreboard pressure, and as has been played 1000 times before last night, when a team controls for periods for no result, it almost goes completely haywire sooner or later when the opposite team inevitably goes on their roll. This has been Adelaide's major problem this season.

We were ice cold, they got great reward for effort going forward, yet still struggled to shake us off till the last. This is the reason after the game, normally Im angry but I could only laugh last night.

Dr Turf summed it up nicely this morning - yea carlton were ok, but Essendon butchered it more than any other team going forward this season it was hard to guage. We were worse than Collingwood in that Saints game. The misses were from such easy range. Not only did that give them confidence, it killed ours.

[Tailypo]

Another point - the zone from a kick in might as well be a guard of honour.
I think it's not so bad for the first kick, but it's those 2nd and 3rd kicks out of the f50 and into the midfield that catch us out. It seemed they constantly had a spare man on the wing who would just run it down or handball inboard to another teammate, with a 2-on-1 situation for us. It's exacerbated by the fact that our defenders zone off and have to rush back because the ball is coming in so quickly, though admittedly Hooker and Hurley both cut off a few leads.

It's our application and discipline rather than the zone itself I reckon, though it doesn't help when we're one forward down, as well as having Neagle who was, pressure-wise, basically ineffectual at CHF. iirc, it's one of the reasons why Prismall was dropped earlier in the season- his failure to adhede to the 'structures.' Too often our mids leave too much to one person. Poor Howlett racking up 7 tackles in the 3rd with very little support suggests that his teammates really need to work harder to support in the middle. Too many unaccountable players (Reimers one of the worst.)

[Mumbo Jumbo]

I thought everyone by now had realised Ryder and Hille going forward are effective as the THIRD tall drifting in, NOT playing a key down and needing one of the rucks to be a full forward. But obviously not.

Good point Smokin. :thumbsu:

[Pevers-Legend]

If Hurley was thrown forward the margin would have been even bigger than it was. He's been solid in defence the past few weeks. If anything Neagle needed to step up to the CHF position which he failed to do. The Hille/Ryder combo up forward has been working all year (when both are on the park) so why dispute it?
Could have easily used Fletch on Waite or Hampson - they seemed to rotate a bit. Anyone can play on Robinson.

Hille/Ryder up fwd works when we have a FF and CHF and they STRETCH the defense.

Nealge is a FF and a pretty ordinary one at that. At CHF he is a complete liability. The ruckmen are resting up fwd so they are not going to play CHF.


Monfries and Zaka both had pretty good games but Reimers needs to be able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Way more upside to Gus and Zaka than Reimers.
What game did you watch? Monfries was pathetic. Zaka did a little, but is wasted up fwd.

Reimers for mine has a season next year to get fit and play consistent footy. This game shows how hot and cold he is. When he is cold, he is not sighted.

[Mumbo Jumbo]

It's our application and discipline rather than the zone itself I reckon

...

Too often our mids leave too much to one person. Poor Howlett racking up 7 tackles in the 3rd with very little support suggests that his teammates really need to work harder to support in the middle. Too many unaccountable players (Reimers one of the worst.)

True mate. I would love to see our coaches enforce midfield discipline the way opposition teams do. If you fail to do your part in applying the structural defense then you get dragged... and if the players are too tired to apply the defense then increase the rotations to keep them fresh.

If you fail to follow the onfield rules then you get dragged. I would love to see this. I think it would do us wonders over a year or two.

[Smokin]

Just finished watching the tape.

Seriously, I may have one eye but tried to watch it with 2 - but we were clearly the better side for 3 quarters in play.

That scoreboard was criminal all night. We did ourselves absolutely no favors whatsoever.

Go watch the big first qtr Prismall turnover if you want the game summed up in 30 seconds. We are in front, controlling the game streaming forward again. Prismall takes too long to make a decision, gets his kick smothered they run forward. Hurley and Hooker were actually OK positioned, betts had nowhere to go 80m out and getting closed in on... except for, Garlett - where was he? He had come off the friggen bench and snuck behind and was 30-40 meters by himself streaming forward as the replay showed when the turnover happened. He marks, goes back kicks horribly from directly behind looks like it would miss by 2 or so metres, then it swings late and absolutely JUST sneaks in. We are kicking like a busted you know what at the other end.

Thats all I will say.

[Smokin]

Monfries was pathetic.

MMM gave him WOG, and deserved imo.

gives us nothing if he doesnt mark. Played his one good game a month last week.

Suprised so many love him as much as he loves himself.

[EVERLAST]

Indecisive, out coached, poor clearances, Robbie Warnock winning in the middle and as Stanton said in his post match interview,

'the boys came out with a different attitude tonight' WTF

Did they forget what they were being paid to do?

[Bomber Bears]

We could've been equal at 3 quarter time if not for woeful kicking. Seriously, these guys hit targets constantly around the ground yet cant get it into a fairly large gap between two sticks? Stop trying to place the ball and hit through it!

I thought Stantons hit after his goal was ****ing stupid as well, they got the ball back in their area and kicked a goal, took away the momentum we were building. Dumb from a relatively experienced player.

[yaco55]

I thought everyone by now had realised Ryder and Hille going forward are effective as the THIRD tall drifting in, NOT playing a key down and needing one of the rucks to be a full forward. But obviously not. Thought Hurley was a good option again to go forward as we were struggling forward, but like the Melbourne game obviously the coaching box dont like to change much.

It may sound like sour grapes, Yes, structure was an issue and we did so much wrong, but still the bottom line was that the scoreboard never reflected the game in progress. We controlled such large chunks of that game, to get absolutely nowhere on the scoreboard. I always felt the game was only a quick 2-3 goal spurt by us of totally opening up, but not only did we open the butcher shop again kicking for goal, we did it through the midfield and probably gave up 6-7 goals from some of the worst turnovers you would ever see.

Ultimate pressure is scoreboard pressure, and as has been played 1000 times before last night, when a team controls for periods for no result, it almost goes completely haywire sooner or later when the opposite team inevitably goes on their roll. This has been Adelaide's major problem this season.

We were ice cold, they got great reward for effort going forward, yet still struggled to shake us off till the last. This is the reason after the game, normally Im angry but I could only laugh last night.

Dr Turf summed it up nicely this morning - yea carlton were ok, but Essendon butchered it more than any other team going forward this season it was hard to guage. We were worse than Collingwood in that Saints game. The misses were from such easy range. Not only did that give them confidence, it killed ours.

Pretty much an accurate summary of the game.

Hille/Ryder have more impact when we play 7 talls ( not 6 ) as this stretches the defence.

[absfab]

Could have easily used Fletch on Waite or Hampson - they seemed to rotate a bit. Anyone can play on Robinson.


Ratten has his shortcomings, but he chose that matchup and made it stick. It was not what Essendon wanted.

[Barry Zuckercorn]

Just finished watching the tape.

Seriously, I may have one eye but tried to watch it with 2 - but we were clearly the better side for 3 quarters in play.

That scoreboard was criminal all night. We did ourselves absolutely no favors whatsoever.

Go watch the big first qtr Prismall turnover if you want the game summed up in 30 seconds. We are in front, controlling the game streaming forward again. Prismall takes too long to make a decision, gets his kick smothered they run forward. Hurley and Hooker were actually OK positioned, betts had nowhere to go 80m out and getting closed in on... except for, Garlett - where was he? He had come off the friggen bench and snuck behind and was 30-40 meters by himself streaming forward as the replay showed when the turnover happened. He marks, goes back kicks horribly from directly behind looks like it would miss by 2 or so metres, then it swings late and absolutely JUST sneaks in. We are kicking like a busted you know what at the other end.

Thats all I will say.

I dont think you're biased at all. I agree 110%

[bombers_4_ever]

The team need to realize that's it's called "Football" not handball. To many handballs to players that are already covered and not backing up either. Also leaving to many opposition players on their own waiting for a back door handball from their team mates.

[Call Me Cake]

Prismall.

There's your answer.

Every time he butchered the ball and turned it over, Carlton gained more and more confidence as the game went on.

And in the process, Judd was able to run amok.

Simple.

[Mumbo Jumbo]

Prismall on Judd a match-up error, CMC?

[Ben the Gooner]

So the other 21 were fine?

[astrowizzle]

Ratten has his shortcomings, but he chose that matchup and made it stick. It was not what Essendon wanted.

Dude right now i would take Ratten over what we have for a coach. Ratten gets bashed by the media but does some interesting matchups and he is willing to try different things during a game when it isnt going right. He has a much better defensive thought process than Richmonds Matty Knights. I think Carlton and Essendon both owned chunks of this game but Carltons ball movement from one end of the ground to the other on many occassions was excelent. Have seen it a few times this year and if you buys can get it right you can cause some concern in the finals.
Good luck we might see you there in about 14 more years

[Mumbo Jumbo]

I asked my Carlton supporting brother if we could swap Ratten for Knights, and he said he'd seriously cancel his membership if that happened. And he doesn't even really rate Ratten.

[Call Me Cake]

So the other 21 were fine?

Not all of them. Although, when you've got one of your players looking lost like that and making stupid decicions in crucial parts of the ground at crucial parts of the game, how could your confidence not suffer a shake up as a result? There were numerous occasions where we were off and finally making an impact only to have Prismall **** it all up and cause a turn over. I seriously face-palmed when he kicked it on the man on the mark and the ball went from one end to the other within a matter of seconds for a goal...

Most people will forget these stupid decisions (and there were many, far too many for a professional footballer) because they happened earlier in the game, rather than later. Watching the replay is just even worse...

Also, shutting down Judd was a #1 priority in beating Carlton, I don't have to answer this...

Prismall wasn't/isn't doing what was asked of him, and this is why he needs to earn back his spot. Other players have made mistakes, but not to the extent of this. Another frustrating thing is that he's been inconsistent for a while now. I find it hard to justify his spot in the team, I really do.

[Mumbo Jumbo]

Prismall wasn't/isn't doing what was asked of him, and this is why he needs to earn back his spot. Other players have made mistakes, but not to the extent of this. Another frustrating thing is that he's been inconsistent for a while now. I find it hard to justify his spot in the team, I really do.

So do you think Prismall in the team was a selection error, or putting him on Judd was a match-up error?

By the way, not disagreeing that he was poor; I thought his performance was woeful. However, he is not solely to blame IMO.

[Call Me Cake]

So do you think Prismall in the team was a selection error, or putting him on Judd was a match-up error?

Prismall himself was not doing what he was supposed to be doing. If there was any error, it was him as a player on that ground. He isn't a baby, he's a professional footballer.

Even if you were to take out his poor effort on Judd, he'd still have a case to answer.

IMO, every player deserves their chance to redeem themselves, I'm not a firm believer in outing someone after a couple bad performances, but as of yet (after a string of inconsistencies), Prismall is not redeeming himself at all, and this is why he needs to have a spell in the two's.

By the way, not disagreeing that he was poor; I thought his performance was woeful. However, he is not solely to blame IMO.

Fair enough, maybe not solely, but he is a big, big part of the loss. I normally don't focus on one specific player, but his decisions were of such magnitude that it's hard for me not to get flashbacks of them as I type this...

[JD11]

I asked my Carlton supporting brother if we could swap Ratten for Knights, and he said he'd seriously cancel his membership if that happened. And he doesn't even really rate Ratten.
I'd almost cancel supporting Essendon if Ratten became coach, and I don't really rate Knights. ;)

[Slattery_20]

One word answer to this I'm afraid: INTENSITY
I agree.

When we play well, we're in at every contest & harassing every player outside the contest.
We did none of that up until half-way through the second quarter. Carlton were fairly shit defensively across the park, made it a bit too easy for our blokes to run it down a wing.

It would have actually been a travesty if we were much closer at 3/4 time.

We would barely have kicked a goal vs a (defensively) good side.