AFL Autopsy Essendon 11.16 82 def St Kilda 11.14 80

[hurlygurdy]

Seems we have hit a form slump, but that win could be enormous late in the year.
We are missing Myers and hocking massively I think. Heppell and Watson can't do the heavy lifting as well as provide the cream.

All the craps teams lift against us

 

[theboxmike]

I'd love to have Kommer right about now, just miss him from our 2013 team as he provides so much pressure and excitement.

 

[Doss]

Was the crowd today really sub 30k?

That is shocking.

 

[Aussie Assault]

Looked touched to me, Hurley claimed touched, no review or even replay

Without looking much at the time but I reckon it was a goal..... BUT the goal umpire was in a terrible position about 2m behind the goal line instead of straddling the line.

 

[Cosmogramma]

It's like we play down (or up) to our opponents level. Wasn't too sure if I agreed with everyone on the opinion that we're never going to win big or put sides away, but it's definitely true. We're going to have plenty of frustrating games this season.

Positives:
- Carlisle kicking 4 and Ambrose hitting the scoreboard 5 times. Pair that with the 20ish disposals he had and his role is much more justified.
- Banking the 4 points unlike this fixture last year.
- Not looking as though we were never going to get the ball past the center square in the last quarter.
- Langford putting himself in threatening positions and situations in his first game. Gleeson bouncing back.

Negatives:
- Our midfield and contested ball is nearly as big a problem our forward line functionality at the moment.
- Daniher's worst game for the club. Good to see I was right when I said today would be the day he kicks a bag of 5+. Ha.
- Not being able to put sides away. Going to want to win more games than the next side on the ladder come end of the season. Our % won't be above average.
- Razor Ray's head.

 

[Bombermania]

Why is everyone so pissed off. We won.

Sure there are a few positives but after two years of rubbish, I was hoping we would come out and take our game to the next level yet today we played poor footy against a side which even its own supporters consider the spoon favorites, on paper we have a pretty good side that is a chance for the top four but today we produced barely top 8 level.

 

[SherbertLemon]

Our problem is we give away too many bullshit free kicks.

If I recall correctly the Saints had two scored set shots in the forward line due to bad decisions by Howlett and I think Dempsey. That's 12 points. 14 point win right there.

We don't get these frees, and didn't today, which shows that we're playing messy. Not to mention the amount of times I'd hear the bloody whistle everytime Bellchambers was near the ball - which was almosy every ball-up. Thankfully he's improved on this today.

Another thing I don't like is how long it takes Hurley to get the boot onto the foot.

And our accuracy today was St Kilda standard - no wonder they were so close.

However, these are all fixable and I'm happy with the comeback and the will of the players to polish up in the end when it mattered - I remember being on the other side of that fence for many games against s**t opposition in the last few years.

the bastard is always the last out of the change rooms!

 

[Vander18]

Midfield is cooked - Myers, Chappy, Hocking and Cooney missing from the rotation has mean too much has been left to too few. Zaka is playing injured, imagine he'd be rested if we weren't down 4 other first choice mids.

Positive for me was Hams - cracks in low and hard (draws frees), clean and creative by hand and good enough by foot. Would like to see him get a full game next week. Thought Howlett was s**t today ( I know his stats were OK) - would drop him and play a runner next week in Perth.

Langford was fine - hard at it and impacted contests if a little nervous with his kicking. Would play him again.

Can anyone isolate a single play where Daniher or Carlisle presented at the ball carrier today? Seriously, just a play where they led at a team-mate, even if they didn't mark it.

Hope Lloyds role,isn't confined to goal kicking - these two have essentially zero forward craft between them and Lord knows Bassett wont provide it....perfectly fixable with the right coach, why do people believe that ex defenders can coach a forward group?

This absence of forward smarts has held us back for years now.

 

[ant555]

Bloody ugly win but a win is a win. Lost a very similar game against them last year.

There are issues and one problem is other sides have a bit of a blue print on how to play us now and that is go man on man and try and beat us
with run and spread and outside pace as most of the time our midfield is just slow. Watson, Heppell, Goddard are stars but they are being burnt off
when they are in the middle together and then the next rung in Stanton, Howlett and Melksham are either just as slow or in Melkshams case playing/learning a run with role and not able to use his pace.
Then we have Zaka who only seems to go fast when he is heading towards goal. We need to find something different, They have tried Bags in the last couple of weeks but he is better in the back half.
If Dempsey is to stay in the side he needs to go to a wing and be running past every contest. Colyer needs to lift his possession rate by about 5 or 6 per game and the bloody forward line needs to work back sooner and harder as they are getting sucked way too far up the ground forcing us to go handball happy, sideways and turning the ball over. At one stage it looked like we wanted to hold the ball into their forward line we where so far up the ground.
If a few blokes held back 20 to 50 meters further it would not take long for the defenders to come back and pick them up if the ball gets over the back.

The other thing that is not working is using the extra man at the contest. For whatever reason we are simply bad at holding our 5 meter and 10 meter circle around the contest. WE all rush in like seagulls after a chip and the ball gets clear and two of us then go into dog after frisbee mode chasing the one bloke only to see the ball go over their heads. Too many see ball get ball blokes.

Our short kicking on 45's will not work in the long run either as teams are just going man on man.

We do not look like winning clearances in the middle, Tommy is a long way from his 2013 form and we no longer have Ryder with both those factors
really hurting us. Seems we also have no one who can block like Hocking does for Watson.

And the forward line is still a mess and to top it off we have one of the greatest forwards of all time teaching goal kicking but he is only allowed to have
input into that. He is not allowed to have any say on forward set ups or leading etc. Amazing.

The next two weeks will be interesting, can not see us winning next week and if the good North come out they will likely run around the outside of us as well. Will need a big lift.

 

[ant555]

Forgot kick ins, plan seems to be kick long to big blokes who play behind ........
Next plan please.

 

[ant555]

Midfield is cooked - Myers, Chappy, Hocking and Cooney missing from the rotation has mean too much has been left to too few. Zaka is playing injured, imagine he'd be rested if we weren't down 4 other first choice mids.

Positive for me was Hams - cracks in low and hard (draws frees), clean and creative by hand and good enough by foot. Would like to see him get a full game next week. Thought Howlett was s**t today ( I know his stats were OK) - would drop him and play a runner next week in Perth.

Langford was fine - hard at it and impacted contests if a little nervous with his kicking. Would play him again.

Can anyone isolate a single play where Daniher or Carlisle presented at the ball carrier today? Seriously, just a play where they led at a team-mate, even if they didn't mark it.

Hope Lloyds role,isn't confined to goal kicking - these two have essentially zero forward craft between them and Lord knows Bassett wont provide it....perfectly fixable with the right coach, why do people believe that ex defenders can coach a forward group?

This absence of forward smarts has held us back for years now.

Sorry to say but it is. Has been told no input into anything but goal kicking.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

We would have lost this one last year. And the Hawthorn game. We'd be 1 and 4, instead of 3 and 2. We got 4 points, no injuries and hopefully Freo can play us into form, if we can lift against them, like we often do against better sides.

 

[efcboy]

There's a number of guys playing sore from a tough opening month to the season. All of Bellchambers, Watson, Zaharakis, Heppell, Carlisle, Howlett have been playing with issues. Ideally some of these guys might have been rested but Hird has stuck with the group and we are 3-2 which is a healthy record given who we've played.

Today was frustrating to watch but some times a good team can win playing poor. Bad teams never win playing poorly that is for sure.

 

[Vander18]

Sorry to say but it is. Has been told no input into anything but goal kicking.

Hopefully his apparent success with JD's goal kicking convinces the club that a forward coach who understands the art of forward play might be a good idea.....doesn't have to be Lloyd but Bassett appears to be having as much success as Egan did.

 

[Kakkle]

Not the arsehole of a top 4 side, a elimination final fodder team at best.


Honestly though, we need a big placard in the rooms that says RESPECT OUR OPPOSITION. Major respect to St Kilda, yes they are rebuilding, but it should never be painful to watch a rebuild. I would be very excited if I was a St Kilda fan.

 

[threeleggedgoat]

We could probably have a forward line comprised of daniher, eddie betts, robbie gray and tony *ing lockett and still not manage to kick over 100 points. Whatever the current "plan" is they need to start doing the polar opposite of it

 

[THOMO_31]

There's a number of guys playing sore from a tough opening month to the season. All of Bellchambers, Watson, Zaharakis, Heppell, Carlisle, Howlett have been playing with issues. Ideally some of these guys might have been rested but Hird has stuck with the group and we are 3-2 which is a healthy record given who we've played.

Today was frustrating to watch but some times a good team can win playing poor. Bad teams never win playing poorly that is for sure.

that being said do you think they will take Belly to perth this week... might be a chance to Give Gilles a run

 

[dave10]

Weirdly I see this as an improvement.

A year ago we would have lost this game.

I wish I could agree with you. A year ago we lost by 3 goals to them and their side had Reivwolt who I'm sue kicked a few.

Trying to be a realist. Were an average side with plenty of weaknesses. This isn't a premiership side.

As soon as we are pressured by the opposition (last week and again today) our slow and ineffective ball movement totally exposes our biggest weakness.. Our dysfunctional forward line. We just don't have a good structure with the required players. Daniher will be good in 3 years. Carslile is slow and poor at ground level and we are exposed with no mid or small forwards. Problem is, I don't think we have the solutions on our list.

In addition we badly lack midfield outside run and speed. We can't rely on Cooney as our solution.

I'm really concerned with the next 3 years. We have some real list management issues being masked by some gutsy wins and aging champions of the club and game.

By golly we need to make every trade and draft pick count over the next 2 years or we are in strife. Today was evidence of that.

Hopefully the clubs not deluded.

 

[MiguelM]

Our fwd 50 entries are a problem. We seen to be kicking to the player instead of kicking to space for the forward to lead into.

 

[monty1104]

They didnt review the one by Jamie Elliot last week that was clearly out of bounds when he kicked it...

Yeah, good point.

I went into the 2015 "Laws of the Game" document, expecting to find something in there to say that perhaps they only do goal line reviews after a goal or something like that, but there is literally no mention of the goal review system in the document.

The closest thing I could find that even remotely relates to that is this;

8.2.4 Goal Umpire
(d) Goal Umpire Unsure
If a goal Umpire is unsure whether the football crossed the Goal or Behind Line, or is Out of Bounds; the goal Umpire shall seek the assistance of the Field and boundary Umpires. If the correct decision cannot be determined following consultation, the goal Umpire shall give the lesser score.

Curious that the AFL is using a system that isn't written into their rules anywhere.

 

[MiguelM]

that being said do you think they will take Belly to perth this week... might be a chance to Give Gilles a run

Giles too slow for Perth. We just need to rove to Sandilands, or put Coyler in the ruck and smack him in the nuts

 

[hurlygurdy]

Hopefully his apparent success with JD's goal kicking convinces the club that a forward coach who understands the art of forward play might be a good idea.....doesn't have to be Lloyd but Bassett appears to be having as much success as Egan did.

I wouldn't be blaming him as yet... I think sometimes a group of players just needs to "click". At the moment our forward line look like they are so busy looking after themselves that they are not working as a unit. That makes a lot of sense when you consider the age and or experience of JD, JC and Ambrose. They are a work in progress so you can't hit the panic button 5 rounds into their second season...

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

I wish I could agree with you. A year ago we lost by 3 goals to them and their side had Reivwolt who I'm sue kicked a few.

Trying to be a realist. Were an average side with plenty of weaknesses. This isn't a premiership side.

As soon as we are pressured by the opposition (last week and again today) our slow and ineffective ball movement totally exposes our biggest weakness.. Our dysfunctional forward line. We just don't have a good structure with the required players. Daniher will be good in 3 years. Carslile is slow and poor at ground level and we are exposed with no mid or small forwards. Problem is, I don't think we have the solutions on our list.

In addition we badly lack midfield outside run and speed. We can't rely on Cooney as our solution.

I'm really concerned with the next 3 years. We have some real list management issues being masked by some gutsy wins and aging champions of the club and game.

By golly we need to make every trade and draft pick count over the next 2 years or we are in strife. Today was evidence of that.

Hopefully the clubs not deluded.

I know we brought it on ourself's but the Asada bs has robbed us 2 years of improvement if you catch my drift.

 

[Vander18]

I wouldn't be blaming him as yet... I think sometimes a group of players just needs to "click". At the moment our forward line look like they are so busy looking after themselves that they are not working as a unit. That makes a lot of sense when you consider the age and or experience of JD, JC and Ambrose. They are a work in progress so you can't hit the panic button 5 rounds into their second season...

Our forward line has been dysfunctional since Lloyd and Lucas left....not reacting to 5 games this year.

I'm also not worried about the playing personell, I'm worried that our coaches haven't been able to improve this for years now.

 

[84859300]

I was lucky enough to get seats right next to the Essendon bench for the game (sorry for the big pic):

Some dot point observations, you may or may not find of interest - from my point of view;
*Alessio ran the bench today - was calm and collected
*headsets worked, but there was issues with the phone on and off all day. This upset the communications from the box to the players
*through the first 2 1/2 quarters, injury concerns were few.
*Hams replaced Fletcher for a period after half time, where the talk was about some stitching required. I think it was in his mouth. It was tight in getting Fletcher back to the bench, before he would have been automatically subbed out - it got to within 3 mins before he had to present to the bench before the change was an automatic
*rotations were consistent, where Bassett was reminding players of times until they would need to come back to the bench
*at times after missing set shots, Langford had his head in his hands during his spells on the bench. Craig was right behind him and when he saw the players reaction - grabbed him by the jumper and assured him he was doing good work
*late into the third and also in the last, Colyer had an ankle that kept his rotations short
*Melksham had a hip or a cork that hampered his running - at one stage he was at half back, but they couldn't get him off
*deep into the last, there was an interchange of three players that left us short down back. Stanton was up and trying to direct traffic to rectify and was on his feet for at least 4 minutes
*Goddard wanted updates on clearances
*when Hams came off for a break, he was livid and threw his mouthguard to the ground complaining about "s**t turnovers".
*when Joe came off, he went to the back row and sat. It looked quite humbling for him.
*runner was sent out to players when 2 minutes were left. From there, there was constant gazes to the bench for time updates from players
*when the siren went, there was a huge roar from the crowd but the players on the bench were quite subdued

It was quite a bizarre experience watching the game from there, as Row A shows how congested the play looks at ground level. I was so interested in watching actions unfold on the bench and I found myself missing packets of the play, being enthralled watching Bruce Reid, Ses, Bassett and the players actions on and around the bench throughout the game.