Opinion End of 2014 ladder
- Thread starter 38Rockliff38
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Collingwood v Sydney GF
- Dec 2, 2013
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This comment is so accurate. Essendon fade badly shortly after bye.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
2013: Didn't lose for a month post-bye, then got told they weren't going to be playing finals a few days before a top-of-the-table clash
2012: Had an injury list bigger than the non-injury list.
Keep trying though
- May 28, 2013
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Essendon to win 9 of the next 12? Who did you pick to defeat out of Port, Cats, Pies and Swans? All of which I would clearly rate above you .
- Dec 2, 2013
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2011: Won 5 of your first 8 games, went on to lose 5 in a row from round 9 to round 14.
- May 28, 2013
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Keep trying?? You can have an opinion about what happened but the facts can't be disputed.
2011, 2012 & 2013 - your last 7 games of the season.
Played 21
Won - 5
Lost 16
Average winning margin = 20 points. And two of the 5 wins were V last and 2nd last for that year.
Average losing margin = 56 points.
I am not sure you could find 2 teams apart from the expansion teams with a worse record than that.
You finish the season putrid - fact.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Having 20 players on your injury list is a pretty valid reason I would have thought
- Dec 2, 2013
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It's been the last three years, not just the one year when you had injuries. So you can't keep saying it was the injuries when it's been a reoccurring result regardless of how many of your best 22 players were available.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Last year playing fantastic football, suddenly drop off the side of a cliff when the team all of a sudden the players are rumoured to have been told they won't play finals. Coming into a top-of-the-table clash you could imagine how that would affect them. 2011 we won 6 of our last 9 so that's hardly a fade-out. 2012 lost our reigning B+F winner for 9 weeks, as well about 10-12 other best 28-odd players for large stints.
- May 28, 2013
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Including Pears, Davey and Nathan Lovett Murray etc in the 20 carries little weight. You got a lot of games out of your senior group.
Not sure you should have any sympthay for any injuries sustained in 2012.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Zaharakis, Hibberd, Gumbleton (when wasn't he?), Winderlich, Prismall, McVeigh, Crameri, Dempsey, Pears, Hurley, Myers, Davey, Lovett-Murray were all in and around our best squad for that year and all spent a significant amount of time on the sidelines that year. 13 of your best 28 or so carries a lot of weight
- May 28, 2013
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Prismall, McVeigh, Pears, Davey and NLM??? Come on.
Hibberd 2012 is not Hibberd 2014. He went from averageing 14 touches to now 25.
Winderlich and Gumby can't get their bodies right, Crameri is a flat track bully on the essendon board but still played 18 games and Dempsey played 20 games.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Best 22 before he did his knee year before, played 20 games year before, this was the time you were saying he was the next Jackovitch, way beter than Jetta up there and a 142 game player for the club.
Take away the 2 games where he was subbed out in the first half and it turns into 19 disposals.
The three of them happened to be our 3 best forwards at the time (not that I dispute Crameri's a flat track bully).
- May 28, 2013
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I think there has been too many excuses stemming back to "Knights lost the players" in 2010. Injuries in 2012 and ASADA in 2013. The blame needs to start falling on the players and the list for your poor results.
You are heading for a 8th-10th finish - which is similar to the last 3 years. Its ground hog day with a different excuse.
We have not been much better but now look more likely to finish in a decent spot.
I'm assuming we have a win against Collingwood in our return game
Anyways i'm not saying it's perfect, hell we may lose against Adelaide at home in three weeks and then everything changes.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Excuses? They're reasons. Valid reasons. Knights did lose the players (see McPhee, Lloyd, Lucas leaving, Fletcher saying he would have left and others that I've forgotten right now). Fact. We had shitloads of injuries to best 28 players that year, do you disagree? If you don't you're simply incorrect. Not ASADA- AFL. It was the AFL who told the players they were unlikely to play finals days before a top-of-the-table clash, did you notice how they simply didn't give a s**t anymore except when we played Carlton (trying to make them miss the 8 because we hate them that much)?
Yep, losing games to Collingwood (first 6 goals of the game, should have won it), Hawthorn (didn't flood back) and St. Kilda (obvious) were poor results. We should have won at least one of those three games, probably 2. But I have confidence we'll win 8 more games (GWS (A), Mel, Ade (H), Ric, Car, WC (H), GC (H), WB) and maybe a 50/50 against Collingwood and Port (only due to have won the past 4 against them). It'll be the St. Kilda and one of the losses in the 8 future games that I mentioned that'll cost us.
I have you 7th and us 8th right now. If you had lost yesterday it would have been reversed.
- May 28, 2013
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An 8th placed finish keeps you on the medicore roundabout and will hand me a massive 3 peat. Some people just have a good handle on the strengths and weaknesses of a team. My gift is with essendon.
You can spin the last 4 years anyway you want and use any excuses or reasons but the facts are you have collapsed 4 years in a row.
How many wins do you have us finishing on? We only play 2 top 8 teams in the next 12 games.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
I have you 14-8, going with Adelaide on both occassions (1st at home, second a smokie due to you guys securing top 8 and them still a chance of taking our spot)
- May 28, 2013
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I have us splitting the Crows for 15/7. Bombers 13/9. But this can change quickly. We are too up and down to predict and the bombers can throw up a Saints game every now and then. How can you lock in any game?
8th will be a horrendous spot to finish in 2014. Freo, Hawks, Cats, Port or Swans. All not great 1st up.
- Dec 2, 2013
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How does Mcphee leaving and Lloyd & Lucas retiring the year before change the fact that they yet again faded in the second half of the season?
You lost 9 of your last 11 in 2010 after winning 5 in the first half. Even by those numbers you still had a poor second half of the year. I accept that them leaving had an impact on the overall number of wins Essendon had throughout the entire season, but not on the fact that you lost the level of form that got you to five wins following the bye.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
I can understand that, and I have us the same (I had you 13/9 originally because I thought you'd lose in Perth at least once). And yes, all true. I haven't locked any game, that's just what I expect to happen.
On our day I think we can beat Hawthorn, mostly due to the fact that we're rivals and rivalry games can throw up anything. The rest would beat us wothout a doubt.
Lose Lloyd, Lucas and McPhee. Who did we replace them with that year? Neagle, Williams and Melksham. You could also tell from the attitude Knights had in the coaches box (going off his rocker) and the attitude from the players (complete lack of intensity) that he'd lost the players faith in him.
- Dec 2, 2013
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But it was the collective effort of the Essendon playing group to play well in the first half of seasons and it's been a collective effort to play badly in the second half of the season in comparison to the first half. It's been happening from 2010 onward regardless of factors such as personnel, coach and drug investigations.
- Dec 2, 2013
- 2,475
- 4,838
- AFL Club
- Brisbane Lions
But it was the collective effort of the Essendon playing group to play well in the first half of seasons and it's been a collective effort to play badly in the second half of the season in comparison to the first half. It's been happening from 2010 onward regardless of factors such as personnel, coach and drug investigations.
eth-dog
Tier 1 WW Player
Conveniently ignoring 2011 where we went 6-3 in our last 9 games when 3 big factors were at play:
1. The AFL didn't screw the players over by telling them they weren't going to play finals a few days before a top-of-the-table clash
2. Essendon actually had 3/4 of our list fit to play
3. The players had a coach that they wanted to play under
