Training Preseason Thread

[Lore]

Well we're not dead yet! Even Bluey says so.

No time to panic
Essendon assistant coach Guy McKenna says the club isn't panicking despite two heavy losses during the NAB Challenge.

The Bombers have arrived back in Melbourne following Sunday's 105-point loss to West Coast at Domain Stadium.

The week before that, Essendon went down to Geelong by 87 points.

Despite that, the players appeared to be in good spirits at their recovery session at St Kilda beach on Tuesday morning.

McKenna said he was proud of the players' attitudes in the wake of the defeats, and said they hadn't given up hope.

"[Dropping their heads] that's the easy way out isn't it?" McKenna said.

"That's why I'm proud of the fellas. They understand it's going to be a long year ahead, and they're rolling up their sleeves and doing the work that's necessary to get them in a state where they can be very competitive.

"As long as they keep turning up with a great attitude and wanting to work and get better, the world is your oyster.

"It's not panic stations or anything like that. It's about building and developing these boys into a premiership-winning side."

Former Essendon great Tim Watson has suggested opposition teams may rest their star players against the Bombers throughout the season.

McKenna said the club wouldn't be insulted if that became a reality during the year.

"That's their prerogative if they want to do that, good luck," he said.

"In my previous life, I've seen that happen and sides win so that's their choice. I haven't heard any coach say that or player from a club say that. All we can do is focus on what we can do."

Former Kangaroos defender Nathan Grima and ex-Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger both played in the VFL on the weekend and were impressive, McKenna said.

The club's conditioning staff is still discussing whether the pair will need another run in the VFL this weekend.

Ex-Cat Mathew Stokes left the recovery session early on Tuesday because of illness, but will be available for the Bombers' round one clash with Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on March 26.

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2016-03-15/no-time-to-panic

In fact, we have no intention of being dead either.

Dons aim to play on instinct
Essendon will be looking to play more instinctively when it opens its home and away season against Gold Coast next week.

The Bombers registered one win and two losses from their NAB Challenge campaign.

After an encouraging win against Carlton, the side was outclassed against top eight fancies Geelong and West Coast.

Line Coach Guy McKenna said an increased possession count was one of the positives to emerge from an otherwise disappointing match against West Coast.

The Bombers had 234 possessions against Geelong two weeks ago but improved that to 359 against the Eagles.

“We played a Grand Final side that’s well drilled, on their home deck – we’re still putting the jigsaw together,” he said.

“The positive for us on the weekend was our possessions went up close to 100 possessions.

“We got the footy – we’re just not playing instinctive football, but you’d expect that from a group that has been put together over the last four or five weeks.

McKenna had experience at binding a new playing group together as Gold Coast Suns Coach during their formative years.

“Having been there and done that – it takes time, it’s not going to happen overnight,” McKenna said.

“It’s not panic stations.

“It’s about building and developing these boys in to a premiership winning side.”

McKenna said a lack of cohesion at this early stage was understandable given the disrupted pre-season.

“There were elements against West Coast for patches of five to ten minutes where we were able to own the football,” he said.

“We just couldn’t do it for long periods of time like West Coast could.

“The way the squad’s come together – you reap what you sew - that’s what happens.

“As long as we can build ten minutes, into 15 minutes, into 20 minutes, into 30 minutes, into a quarter, into a half – that’s going to be our challenge for this year.”

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2016-03-15/dons-aim-to-play-on-instinct

 

[Autobahn]

If your satnav suddenly shits itself, you're most likely lost in dense forest.

 

[Lore]

First Robert Shaw vid - The Season Preview. Reflecting on the preseason a bit so I've put it here, but most of these videos will probably go in the preview/autopsy threads in future.

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/video/2016-03-21/btv-robert-shaws-season-preview-march-21-2016