AFL Autopsy Round 4: ANZAC Day 2015 - Essendon def by Collingwood

[Run and carry]

I think the team lacks depth inside and outside TBH The last handful of players fall away and all that we can look forward to are kids who are realistically not ready, players in the reserves who can plug a gap, a couple we speculate will be good eventually, and a couple of midfielders a long way down the track with limited preparation. That's probably most clubs though.

I think we need to be realistic. Simple terms We were beaten because we played dry weather football on a wet day and Collingwoods pressure brought us undone. Now that's the easy bit.

The big bit is we probably need some perspective. We are a 5-10 side, maybe 7-9. When at full strength we have a string capable midfield and strong defense. However, our forward line us unbalanced.Daniher will be terrific but he's 2-3 years away from his best. Carslile is useless when the ball hits the deck. We don't have any strong mud sized forwards or crumbers. We haven't replaced Monfries, Crameri or god forbid, Davey. Ambrose is still to be determined, Fantasia I don't think up to it, J Merrett probably unlikely. We don't have a forward line strong enough to be a top 4 side with Winders injured.

On our day when we are able to dictate play we get enough entries and space to overcome forward line issues. But we have to be 'on'.

In the 2's, there's nobody to bring in to be frank to improve the side. No wonder the club will be hoping Zacha will be able to play with his knee injury as there's nobody to call on who can slit into the midfield and hold there own against the top teams.
My concern is definitely 3 years time. No Watson, Stanton, Goddard, Cooney, Winders, Chapman. That's a massive issue and means in effect all of Z Merrett, Laverde, Langford, Gleeson have to be basically very strong players. There's no doubt we need to make no mistakes at drafts, trading in next 3 years or we're in trouble.

I just hope we don't think our list us better than it is. If we overrate it we will probably go down the ladder rather than up in the next 3 years because blind Freddie can see we have some challenges ahead that are being masked by the present relative performances on field.

Agreed.

Its like we are hoping that our kids and youngish players in the ressies are going to be good enough just to play at the level. But in reality they are going to have to replace stars of the comp, brownlow medallists etc. I know things can change quickly but I have real doubts about the future list and overall the current young'uns.

I know that's what drafting and trading is about and you get breaks. Players surprise. But I fear a storm in the next three or four years.

 

[MiguelM]

Thing I noticed was our players losing their feet, esp Hurley. Hope they were in long stops.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

A lot of 50/50 balls went Collingwood's way was frustrating to watch.

 

[Bombermania]

For those who have been to the Tullamarine training base, I'm wondering when it is wet do they train inside or do they go out into the rain and thinking back to the 84/85 era when we played on muddy ovals, maybe we need to add a bit of mud to one of the two ovals because it would seem that there are some who just don't know how to handle a puddle.

 

[windyhill]

Just me or does BJ actually avoid body contact 99% of the time with the 1% coming about when under much sufferance?

 

[Whispering_Jack]

 

[Beerfish]

 

[Cosmogramma]

Would have been interesting to see how we would've shaped up of we managed to land Mitch Clark.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Would have been interesting to see how we would've shaped up of we managed to land Mitch Clark.

Don't think we finished up high enough on the ladder for Clark

 

[Cosmogramma]

Don't think we finished up high enough on the ladder for Clark

True, can't blame players for going to good clubs though.

 

[King Of The Hille]

Pretty dissapointing, it seemed as if Collingwood were going to kick a goal every time they went inside their 50m.

Still a long way to go until we are challenging, I believe we would have beaten them but for the rain, which is no excuse for a loss.

I think we are one speedy, damaging midfielder short in the Patrick Dangerfield kind of mould.

 

[KGBeast]

Erh you win some you lose some.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

I think we are one speedy, damaging midfielder short in the Patrick Dangerfield kind of mould.

Need this bloke

Get it done EFC.

 

[Dave]

Played s**t, credit to Collingwood, they wanted it more, played it harder, smarter and got the job done.

Boys need to have a long hard think about what they want to achieve.

That said, I'd have taken 2-2 before the season started.

 

[Stopher]

Did we lose by 20 or 120? Wowsers, we are a month in! Loooong way to go yet.

 

[MarkG]

Did we lose by 20 or 120? Wowsers, we are a month in! Loooong way to go yet.

What you say is true., But to be a genuine chance of winning the grand final (if we believe we are anywhere near that), we need to finish in the top 4. To finish there, we can only afford to lose 5-6 games.

We have already lost 2 so we need to win 14 or 15 out of the 18 remaining. And this includes playing Hawthorn again, Fremantle in Perth etc,

How far do you think we could go in 2015? 2 weeks ago people were saying possibly all the way.

 

[expires]

Not sure if this is mentioned or not, but all that might be needed is team work between Carlise and Daniher. They need to lead in opposite directions. Like the Sydney pair. That forward line of ours may not be as far away as it seems.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

What you say is true., But to be a genuine chance of winning the grand final (if we believe we are anywhere near that), we need to finish in the top 4. To finish there, we can only afford to lose 5-6 games.

We have already lost 2 so we need to win 14 or 15 out of the 18 remaining. And this includes playing Hawthorn again, Fremantle in Perth etc,

How far do you think we could go in 2015? 2 weeks ago people were saying possibly all the way.

Hopefully the players respond to it as a wakeup call. Last year we won too many games despite letting the game get too close, or only playing a good twenty minutes.

Lid back on, but loosely.

 

[on the de goey]

Bad luck guys I think the conditions helped us..

On a side note I was very disappointed in some collingwood fans Boeing Jobe Watson..

It is a disgrace IMO.. Jobe is a quality kid on & off the field.. You are in good hands with that him as your leader

 

[expires]

Bad luck guys I think the conditions helped us..

On a side note I was very disappointed in some collingwood fans Boeing Jobe Watson..

It is a disgrace IMO.. Jobe is a quality kid on & off the field.. You are in good hands with that him as your leader

Don't worry. Sometimes Watson's pace needs a Boeing.

 

[astrowizzle]

Thing I noticed was our players losing their feet, esp Hurley. Hope they were in long stops.

add melksham into that list. Christ wwas he wearing moulded boots or something

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Didn't see Stanton win a contest in the second half. Didn't see Goddard win a contest.

The fact that these guys are our highest possession winners is an indictment on the way we played. I think we have too many older players playing to their strengths which is going against the trend of modern football. Its looking ok stat wise for them and us, we are killing possession counts but our scoreboard impact isn't at the level required to win finals.

 

[bjisgod9]

Poor game, already summed up, over possessed the ball, didn't adjust to conditions, pies pressure was good all day. Won't get carried away but very frustrating game to watch.

 

[hurlygurdy]

We need to make some big decisions soon. If we plod along with a 50% winning record then a few things need to change. Games against North and Richmond will sort us out.

If we don't get the job done then Fletch and Chapman should be put to pasture. They aren't going to be part of a premiership side.

Send Carlisle back and play a second ruck man.

Inject youth and pace. Langford, Fantasia, Merrett, etc. Start shaping the side for our next flag tilt.

Or we might just have to come to terms with Carlisle being in his second year as a forward while standing next to a 21 year old. Chances of them both having bad days? Yeah pretty high.
We role the dice this year and next with Fletcher and Chappy. If they perform they stay in the side for mine. There is nothing to say that this team wont click late in the year and steam role everyone. The ingredients are there, we might just need to have the nerve to hold out for it.

 

[yaco55]

with the amount and quality of your small forwards, all you need is them making the contest and bringing the ball to the ground.
We had both forwards and at least 1-2 of the players who should have been crumbing going up.
Your defence was better, midfield smarter, and forward line did what needs to be done in the wet.
Certainly the better team on the day on the whole

Seriously how many goals Did Collingwood get from outside 50 - Had nothing to do with tall forwards and small forwards.