Western Bulldogs Vs Essendon - Final Siren Reflection

[bOmBeR_BoY1]

Well it didn't go our way, as we pretty much all expected.

Still I thought at times, especially considering the side we had out there, we showed some promising signs, especially with some of our younger players.

1 game to go now... six months off to freshen off the boys... hopefully pick up a decent player or two in the draft/trade period and have a relatively clean injury run next year and I think we'll be in for at least a half decent year.

Thoughts?

 

[George Washington]

We missed fletcher and ryder in defence a lot.... never thought id say this.. but we needed laycock to free up ryder so he could come back to CHB.

 

[Jono B]

Showed as much as you could expect. There were good signs from Magin, Bellchambers and Hocking (kept Griffen under 20 touches picking up 12 himself). Hooker will learn a lot from that.

 

[retroparty]

Our team put in a great performance tonight. I don't think we could've done any better. Even with all of our injury woes, Knights is still encouraging the running game plan which has been used for the whole season. This is a good thing and it shows he has real faith in this list.

Well done to Cale Hooker. Yes, he was murdered by Hahn, but Hahn is a very dominant player in the Doggies side. It was good to see Hooker staying on Hahn throughout the whole game. Knights really believes in him, which is want we want from the coach. I hope Hookers confidence doesn't go down to much. He would've learnt some really good lessons out there tonight.

Lloyd is still improving. He is playing with heaps of confidence, is holding to marks and keeping his feet. He can still nail goals from 60 metres. He could go on for another 3 years and I hope he does. he's getting back into the old habits again, dominating the play and getting 3-4 goals when playing in a team which gets absolutely thrashed.

Bellchambers looked really good out there tonight. Up against the giants in Hudson and Minson, he worked at it all night and won some important ruck contests. He could become a really good ruckman once he puts on some muscle and a lot more endurance.

Overall, a great performance by a team with many injuries. We had some wounded soldiers out on the park tonight. A credit to them for keeping at it for the whole game.

 

[bOmBeR_BoY1]

I think our younger players will improve with the experience given to them throughout this year, especially given to them against the apparently "better" sides like the Bulldogs which is debatable, but another story.

I think in the next couple of years we can look upon our chosen side (no matter the changes) with confidence knowing that they have experienced the big stage and have performed at the standard necessary. God it would of been handy to have the likes of Fletcher, Lucas, Hille, Jetta, Davey etc. available for selection tonight...

 

[Bombs Away]

Well it didn't go our way, as we pretty much all expected.

Still I thought at times, especially considering the side we had out there, we showed some promising signs, especially with some of our younger players.

1 game to go now... six months off to freshen off the boys... hopefully pick up a decent player or two in the draft/trade period and have a relatively clean injury run next year and I think we'll be in for at least a half decent year.

Thoughts?

all correct from this end bomberboy. Feel that we have the right structures all over the ground and just need to get them all there. Definitely top 8 next year beckons if we can get them right

 

[Bombs Away]

I think our younger players will improve with the experience given to them throughout this year, especially given to them against the apparently "better" sides like the Bulldogs which is debatable, but another story.

I think in the next couple of years we can look upon our chosen side (no matter the changes) with confidence knowing that they have experienced the big stage and have performed at the standard necessary. God it would of been handy to have the likes of Fletcher, Lucas, Hille, Jetta, Davey etc. available for selection tonight...

Thats only the spine but players like reimers winderlich, a fit watson, a fit welsh, a fit hocking, gumbleton, neagle and meyers would have maybe made a slight difference

 

[bomberstomake8]

Thats only the spine but players like reimers winderlich, a fit watson, a fit welsh, a fit hocking, gumbleton, neagle and meyers would have maybe made a slight difference

you have got to laugh at eade and malthouses defence of "they injury list isnt as bad as they are making out", according to eade we have 6 of our starting 22 injured. thats all

well we have
hille, laycock, fletcher, lucas, jetta, davey, reimers, dempsey (although thats debateable), houli, winderlick. thats 10 who i would put in my starting 22.

to add to that you have players who would be very close to being in the best 22 in myers, neagle and gumbelton.

 

[hammer]

First time i have seen Essendon "live" in over 12 months. Overall i thought it was a fair performance. What did disappoint me where the unforced errors (chest marks) and poor decision making(stationery targets).

positives-Bellchambers & Hooker, persistence at the contest (1st Q)

negatives-Lovett-Murray, Lovett, Hocking

We need to build our body strength. The bigger bodies of WB proved to strong as the game went on.

The future is very promising.

 

[sen entertainment bloke]

won two quarters

 

[windyhill]

Backed them , under 39.5, more in hope, obviously lost the bet, but was as proud as punch of the boys. Get on Bendigo for next year.

 

[The Dustbin]

Bellchambers, whilst he didn't win the overall hit outs, some of his hit outs to advantage were delightful. Competed well at ground level and made good decisions when in possession. Laycock would've been nervous watching that performance tonight.

Lovett was terrible tonight, looked disinterested and was shocking defensively. Amazing how fast you run with the ball, but when you don't have it.... He's a one way player.


Dyson going for that mark one handed in the 2nd qrt was crucial. It was a weak and pathetic attempt. What hurt more was Eagleton scoring the goal at the other end. Two hands?

Surprise surprise a forward kicks another bag against us. Mitch Hahn, FFS. Good player, tough and hard, but 6 goals and 6 contested marks. Shows how weak our backline is. If I was Ross Lyon I'd bring in Michael Rix and play him up forward. He'll kick a bag.

Oh, and we had more inside 50's then them.

 

[loopy_cam]

Did Hooker actually get a go up forward?

Ryder should've gone back to cover for him. I wanted the Hooker to score.

 

[Sausage roll]

you have got to laugh at eade and malthouses defence of "they injury list isnt as bad as they are making out", according to eade we have 6 of our starting 22 injured. thats all

well we have
hille, laycock, fletcher, lucas, jetta, davey, reimers, dempsey (although thats debateable), houli, winderlick. thats 10 who i would put in my starting 22.

to add to that you have players who would be very close to being in the best 22 in myers, neagle and gumbelton.

LMAO!!

Laycock now included as an out in your best side!!!


Save me!

 

[Jono B]

LMAO!!

Laycock now included as an out in your best side!!!


Save me!

I am sure Pattison would be picked in your first 22. Sometimes with ruckmen you have to make do with what you have at the time.

 

[yaco55]

My ratings of the players

Dyson - Had one of those games that sums up his career. He went missing for 3 quarters and played a poor game. He must learn to have more impact when he isn't playing well.
Bellchambers - He played better than expected and showed surprising agility. He was beaten in a couple of one on one contests in the Doggies forward line. I was impressed with his ability to get away a handball when tackled.
Hocking - I thought he was one of our better players. He did an effective job on Griffen for most of the night. I would like him to kick more often.
Hooker - Had a nightmare debut and was outmuscled most of the night. It was an obvious learning experience as Michael was the most logical opponent for Hahn when he took control,
Johnson - Played a steady game and worked hard but his disposal by foot was ordinary.
Lloyd - Another good game from the captain. He worked hard in the forward line and provided many contests. He is moving extremely well.
Lonergan - Another solid game. Worked hard to win plenty of contested ball. I have been impressed with his consistency.
Lovett - He won enough ball but it was a disappointing game. He often fumbled and his decision making was poor. He did get caught a few times on the rebound.
Lovett-Murray - Although he held his opponent well, he appeared uncertain all night and his decision making was poor.
Magin - The best of his 3 games. He was involved in some lovely pieces of play and his ball handling and evasive skills were good.
McPhee - He was beaten by Murphy in the first quarter but then helde him for the rest of the game. His defensive work and decision making were much better this week.
McVeigh - He usually struggles first game back after a 3 or 4 week layoff and today was no exception. He fumbled terribly in the first 3 quarters but somewhat redeemed himself in the lat quarter.
Michael - Was steady down back and provided a target in the forward line. A solid game
Monfries - A solid game and was a good hit up target. Continues to provide a consistent performance
Nash - The bulldogs coached him out of the game. They continually forced him to play deep back, not allowing him to rebound from the half back line.
Peverill - Played some time on Cooney and down back. A solid game without dominating
Ramanauskas - I thought it was his best game for 6 or 7 weeks. His disposal was spot on most of the time.
Ryder - I am convinced that his best position is Centre Half Back. He doesn't kick enough goals when up forward and doesnt win enough possessions around the ground.
Slattery - Played a solid game, although Johnson got away a few times. He is showing more versatility and attacking flair in his game.
Stanton - Possessions dont tell the true story of his game. His disposal and decision making was poor.
Watson - Struggled to win his normal amount of possessions. The possessions he did win were delivered with quality.
Welsh - Struggled and spent most of the second hALF ON THE BENCH. Has appeared to be injured for the last 3 weeks.

 

[ManWithNoName]

F--- me the Dogs are shit. Geelong will absolutely completely and utterly smash them. They struggled to put away the Bendigo Reserves until junk time. Rubbish team.

Couldn't be happier with our performance. I love Jason Johnson.

 

[Grange Hermitage]

My ratings of the players

Welsh - Struggled and spent most of the second hALF ON THE BENCH. Has appeared to be injured for the last 3 weeks.

Probably a bit harsh on Welsh to say he struggled. The papers this morning said he did a hamstring. I did not see him do it last night on TV. Does anyone out there have a sense of whether the hamstring injury was bad enough that he might miss next week. The future of my AFL Dreamteam finals success hinges on Andrew Welsh.

 

[eth-dog]

whats with all the Lovett baggers? he did really well on Aka tonight. sure, he kicked four goals, three of them because Lovettwas trying to rebound, and when it stuffed up, Aka was bludging in the forward line, and got lucky. really only deserved his last goal, which was good blocking from some doggies players

 

[lemon chicken]

Dyson is just laughable. Natahn Buckley summed it up perfectly after he kicked the goal 'couple of cheap kicks in junk time'. The efforts he put in to laying tackles is embarrassing and one handed 'crapped himself' attempt at a mark was even worse. Bring in Chartres at least he'll have a dip.

 

[ant555]

Showed as much as you could expect. There were good signs from Magin, Bellchambers and Hocking (kept Griffen under 20 touches picking up 12 himself). Hooker will learn a lot from that.

Hocking actually only had Griffen for the first half and the last 10 minutes of the third quarter. In the end i think the possesion count when they where on each other was Griffen 8 Hocking 7 so it was a fair effort.
Hocking had Cooney in the last quarter and kept him to 3 possesions with Hocking having two.
The one thing that Hocking can learn from this game is a few times he should have pushed just a bit harder to be involved in the play when we had clear possession other than that he was pretty good. One of the few players that bothered to stay within 2 meters of an opponent all night.

 

[ant555]

First time i have seen Essendon "live" in over 12 months. Overall i thought it was a fair performance. What did disappoint me where the unforced errors (chest marks) and poor decision making(stationery targets).

positives-Bellchambers & Hooker, persistence at the contest (1st Q)

negatives-Lovett-Murray, Lovett, Hocking

We need to build our body strength. The bigger bodies of WB proved to strong as the game went on.

The future is very promising.

Hocking was a negative ?

 

[Beerfish]

Our team put in a great performance tonight.

I disagree.

It was never going to be a great performance and I found it painful to watch after half time. I just wanted to get a look at Hooker, Bellchambers and Magin. They look promising, especially Bellchambers.

One thing that stood out for me was Pev's game. Most probably disagree but I think he should get another year.

One thing is for sure though, whoever said that the dogs are going to get torn apart in the finals is absolutely spot on. They really need to step it up if they're going to be any chance at all against the top shelf teams.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

I love Jason Johnson.

This.

Ricky Dyson, while I haven't been the biggest fan of his, has the attributes to play a Gilbee type role if he really dedicates himself.

 

[Windas_Magic]

This.

Ricky Dyson, while I haven't been the biggest fan of his, has the attributes to play a Gilbee type role if he really dedicates himself.

He wouldn't even be in our top 25 players.
Not only is he soft and makes horrible decisions under pressure, but again last night i saw him give up on a chase. Not good enough, wish he didn't sign that two year deal.