Analysis Are we capable of changing direction - now?

[Jesse Custer]

Radical plan: Mark the ball more inside 50. Kick it more accurately at goal.

Which builds confidence and then....

 

[Zephyr Effekt]

The short-term decisions that need to be made by the club are not even hard, there simple & obvious.

 

[Fear Boner]

The short-term decisions that need to be made by the club are not even hard, there simple & obvious.

The quicker it's done the better .... I've never seen a softer essendon team than the current one we have (on field of course)

 

[Vindicater]

Flecther, Winderlich, Chapman and Pears will all be gone this year for sure.

Replace them all with drafted kids or recruit only players under the age of 23 from other clubs.

Phase Stanton, Cooney, Dempsey, Howlett out over the remainder of their current contracts.

 

[Zephyr Effekt]

The quicker it's done the better .... I've never seen a softer essendon team than the current one we have (on field of course)

I wouldn't go as far as soft, just exceedingly unbalanced.

 

[BrunoV]

So... the season is done . The last three losses have done us - North, Richmond, Geelong, broken up by a fool's gold win over the hapless Lions. Three middle of the road teams that you simply have to beat if you're going to be top 4.

I have little doubt the club was aiming for top 4 this year. And to be honest... fair enough. Two 7th places finishes in a row makes it a reasonable goal. But it's gone pear-shaped, increasingly so over the last month.

I think even if we somehow turned it all around now and went on a run - which isn't going to happen - at best we'd be 7th or 8th again. Which isn't going to challenge for a flag. You're just making up the numbers and boosting the league coffers with an extra elimination final.

We can blame injury, we can blame ASAGA fatigue, we can blame selection, we can blame lack of a preseason, we can blame many things... reality is its a combination of all of them and more. But after the last three weeks, I don't think anybody can seriously suggest we're any hope whatsoever of making the top 4. Which means we're not any hope whatsoever of challenging for the flag.

So if we're not in the flag race, what are we gonna do?

I can completely see us paddling along, getting a few wins, a few unexpected wins, a lot of losses and eeking out an 8th - 12th place finish.

Even when we get a few injured players back, with the few weeks into take them to hit their straps, the season will be done anyway.
As a club, do we have the balls to bite the bullet and go for the longer term?

The biggest consideration is obviously the ongoing WADA garbage. At this point I don't think we have any choice but to carry on assuming there'll be no penalties. That's the only rational course - ASADA didn't have s**t and neither do WADA. We can continue here in the worlds greatest holding pattern, treading water, or attack for the future.

When you think about it, it's a no brainer. Even when this group does have this bullshit out of the way, have they shown anything to suggest they can win a flag? We've all been excited by the odd huge win they've pulled out of the box over the last couple of years, but it - still - hasn't led to any consistency. For example, we knocked off Hawthorn, and have been pretty poor since. It's like being teased a couple of times a season; and we have to be smart enough to not fall for it.

As a club are we able to be honest enough to admit that and do a bit of list massaging? We obviously don't need a wholesale rebuild, but will we be able to change direction slightly?

On the other hand, should the unthinkable happen and we lose our senior core for an extended period, again us having played the kids can only serve us better.

So I think we have to do it - use the rest of if this season to get as many games as possible into both Merretts, Ashby, Edwards, Browne, Kavanagh, Langford, Laverde, Gleeson, Dalgliesh, Hams and Fantasia. We need to know which ones can play, and get games into those who can.

The thing about it is, its a challenge for the whole club...

Can the senior players accept this and not throw the toys out of the cot?

Can the club make these harsh calls, for example on somebody like Winderlich, who was told to play on - but now finds himself in a position where the club playing him really doesn't achieve anything, and maybe deprives a kid of development?

Can Hird make these calls for the good of the club, knowing it'll hurt his results and strong relationships with the players?

Can the Board communicate this approach clearly to the members so that they understand and feel onboard the process? Then absorb the pressure that comes with poorer performance and not let it affect their judgment of Hird etc?

Can the members cop a younger team being not as competitive and not sook up and leave empty seats?

Basically, can everybody - all these parties - put the long term health of the club above their own interests for now?

It just seems like the only only logical path to take for the rest of 2015 - but are we capable?

It's a question of whether the board wants to be a bunch of backstabbing campaigners like those at Carlton or whether they want to come out and take the pressure off and do the right thing by everyone involved.

Go to a press conference and when someone asks the inevitable about the make up of the sidethe response is simple:-

'We encourage the coaching staff to make the best decisions for the club moving forward, this includes finding a balance between playing the most competitive side we can and continuing the rebuild that the supplements saga halted.

We are excited that the young players who we have invested in so heavily are challenging the senior players for spots in the team each week and agree with the coaching staff that the competition between those players and the senior players, including some of the quality experienced players we have recruited, can only be a healthy thing for the development of our list.

Next question, Mark Steven, *, what did I just say? You really are a dumb campaigner!'

 

[jmoo wan]

It's a question of whether the board wants to be a bunch of backstabbing campaigners like those at Carlton or whether they want to come out and take the pressure off and do the right thing by everyone involved.

Go to a press conference and when someone asks the inevitable about the make up of the sidethe response is simple:-

'We encourage the coaching staff to make the best decisions for the club moving forward, this includes finding a balance between playing the most competitive side we can and continuing the rebuild that the supplements saga halted.

We are excited that the young players who we have invested in so heavily are challenging the senior players for spots in the team each week and agree with the coaching staff that the competition between those players and the senior players, including some of the quality experienced players we have recruited, can only be a healthy thing for the development of our list.

Next question, Mark Steven, ****, what did I just say? You really are a dumb campaigner!'

when are you running for the board?

you've nailed it

 

[citizen-erased]

wa



Watched the VFL game on sat. Dalgleish did nothing a hundred point win... not a good sign

He has pace but I haven't seen much else for a season and a bit. Would give him this year to show he wants it. Been around long enough now

 

[84859300]

It's hard to listen to the coach's after match conference, when he makes the remark 2 minutes in that "it was a disappointing performance by the coaching staff"... when you don't exactly know what that means.

With Hird, there are three other ex AFL coaches in the box. Are we meant to believe that 4 coaches had no explanation, no moves and no suggestions into changing up the game, other than TBC off, Chappy on and Ambrose to the ruck? In some suggestions I've read, people have asked for TBC forward, Goddard forward, Colyer in the middle earlier, Carlisle back, Fantasia back etc. These are from forum members - I assume not associated internally within the club.

FFS - we are that bad a team at the moment that I wouldn't be upset if we flood the back line from the first bounce and played a two man forward line. Like the old VFA 16 man a side game, a HFF full of runners would be a better option running into the F50 than looking for mark and kick scores at this time of our development.

If the change of direction is required to occur on the field, what coincides with it off the field to make it work??

 

[Pweter]

This year is about building the bodies of guys like Laverde, Langford, build the game sense of guys like McKenna, build the consistency of guys like Edwards, Dalgleish and get games into guys like Browne, Fantasia, Kav.

We need to ride 2015 out and hope things improve as we get some senior players back and hopefully start to see semblence of a game plan.

2016 and everyone comes to preseason and is put on notice. The prep work mentioned above will be beneficial and will give us the chance to put together a team that potentially has a different look and feel. Some senior guys might have to swallow their pride but it can only benefit the club.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Each week passes and it just shows again and again that we're not good enough.

The rest of this year must be about playing Edwards, Langford, Laverde, Ashby, Fantasia, Kavanagh, Gleeson, Dalgleish, Browne, Hams and J Merrett.

You don't get to sit in your hands in footy. We can't waste the rest of this year.

 

[Lord Nicholson]

We can't waste the rest of this year.

Just watch.

Speculation: We win the next 4. And I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not.

 

[YEMOC NAYR]

Just watch.

Speculation: We win the next 4. And I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not.

Feel we'd get a sense we're close to it.... not ideal, need foot to face to show how far we are off

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Just watch.

Speculation: We win the next 4. And I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not.

Win the next four, get a great run and squeeze into finals, get a win and the place will lift.

Gives us more bargaining power to nab a homesick kid or another free agent. Surely thats better than getting hammered each week and then going the draft and hoping for the best?

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Win the next four, get a great run and squeeze into finals, get a win and the place will lift.

Gives us more bargaining power to nab a homesick kid or another free agent. Surely thats better than getting hammered each week and then going the draft and hoping for the best?

We'd need to win eight of our remaining ten - at least - to squeeze into finals.

We're playing like arseholes.

I know we're all eternal optimists, but seriously... it's not going to happen.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Carlton now 1 win and % behind Essendon fml.

 

[ant555]

OK pretty easy from here. According to my ladder predictor if we win the next 10 games we finish 5th

 

[ManWithNoName]

We're 4.2% outside the bottom 4 in a season where we won one game because it wasn't 2 seconds longer, and another because a veteran missed a dolly of a set shot. Talk of finals is simply making things worse.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

We're 4.2% outside the bottom 4 in a season where we won one game because it wasn't 2 seconds longer, and another because a veteran missed a dolly of a set shot. Talk of finals is simply making things worse.

Disagree about the Hawthorn game we out played them all game and deserved the win it's not like we played crap all day and got a last gasp win.

The Saints game yeah we didn't deserve that one we were crap all day.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Disagree about the Hawthorn game we out played them all game and deserved the win it's not like we played crap all day and got a last gasp win.

The Saints game yeah we didn't deserve that one we were crap all day.

"Deserve" has little to do with it, 2 seconds more and we lose.

My point is only by sheer luck in two games are we where we are. Those two things go the other way, which they very easily could have, and we're 16th.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

"Deserve" has little to do with it, 2 seconds more and we lose.

My point is only by sheer luck in two games are we where we are. Those two things go the other way, which they very easily could have, and we're 16th.

But they didn't a wins a wins at the end of the day.

 

[ManWithNoName]

But they didn't a wins a wins at the end of the day.

Correct. But good sides take those fortunate wins and make them count towards something. For us they're 50% of our win tally. Along with wins over the sides in 16th and 17th.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

God lets not start this s**t again.

A win is a win just like a loss is a loss. FFS.

We exactly where we deserve to be. It ain't pretty. But no better, no worse.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

God lets not start this s**t again.

A win is a win just like a loss is a loss. FFS.

We exactly where we deserve to be. It ain't pretty. But no better, no worse.

Just annoys me how people say "2 seconds longer and we lose" was the best win in ages by club and it felt good that we finally beat those pricks,and the fashion we did it in makes it even more sweeter.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Just annoys me how people say "2 seconds longer and we lose" was the best win by the club in ages enjoy it.

It's horseshit. It's a win. Move on.