Review 2017 Expectations - Time to reflect

[Saint]

I think it's safe to say no form is bad form.

Having not played together in over a year is worse than playing together and losing (what would ordinarily be considered bad form).

It might not be a fair reflection on the efforts of last year, but the bottom line is that our team hasn't won many matches in the last 18 months.

If you compare our form to Hawthorn's, they have better form even though they went out in straight sets. A lot of their players know how to win games. Not many of ours have much recent experience of it.

 

[Doss]

I wouldn't say it's bad form, it means it's a complete unknown.

 

[Liberator]

The first intra-club match and the games of the Escort Cup (whatever it is this year) are going to be fascinating.

 

[citizen-erased]

By game:
Rd.1 - Win. Hawks can be slow starters and are on their way down. We should be raring to go and pumped.
Rd.2 - Win. We may be away, but we should beat the Lions
Rd.3 - Win. Its Carlton. just beat them
Rd.4 - Loss. Adelaide are a good team. Even better at home. Would be an upset if we win
Rd.5 - Win. Sick of losing Anzac Day & we should be better than the Pies
Rd.6 - Win. 5 day break not ideal and Melbourne are up and about. But they'll be favourites, so we should win. its how it goes
Rd.7 - Loss. Hard to say what Freo will be like, but over there, i can't see us winning
Rd.8 - Loss. Cos its geelong and when do we ever beat them
Rd.9 - Loss. Tipping the Eagles to be top 4 & despite being in Vic, we will struggle
Rd.10 - Win. Should be better than Richmond, who I'm tipping for bottom 4 in 2017
Rd.11 - Loss. GWS @ Home. Can't see us competing
Rd.12 - Win. Port aren't much chop, esp in Vic.
Hit the Bye 7-5, maybe 8-6 if we can get over West Coast or Geelong.
Rd.14 - Loss. Swans @ SCG. Cant remember when we last beat them there
Rd.15 - Win. Lions shouldn't beat us here
Rd.16 - Win. Should be better than the Pies at this stage still
Rd.17 - Win. We owe the Saints a belting too
Rd.18 - Win. Expect us to leapfrog the Roos
Rd.19 - Loss. Could be 50/50 against the Dogs. I think we match up well. Could be an upset
Rd.20 - Win. See Rd.3
Rd.21 - Loss. Adelaide don't play Vic that badly, but they could be ripe for an upset here. Esp @ Etihad
Rd.22 - Win. Gold Coast in QLD shouldn't be that difficult an interstate win.
Rd.23 - Win. Freo in Melbourne. We have a good record against them here.
Expectation: 14-8 win-loss record.
That can be better with an upset or two.
This is such a soft draw. i want to see us capitalise.

 

[Jade]

My expectation of round 1 is that we go all deaf boxing on Hawthorn.

 

[faible]

I'd guess we'll be mid-table; 7th - 12th range so possibly finals or just missing depending on how the team plays together early on.

Anything better than that would be a bonus, a finals win would be great but there's a lot of unknowns about how we'll perform so I'll keep a lid on it.

Our draw certainly gives up every chance to play finals, and I think the returning players will be pretty hungry to make their mark on the early games, so I'm quietly optimistic about next year.

 

[ezard15]

Officially bought a membership for the young fella yesterday so that's another life long Essendon member hopefully.

He's still less than a week old too

 

[Alfred E Neuman]

Screw all you fence sitting pussies. We'll be playing in a prelim.

 

[Mercurial89]

Screw all you fence sitting pussies. We'll be playing in a prelim.

Will we win it?

 

[LB#16]

Screw all you fence sitting pussies. We'll be playing in a prelim.

Pessimist. They'll win the whole shebang. 150 point grand final win.

 

[Alfred E Neuman]

Will we win it?

No.

 

[JayJ20]

No.

Fence sitter

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Screw all you fence sitting pussies. We'll be playing in a prelim.

Going to be next years fairy tale like the Dogs.

 

[Alfred E Neuman]

Going to be next years fairy tale like the Dogs.

Exactly like that, except for the every single neutral supporter in the country going for us bit.

 

[JayJ20]

Exactly like that, except for the every single neutral supporter in the country going for us bit.

And finish with a 22-0 record instead of winning it from 7th.

 

[Skipper_]

And finish with a 22-0 record instead of winning it from 7th.

And we win every game by 100 points. Actually that's too much pessimism, make it 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 points.

 

[JayJ20]

And we win every game by 100 points. Actually that's too much pessimism, make it 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 points.

Too conservative and a glass half empty scenario. I understand that our side hasn't played together in a year or so, but a little optimism is okay. You honestly don't think it will be only that little do you?

 

[Skipper_]

Too conservative and a glass half empty scenario. I understand that our side hasn't played together in a year or so, but a little optimism is okay. You honestly don't think it will be only that little do you?

Yeah fair enough, make it infinity.

 

[Saint]

By game:
Rd.1 - Win. Hawks can be slow starters and are on their way down. We should be raring to go and pumped. (they'll still likely beat us!)
Rd.2 - Win. We may be away, but we should beat the Lions (agree)
Rd.3 - Win. Its Carlton. just beat them (agree, at this point we have belief)
Rd.4 - Loss. Adelaide are a good team. Even better at home. Would be an upset if we win
Rd.5 - Win. Sick of losing Anzac Day & we should be better than the Pies (pies have topped up, this will be a pivotal match of the season)
Rd.6 - Win. 5 day break not ideal and Melbourne are up and about. But they'll be favourites, so we should win. its how it goes (lose, Melbourne are ahead of us and on a steep improve)
Rd.7 - Loss. Hard to say what Freo will be like, but over there, i can't see us winning
Rd.8 - Loss. Cos its geelong and when do we ever beat them
Rd.9 - Loss. Tipping the Eagles to be top 4 & despite being in Vic, we will struggle
Rd.10 - Win. Should be better than Richmond, who I'm tipping for bottom 4 in 2017 (agree)
Rd.11 - Loss. GWS @ Home. Can't see us competing
Rd.12 - Win. Port aren't much chop, esp in Vic.
Hit the Bye 7-5, maybe 8-6 if we can get over West Coast or Geelong. (Hawks, Melb and Collingwood losses could see us 4-8)
Rd.14 - Loss. Swans @ SCG. Cant remember when we last beat them there
Rd.15 - Win. Lions shouldn't beat us here
Rd.16 - Win. Should be better than the Pies at this stage still (since I said loss at the first, I'll say we win this one as the team improves to gel.
Rd.17 - Win. We owe the Saints a belting too (50-50)
Rd.18 - Win. Expect us to leapfrog the Roos (agree)
Rd.19 - Loss. Could be 50/50 against the Dogs. I think we match up well. Could be an upset
Rd.20 - Win. See Rd.3
Rd.21 - Loss. Adelaide don't play Vic that badly, but they could be ripe for an upset here. Esp @ Etihad
Rd.22 - Win. Gold Coast in QLD shouldn't be that difficult an interstate win. (agree)
Rd.23 - Win. Freo in Melbourne. We have a good record against them here. (Fyfe-dependant).
Expectation: 14-8 win-loss record.
That can be better with an upset or two.
This is such a soft draw. i want to see us capitalise.

I have us perhaps pessimistically around 4-5 games worse than that based on the above, which is basically losing to Hawks, Melbourne, Collingwood (once) and 50-50 Saints and Freo. Agree that it's an easy draw, but the next year could be just as easy. Plenty of the teams we're trying to beat in the bottom half of the ladder would be expected to improve (i.e. St Kilda, Melbourne).

 

[daffo]

Officially bought a membership for the young fella yesterday so that's another life long Essendon member hopefully.

He's still less than a week old too

My daughter is a 14 month old two year Essendon member. You have to start them young.

 

[daffo]

I want double digit wins. That would be awesome.

 

[ezard15]

My daughter is a 14 month old two year Essendon member. You have to start them young.

lol

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Returning banned Bombers set for early pre-season start after missing entire 2016

JON RALPH, Herald Sun
November 3, 2016 8:00pm
Subscriber only

JOBE Watson and his banned teammates will finally return to training at Essendon on Monday.

The 10 players banned by ASADA for the entire season were determined to get back to training a fortnight early.

Due back on November 21 after 10 months out of the game, they will instead join Essendon’s first to fourth-year players at the club’s Tullamarine headquarters.

A club which could have been torn to shreds by its ASADA bans will instead start the road back to on-field respectability with a list brimming with talent.

Watson is yet to decide his next move regarding his 2012 Brownlow Medal as the AFL Commission prepares to make its finding on the award at its November 15 meeting.

He can hand the medal back before that meeting, lodge a written submission next week or turn up on the day to argue his case or hand the medal back.

Jobe Watson training during his AFL ban.

Dyson Heppell trains away from Essendon.

Essendon has met Watson to work through his options and says he is yet to come to a final decision on the medal.

But there is a growing feeling Watson is preparing to hand back his Brownlow before it is taken off him by the league.

Those who have trained with Watson, 32 next February, believe he is as fit as he has ever been.

Free agents James Kelly and Matt Dea are finalising new contracts at the club and will be re-signed in coming days.

The rest of the playing list will return on November 21 as Essendon embarks upon a new pre-season with a remarkably clean bill of health.

Key forward Joe Daniher will be ready to start the pre-season despite wrist surgery while Shaun McKernan, yet to be recontracted, needed ankle and wrist surgery.

Irishman Conor McKenna agreed to a one-year extension and elevation to the primary list after 14 senior games on Thursday.

Essendon is adamant it will throw open all its training sessions to fans as part of its bid to be open and accountable after its years of ASADA drama.

Banned Essendon players (from left) Travis Colyer, Jobe Watson, Ben Howlett, Heath Hocking and Cale Hooker.

Coach John Worsfold and star midfielder Zach Merrett will brief the media on the club’s plans to surge back up the ladder on Monday.

The banned players are unable to speak to the media in club colours until the following week under ASADA regulations.

Essendon’s returning players include four All-Australians — Watson, Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley — emerging star Travis Colyer and stalwarts Brent Stanton, Ben Howlett, David Myers, Heath Hocking and Tom Bellchambers.

The club has already mapped out a plan to ease the players into training, aware a year out of full training will leave them prone to soft-tissue injuries.

Worsfold said last week the club has designed fitness plans to help return the banned 10 to full fitness without breaking down.

“We are aware of those challenges but believe a full pre-season will have them fairly well protected,” Worsfold said.

“Our high performance team has already factored those issues into their training loads.

“They have kept themselves in really good shape. We are really confident we will have them in peak fitness by Round 1.”

 

[Stopher]

My daughter is a 14 month old two year Essendon member. You have to start them young.

Ha! My son is 16 months old and got a letter from the club thanking him for 3 years of loyalty.

 

[Milanista28]

A lot of people playing it safe in here, But you can all feel that in the pit of your stomach I know I do, We have the list to trouble anyone, The players are their the balance needs to be found but we have all the ingredients of a great side.

That feeling is there...