Are we seriously that bad!!

[monty1104]

We just seem to always be rushed when we have the ball. And when we are we try to handball our way out of it. PUT BOOT TO BALL. The worst that can happen is that we give it away, but atleast it is 40m down the track.

 

[Shane Hird]

Johns is on the brink of finally going forward in his career,instead of backwards. But,he's probably realised by now that every game he plays is either a tick or a cross on his name. I can't see Sheedy putting up with 6 weeks of waiting for him to fire come the H&As,13 games or not,he has to fire now!..thats why I think they should play Gumblton this week and test him out (Johns has a rest,on comes Gumby). Just in case Courtney doesn't work out or he gets injured.

Mark the ball,kick goals..thats his job. Just do it CJ


On another subject...

Has anyone mentioned the fact that Pagin made a smart move on Saturday when he ordered Fletcher's opponent to drop back into the square and stand next to the Bingle Bonker when MM was guarded him?

This forced Fletcher way back behind the play at times with no hope of getting the pill when the ball was bottled up at Carltons HBL which in turn prevented him from going for any of his runs down the wing.

Shifty one that Dennis...but it worked.

 

[DaSawx]

Mark the ball,kick goals..thats his job. Just do it CJ

A little hard when the midfield stuffs around with it allowing defenders to flood back, just hate people getting on his back when the midfield played so poorly, in a NAB Cup game at that, give him time he has what it takes, he showed plenty of glimpses last year

 

[Shane Hird]

We just seem to always be rushed when we have the ball. And when we are we try to handball our way out of it. PUT BOOT TO BALL. The worst that can happen is that we give it away, but atleast it is 40m down the track.

Yes,I think they were trying to replicate the training drills that the coaches have been making them do over summer,but to much of it!


Chains of handpasses galore. When it worked it worked well (specially when Lovett was involved) but when they over did it,players like Jobe,Cole,Winderlich and a few others got hammered. I found my self saying during the game "just kick it...now!..get rid of it"

Carlton tackled well,better than us. On more than a few occasions,Carlton players shook off our blokes and slipped out of tackles to easy.
We might have been concentrating to much over summer on this ball movement thru the middle,maybe more time should be spent on tackling...hard,bury them into the ground type tackles.

Makes me realise how good JJ and Johnno are at it and they would've provided an example to the young blokes to lift their game in that dept.

 

[M29]

Don't disagree with too much of what you say there Foj, except I wouldn't call Lloyd ordinary below his knees. I reckon he's one of the better players in the league below his knees at his height.

According to the posters on the main forum his finished.

Sometimes this forum resembles internet cancer.

 

[jules101]

It's definately worth sticking too IMO. Apart from Lloyd, Lucas, Hird and Monfries he's our best chance at kicking 25 goals, especially since Lovett will spend time further up the ground and Hirdy won't be back next year, Davey has been exciting but I expect him to be a bit up and down this year.

Ross Lyon believes you need 5 players kicking 20+ goals and I agree with him, especially since Lloydy'd days of 90-100 goals are probably over.

Hirdy won't be in the F50 every second of every game and I don't think Johns is even that bad at chasing and tackling once the ball is on the ground, I know Lloydy isn't. IMO we should keep at it and keep going for the tough match ups on talls while rotating Davey, Monfries, Lovett ect through the F50 as well, one poor game in the NAB with a poor game from the midfield shouldn't put us off it straight away, there is a lot of potential.

He could kick 150 with the new push in the back intepretation..

 

[ant555]

Johns is on the brink of finally going forward in his career,instead of backwards. But,he's probably realised by now that every game he plays is either a tick or a cross on his name. I can't see Sheedy putting up with 6 weeks of waiting for him to fire come the H&As,13 games or not,he has to fire now!..thats why I think they should play Gumblton this week and test him out (Johns has a rest,on comes Gumby). Just in case Courtney doesn't work out or he gets injured.

Mark the ball,kick goals..thats his job. Just do it CJ


.

Nobby you have the Gumbleton blinkers on big time dont you. It is very simplistic to say that CJ only has to mark it and kick goals. If they dont kick to his leads or deliver it in poorly what do you want him to do? Bring out his own ball? In your mind you have already written CJ off. Yes he does have to fire but in all honesty this year is the first real run he has had at a pre season and getting to the fitness level needed.His time does start now but he hasnt only got 13 rounds. He has a couple of years to be ready for the post Lloyd /Lucas era now he has overcome a lot of his injury problems.

Gumbleton has plenty of time. He isnt physically ready for the big time yet. His body has proven this with his knee problems hindeing his pre season. He skipped the contact tackling today because on concerns with his knee. The kid is going to be a star but not in 2007 and probably not in 2008 either. He will play a few practice games and probably some senior footy this year as well but currently he isnt the answer to our senior forward problems. Everyone i have spoken to at training have seen the same thing. They see a skinny kid who has the skill but looks like he needs a couple of seasons to build up. Judging by all the reports from saturdays Bendigo practice match Neagle is the next in line for a forward shot.

 

[Shane Hird]

Nobby you have the Gumbleton blinkers on big time dont you. It is very simplistic to say that CJ only has to mark it and kick goals. If they dont kick to his leads or deliver it in poorly what do you want him to do? Bring out his own ball? In your mind you have already written CJ off. Yes he does have to fire but in all honesty this year is the first real run he has had at a pre season and getting to the fitness level needed.His time does start now but he hasnt only got 13 rounds. He has a couple of years to be ready for the post Lloyd /Lucas era now he has overcome a lot of his injury problems.

Gumbleton has plenty of time. He isnt physically ready for the big time yet. His body has proven this with his knee problems hindeing his pre season. He skipped the contact tackling today because on concerns with his knee. The kid is going to be a star but not in 2007 and probably not in 2008 either. He will play a few practice games and probably some senior footy this year as well but currently he isnt the answer to our senior forward problems. Everyone i have spoken to at training have seen the same thing. They see a skinny kid who has the skill but looks like he needs a couple of seasons to build up. Judging by all the reports from saturdays Bendigo practice match Neagle is the next in line for a forward shot.

I like that one Yer,i do get a bit carried away with Gumby. Only cause I saw him play against some pretty solid charactors and he would lead out and stretch out those arms and take good clean,strong grabs.

I'd really like to just see him out there in a red and black jumper..just once this year He was the 2nd pick you know...don't all top 5 picks play in a senior game at least once in their debut season?

But unfortunatly,it really does sound like he has problems in the leg. Makes me wonder why he was moving so slow in the last h&a game at Peel. Has he been crook all summer in the knees? dunno. He didn't set the world on fire at the draft camp either.

 

[foj1]

According to the posters on the main forum his finished.

Sometimes this forum resembles internet cancer.

I am confused by this post. I reckon the million dollar question is can we make a forward line with Lloyd, Lucas and Johns work? Dont think anybody is questioning the individual talent of any of the players.
In 1981-83, KS cleared Crow, Taubert, Justin Madden, McAllister and Andrews. Four of the five were decent footballers but we couldnt fit em all in our side.
I wonder if we are in a similar situation now?
I suspect young Selwoods form would have quite a few of our recruiters nervous and that is in no way a slight on Gumby. Just analysing the strengths and weaknesses of our list.
For what its worth I had us drafting Gumbleton at 2 but had pretty strong mail which proved incorrect that Essendon would take Selwood.

 

[linchpin]

Seriously cant even bet carlton...i thought we wooda killed em..but all i got to say is fevola is the biggest sook i know off...hate him

Not trolling.....

But.

Essendon are about to bottom out.

They need to accept where they are at and build the foundations for a solid revival. You guys have some great young talent. But also some kids that clearly do not cut it. Relying on Michael and Lloyd to revive the Bombers is a pipedream. Essendon wanted to win this game. They have had a big pre season and seriously where smashed early. Your fitness got you back into the contest.

We have a great bunch of kids that are now 20-22.... Whether it comes togeather this year, next year or 09, consistent footy that gives the kids game time is all I want. We will surprise many this year.

Gumbleton, Davey, Monfies, Lovett etc, they need to be left in and play. So what if you bottom out, it is the quickest way back. It's hard to take but it is reality. Get rid of the likes of Campo, wo are holding the list back. Good Luck guys.

 

[Longy413]

Essendon wanted to win this game.

If winning was a priority then Jason Johnson and Adam McPhee would have played.

Our number one ruckman would have been in the ruck when the game was there to be won, our best CHB would have been at CHB instead of on the bench and a 18 year old in the position. Lucas wouldn't have gone to the bench when we needed a goal, Hird wouldn't have been on the bench when we needed to win the ball out of the middle.

We wanted to win, because we want to win every game, that's our culture. But we wanted to win with our kids getting experience, without risking injury.

Yep, Carlton are going places, they are going to suprise everyone. I mean afterall, their best side just beat an Essendon missing a few and with their experienced players playing minor roles by a massive four points.

I'm convinced, GO BLUES.

Stick your bottoming out where it fits, you might be used to it, but we've had two years in the bottom four, that's more than enough for us. We don't want it and we'll never accept it.

 

[Crave]

IMO the only thing preventing him from being a great CHF is that we've had a very good CHF and Lloyd is a superstar FF. Not broken, don't fix it etc.

I think Lloyd, Lucas, Johns can work.
I think Lloyd, Lucas, Hird can work.

I don't think all four works. I think Johns can play behind Lloyd in the Gehrig role. I'd play Mark Johnson or Mark McVeigh across half forward and I think Davey has proven he could be vital.

I think the way the game works these days any team can be made to look slow down forward if the ball is turned over quickly. Our half-back line made Carlton look slow on the rebound.

I think we need to play our half-forward line higher, almost flood the midfield. It worked against West Coast, it worked against the Dogs. We did lose those games, but we also played very good football. We did similar things against Collingwood and we did it for a lot of 2000.

The Lucas, Lloyd, Johns experiment has to be given time to work. I think it can, but getting the mix right across half forward and in the middle is important.

Am very happy you have said that....dont think anyone shared my view on MJ moving up forward almost permanently.

 

[danzan22]

Am very happy you have said that....dont think anyone shared my view on MJ moving up forward almost permanently.

Not permanently but more than he is now, his 05 form up foward was great.

 

[ant555]

After Carltons form tonight maybe we are not as bad as some people have said.

 

[Audemars Piguet]

Not trolling.....

But.

Essendon are about to bottom out.

They need to accept where they are at and build the foundations for a solid revival. You guys have some great young talent. But also some kids that clearly do not cut it. Relying on Michael and Lloyd to revive the Bombers is a pipedream. Essendon wanted to win this game. They have had a big pre season and seriously where smashed early. Your fitness got you back into the contest.

We have a great bunch of kids that are now 20-22.... Whether it comes togeather this year, next year or 09, consistent footy that gives the kids game time is all I want. We will surprise many this year.

Gumbleton, Davey, Monfies, Lovett etc, they need to be left in and play. So what if you bottom out, it is the quickest way back. It's hard to take but it is reality. Get rid of the likes of Campo, wo are holding the list back. Good Luck guys.

As much as you would like to see the Dons follow in the footsteps of your club as the undisputed worst team for past 5 years, it simply wont happen.

If your understanding of 'bottoming out' is 3 wooden spoons in 5 years then good luck to you. But the reality is we have already 'bottomed out'. We are on the way up now. As evidenced by the fact that our best performers during the preseason to date have almost entirely consisted of players under 23.

Let me ask you this, how many first year players look set to play round 1 for the Blues? I can name 3 for the Dons.