Bomber's role in the Bombers' rise?

[RobDog18]

Hey fellas, not sure if there's a thread for opposition supporters to post in, but I was just curious on your opinions on how important Thompson has been for your great start to the season. Do you guys believe that you would be sitting in the same position had he not been involved?
Good luck for the rest of the year.

 

[Jade]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Hey fellas, not sure if there's a thread for opposition supporters to post in, but I was just curious on your opinions on how important Thompson has been for your great start to the season. Do you guys believe that you would be sitting in the same position had he not been involved?
Good luck for the rest of the year.

Probably not; assistant coaches are almost as valuable as the senior coaches and clearly Bomber's 'touch' can be seen on our guys at the moment.

 

[Rack Watts]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Bomber is particularly good at getting the best out of people, I think he's been a huge part of our resurgence

 

[Lord Nicholson]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Do you guys believe that you would be sitting in the same position had he not been involved?

...what do you think?

Of course not. We got him for a reason.

Do you think Thompson would be a dual premiership coach without Brendan McCartney, incidentally?

Coaches whose success can be attributed solely to them are as rare as hen's teeth in this day and age.

Thompson, as far as I can tell, has been instrumental in getting the club to resemble a football club again, and together with McCartney (and possibly Hird's natural instincts) have focused on building with what they've got and shifting the focus to contested footy. Without that we'd continue to be the nowhere men of the Knights regime.

 

[Kong]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Massive.

 

[Sal Paradise]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Our midfield group is noticeably harder around the ball, something which has been the backbone of our current success and trait many would put down to Bomber.

 

[DapperDon]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Without a doubt, you don't spend 7 figures on an assistant if you didn't expect results though.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Hey fellas, not sure if there's a thread for opposition supporters to post in, but I was just curious on your opinions on how important Thompson has been for your great start to the season. Do you guys believe that you would be sitting in the same position had he not been involved?
Good luck for the rest of the year.

He has been vital. Is he a puppet master as some suggest with Hird just a figure head? No, Hird has a lot to do with what goes on, however Bomber has his stamp on a lot of things too, as you would expect from a Senior Assistant and Mentor.

I'd be interested in your thoughts about Geelong since Bomber, McCartney and Sanderson have left, do you see a major difference in the way the kids are prepared and developed to play?

 

[George Washington]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Apparently Bomber has actually been the Game Day coach for every game bar the Collingwood game and the first three quarters of the GC game, where Hird was given the reins. At 3QT of the GC game a directive came down from the higher ups at EFC for Bomber to take over to ensure we got the points.

 

[Slattery_20]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

I wonder how important his role was in Geelong's rise as well.
All the word was that the changes he wanted, but they wouldn't implement, were exactly what happened in 2011 under Scott. And certainly a lot of the players he blooded & coached flourished when given further opportunity.
I'm so, so glad we have him back.

A playing group ignoring the coach's plans tells you all sorts of things about 2010 Geelong. That thumping was the recession they had to have.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

I wonder how important his role was in Geelong's rise as well.
All the word was that the changes he wanted, but they wouldn't implement, were exactly what happened in 2011 under Scott. And certainly a lot of the players he blooded & coached flourished when given further opportunity.
I'm so, so glad we have him back.

A playing group ignoring the coach's plans tells you all sorts of things about 2010 Geelong. That thumping was the recession they had to have.

Even Neil Balme said as such on SEN last year. A lot of Geelong supporters do not want to believe that though as they want to think Chris Scott was the architect of their 2011 flag. While Chris Scott may end up showing to be a great coach, Bomber had a lot of say in what happened with Geelong last year before he left them in 2010.

I still can recall the feeling of joy in late 2010 knowing Hird and Bomber were back at Essendon. The best thing that has happened to the club in a long time and I'm forever grateful to Evans and Watson for their work.

 

[ant555]

Plays a big role but it does annoy me that there is a perception that it is the Bomber show and Hird is a puppet.
Hirdy has a bloody good footy brain and plays just as much of a role, Bomber makes sure Hirdys inexperience does not cause any problems.

Who knows what may have happened if our previous coaching regime has some experienced assistants to help steer the ship.

 

[rines]

I think it is a perfect combination that should be a benchmark for clubs to achieve. Young coach with new ideas and an older mentor to make sure that 'rookie' mistakes are minimised and also to give that winning edge.

In a similar way that I always thought that Hird and Sheeds could have worked together or the way Sheeds and Williams are working at GWS.

As long as ego's don't get in the way, which on the surface is not a problem atm, then it is an ideal solution. Bomber gets to impart his wisdom without all the press conference bullshit pressure and spotlight and Hird gets to coach knowing there is a two time premiership coach as backstop (and chief coke bottle opener).

Two of the greatest footy brains in the land in one box, ours, perfection!!

 

[Macca18]

We won't lose many games with Hird & Thompson at the helm.

The first half of last year was a real "honeymoon" period and we were putting the correct structures in place. We had our slump during late May/June last season but since then it has been an improving curve.

To put it in perspective we are 14-5 since the Geelong win last season. Two of those losses to Collingwood (who finished 1st last year and we only lost to them by 1 point this year), two of those losses to Carlton (one in the H&A last season when we were depleted through injury & of course the final) and the other loss was the hardest road trip in the AFL (West Coast at Subiaco).

That is serious improvement from the Knights era and I expect those numbers to only get better.

Knights (2008-2010) : 25 wins, 1 draw, 41 losses (37%)

Hird/Thompson (2011- ) : 19 wins , 1 draw , 12 losses (59%)

 

[Summer Nights]

Hirdy has a bloody good footy brain and plays just as much of a role, Hirdy makes sure Bomber makes sure Hirdys inexperience does not cause any problems.

EFA6EFAs

 

[bombermick]

It's no coincidence that every club Thompson and McCartney have been involved in have achieved success, so they've both played huge roles.

Just keep him away from the Coke ...

 

[blitzer]

Bomber has done nothing so far, except trying to distract Hird by spilling coke down his back. He's been holding us back!

Just kidding of course. I think his experience has been invaluable, the Mentor/New Coach relationship seems to be working really well at Essendon and personally I think it was really shrewd of Essendon/Hird to realise that he needed the senior support. I remember opposition supporters making fun of Essendon's new coaching panel saying that Hird only had u/8's coaching experience, I haven't heard much laughter lately however.....

I think its interesting that Bomber seems to be doing a fair bit of media work as well. I never see anything from our other assistant coaches in the media (maybe its just the shows I watch mainly AFL 360, After the bounce, Insider).

 

[The House]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Massive.

mmm, hmmmm - huge.

 

[Tassieboy]

Re: Bomber's role in the Bombers rise?

Massive.

That's what she said...

It's hard to critique but without a doubt he's been invaluable.

 

[Kong]

We won't lose many games with Hird & Thompson at the helm.

The first half of last year was a real "honeymoon" period and we were putting the correct structures in place. We had our slump during late May/June last season but since then it has been an improving curve.

To put it in perspective we are 14-5 since the Geelong win last season. Two of those losses to Collingwood (who finished 1st last year and we only lost to them by 1 point this year), two of those losses to Carlton (one in the H&A last season when we were depleted through injury & of course the final) and the other loss was the hardest road trip in the AFL (West Coast at Subiaco).

I've never really thought of it like that.

Geelong game being when we snapped out of the slump, that's quite an incredible formline. Top four stuff.

 

[BrunoV]

It is a difficult subject because it involves two genuine alpha males working side by side so there are inevitably questions about who is really running the show.

Most significant is that fact that there could never have been one without the other. Whether it was Thompson, Wastson, Hird or anyone else that came up with idea is not really important.

It really should not be to difficult to accept that Thompson was the key in the early months for the simple fact that he had both required experience and the history as an EFC champion to ensure that he made the right recommendations and that he was listened to. Really, how could it have been Hird? As smart as Hird is he was not living life at the top of the AFL tree. It doesn't mean that he had no input but the direction seems very much to have been in line with what Geelong were doing.

The real strength of Hird early on was as a manager and figure head. He united the club and the fans and he would had to have inspired/motivated the players.


The beauty of the system is that Hird, learning from the best will inevitably have his own views on how game plans, training regimes and the like should be done. Rather than the Geelong model being frozen in time it will be evolved and we will benefit.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

Bomber has done nothing so far, except trying to distract Hird by spilling coke down his back. He's been holding us back!

Just kidding of course. I think his experience has been invaluable, the Mentor/New Coach relationship seems to be working really well at Essendon and personally I think it was really shrewd of Essendon/Hird to realise that he needed the senior support. I remember opposition supporters making fun of Essendon's new coaching panel saying that Hird only had u/8's coaching experience, I haven't heard much laughter lately however.....

I think its interesting that Bomber seems to be doing a fair bit of media work as well. I never see anything from our other assistant coaches in the media (maybe its just the shows I watch mainly AFL 360, After the bounce, Insider).

Typical bigfooty losers.

Bomber really seems to be enjoying his role as 2IC. I think it really wore him down being the main man at Geelong, he is relishing being the man behind the man.

 

[Coldacre]

Plays a big role but it does annoy me that there is a perception that it is the Bomber show and Hird is a puppet.
Hirdy has a bloody good footy brain and plays just as much of a role, Bomber makes sure Hirdys inexperience does not cause any problems.

who gives a rats a*** what people say. we know that they are a partnership, mates, Essendon champions and premiership captains. they've got each others backs.

 

[Call Me Cake]

Bomber Thommo might not know the one thing that turns an average performing football club into a great one (no coach actually does)...

But you can bet your sorry ass he knows 1000 things that don't.

Also - obligatory,

[YOUTUBE]zqDjdM0DGos[/YOUTUBE]

Essendon man, great man, through and through. How lucky are we?

 

[KGBeast]

Mark 'Bomber' Thompson is my favourite Essendon Captain of all time. I love Hirdy and I realise that he was a better player and all that but to me Bomber was the ultimate captain. I'm stoked that he is now part of Hirdys coaching panel, not because he had so much success at Geelong, but because he is finally HOME where he belongs. Now he just need to get Harvs back and all will be well. Maybe even a job for sheeds as CEO? Or is my imagination just running wild now?