Unofficial Preview Bring on 2014

Bark Maguley

All Australian
Jun 2, 2013
884
464
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Counter Logic Gaming
players to be in the gym in 2 weeks time reminiscent of the the guys from 2000
 

RearNaked

Premiership Player
Oct 4, 2011
3,783
4,005
Gold Coast
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
TEAM MIR!!!!!!!!!
Well afl is done for me this year usually watch a couple finals and the grand final but from now on will not watch any game that doesn't have essendon in it as for next year lets * s**t up
 

rines

Norm Smith Medallist
Suspended
Sep 28, 2007
8,339
9,345
AFL Club
Essendon
The pressing thing for us as a club, other than obviously coming together and getting ready for a huge 2014, is to address our forward line issues.

I understand there have been 'external' factors etc etc to explain our drop off in the 2nd half of the season.. but really we need to have a system up there if we are to compete in the top 4.

I believe our midfield is lacking 1 true quality star.. but they don't grow on trees so I doubt we can fix that up. We have to hope that one of the young bunch have a break out year and step up. Other than that, we have a great mix of inside and outside, we have a good age profile, we have three champions (Watson/Goddard and I believe Heppell) that will be running through there.. plus Hocking has got to be in the top 3 taggers in the league. So midfield I would now rate as overall B+ grade.

Our backline looks really strong on paper, and before our midfield stopped running, they were doing the job very well. Carlisle and Hooker underpin it obviously but then you have runners in Hibberd and Dempsey supported potentially by Fletcher/Pears as 3rd man up and maybe Hardingham or maybe Bag's or maybe dalgleish.. so plenty of options and a good mix of talls and attacking defenders/stay at home.. I like our backline and would rate it overall A grade.

Our ruck division looks OK with Ryder obviously the #1 man.. maybe to still be supported by TBell and I suspect if Gumby stays he may also rotate through there, similiar to JD if he is fit. I think our Ruck stocks appear strong and I personally have the opinion that TBell stays so I would give our Ruck Division a B+ grade

Then you get to our forward line.. on paper our talls look good.. you have Hurley and JD locked in and then I would think one of Gumby/Crameri stays.. so that is 3 good 'tall' options.. and Hurley keeps showing signs that he is 'just about there' as a forward.. I thought he did well last night.. clunked a couple of good grabs and slotted a couple (3??) and his aggression at the ball and workrate are really good I thought... However ALL our key forwards need to be better kicks on goal (Lloydy come on down) AND more consistent with their leading patters. Having said all that, ONE of them NEEDS to become a 50+ goal kicker next year.. if we are to compete with the bigger clubs. Can't have a guy continually winning the goal kicking award with 30... After that you come to what I believe is our glaring, gaping and festering wound in our list: The small forward position. Kommer is aggressive but not a natural forward nor goal kicker.. so you CAN carry him IF you have 2 other small forwards that are doing the crumbing and actual goal kicking.. Merrett looked good but will need another 2-3 solid pre-seasons before I think he can really go toe to toe.. wouldn't be surprised if Davey calls it a day or is used sparingly.. Jetta is all but gone imho.. so WHO is that small, nippy crumbing player that bobs up with 2-3 goals every second game.. this is why I give our forward line a C+ grade.

I would consider the recruitment of an Eddie Betts or Garlett as a plus.. will be interesting to see if we can lure a FA small forward as I have no doubt (in my personal opinion) that it will be a priority for the club.

All up, I think we can expect at least 15 wins next year... and some more great football by this team.
 

Jesse Custer

Cancelled
10k Posts
May 28, 2008
16,904
4,882
Melwood
AFL Club
Essendon
I love people's optimism around here i really do but i don't know what to expect next year. We need to get some more talent. Whether it's FA or getting back in the draft. Problem with the draft is we have to give away talent to get back something.
 

westking

Cancelled
Apr 25, 2010
2,155
1,927
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Whoever happens to be winning
I would consider the recruitment of an Eddie Betts or Garlett as a plus.. will be interesting to see if we can lure a FA small forward as I have no doubt (in my personal opinion) that it will be a priority for the club.

How many players has the EFC manged to draft from other clubs in recent times? I can think of two...Goddard and Prismal.
A Garlett would be amazing in our team but we would be giving up Crameri to achieve it.
And that has been an issure for EFC that other teams like Hawthorn and Sydney do not have. The ability to get a trade done.
 
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