Okay the title is a bit misleading, but I'm basically illustrating what a successful season would look like to me. Now I know we're not expecting too much this year, but surely we'll have to come into the season with some standards if we were to make this a successful year.
Instead of the usual "we must beat the bottom teams", I thought that I would look at some games that we struggle with, or games that might prove pivotal in our bid to possibly even make a surprise return to finals football.
Let's have a look at it as a list of priority:
1. Round 5, ANZAC day vs Collingwood
This is my number 1 must win game by far because:
A - It is against one of our direct competitors
B - We struggle so badly in this game. Terrible record. We've only won 2 clashes on this day since 2005. We've also lost 15 out of our last 21 games against Collingwood and it is time to put an end to it.
Surely it is time to take a stand. Collingwood always seem to get up for this one. We have two clashes against them and we need as much confidence as we can. Though many have Collingwood ahead of us, I think that this is the perfect opportunity for us to exploit their backline and forwardline deficiencies. If we cannot beat them this year, then there isn't much hope against the magpies for me.
2. Round 1 vs Hawthorn
This is not necessarily a must win game in the context of the season, but this is a game the Essendon of recent years definitely wins. An emotionally draining 4 years can be capped off with one of the most satisfying wins in recent history for Essendon should we get up.
A win here could go a very long way to setting up our season.
3. Round 18 vs North Melbourne
I know this seems straight forward with North's predicted tumble down the ladder, but we've only beaten them 4 times since 2001! That's only 4 in the last 18 games. Out of those 4 games, only one was outside of round 1, which was a round 13 game that we won by only 3 points.
Fair to say that we have to win this one. No excuses.
4. Round 8, Country game vs Geelong
This is for obvious reasons. I was complaining about only beating Collingwood 6 times and North 4 times since 2005. How about a team that we've only beaten ONCE since 2005? By only 4 points too. Now I know that Geelong have been way better than us for that period, but it hasn't stopped teams like Carlton, Collingwood and North Melbourne from beating them.
I think that they are in danger of missing finals this year, so it is time to win this one.
5. A notable home win vs interstate sides at Etihad (West Coast round 9, Adelaide round 21 and Fremantle round 23)
To me, we need at least one, possibly two wins from this group of teams. On our day I think we can beat any of them. I can't however see us perform consistently enough.
I included this because of our terrible record at Etihad, which supposed to be our home ground.
- This is not necessary for a successful season, but a notable interstate win (Adelaide round 4, Fremantle round 7, GWS round 11 and Sydney round 14) would be nice.
There is no way that I see us win more than one game in this group, but we really need to win interstate for our development. I can't see us win in Sydney at all. Adelaide in Adelaide will be tough. The one I'm looking out for however is Fremantle in Perth. We haven't gotten close to Fremantle since that famous victory in 2013. They are at their most vulnerable point since that win in 2013 (not including 2016 because we were no chance), so we need to back ourselves here.
This is just a loose summary and a checklist that I will be using over the season.
To put it in perspective, Carlton last year managed a win against Collingwood, Geelong and Fremantle interstate and almost beat West Coast in Melbourne (lost by 7 points) and Sydney in Sydney (lost by 6 points), so surely it isn't something that cannot be done.
Instead of the usual "we must beat the bottom teams", I thought that I would look at some games that we struggle with, or games that might prove pivotal in our bid to possibly even make a surprise return to finals football.
Let's have a look at it as a list of priority:
1. Round 5, ANZAC day vs Collingwood
This is my number 1 must win game by far because:
A - It is against one of our direct competitors
B - We struggle so badly in this game. Terrible record. We've only won 2 clashes on this day since 2005. We've also lost 15 out of our last 21 games against Collingwood and it is time to put an end to it.
Surely it is time to take a stand. Collingwood always seem to get up for this one. We have two clashes against them and we need as much confidence as we can. Though many have Collingwood ahead of us, I think that this is the perfect opportunity for us to exploit their backline and forwardline deficiencies. If we cannot beat them this year, then there isn't much hope against the magpies for me.
2. Round 1 vs Hawthorn
This is not necessarily a must win game in the context of the season, but this is a game the Essendon of recent years definitely wins. An emotionally draining 4 years can be capped off with one of the most satisfying wins in recent history for Essendon should we get up.
A win here could go a very long way to setting up our season.
3. Round 18 vs North Melbourne
I know this seems straight forward with North's predicted tumble down the ladder, but we've only beaten them 4 times since 2001! That's only 4 in the last 18 games. Out of those 4 games, only one was outside of round 1, which was a round 13 game that we won by only 3 points.
Fair to say that we have to win this one. No excuses.
4. Round 8, Country game vs Geelong
This is for obvious reasons. I was complaining about only beating Collingwood 6 times and North 4 times since 2005. How about a team that we've only beaten ONCE since 2005? By only 4 points too. Now I know that Geelong have been way better than us for that period, but it hasn't stopped teams like Carlton, Collingwood and North Melbourne from beating them.
I think that they are in danger of missing finals this year, so it is time to win this one.
5. A notable home win vs interstate sides at Etihad (West Coast round 9, Adelaide round 21 and Fremantle round 23)
To me, we need at least one, possibly two wins from this group of teams. On our day I think we can beat any of them. I can't however see us perform consistently enough.
I included this because of our terrible record at Etihad, which supposed to be our home ground.
- This is not necessary for a successful season, but a notable interstate win (Adelaide round 4, Fremantle round 7, GWS round 11 and Sydney round 14) would be nice.
There is no way that I see us win more than one game in this group, but we really need to win interstate for our development. I can't see us win in Sydney at all. Adelaide in Adelaide will be tough. The one I'm looking out for however is Fremantle in Perth. We haven't gotten close to Fremantle since that famous victory in 2013. They are at their most vulnerable point since that win in 2013 (not including 2016 because we were no chance), so we need to back ourselves here.
This is just a loose summary and a checklist that I will be using over the season.
To put it in perspective, Carlton last year managed a win against Collingwood, Geelong and Fremantle interstate and almost beat West Coast in Melbourne (lost by 7 points) and Sydney in Sydney (lost by 6 points), so surely it isn't something that cannot be done.
