Essendon 2021

[blitzer]

I don't have a problem with people saying we were lucky to make finals. We did have an easy draw. That said we definitely improved significantly and we did it on the back of a mixture of young guys and guys in the 23-26 bracket that went to another level. Plenty to be pleased with in terms of assessing the whole season. We also basically built half our backline this season. Stewart and Laverde had never played back before in their time at the club or even much during their entire AFL careers and Hind was recruited in the offseason. So that's 3/6 of our backline right there. Plus Redman went to a new level this year although I'm pretty sure he was carrying groin/OP type issues last year. Ridley was really the only certainty in our backline and he's still not even up to 50 games despite playing 22 this year - plus he's started to play KPD at times this year which has really surprised me.

If there's one thing that gives me optimism about Rutten going forward is that players are improving under him. Even players that have been in the system for quite a few years. The key is whether the improvement can continue or whether it stagnates. I guess we'll find out next year.

 

[eth-dog]

For those saying we only made it due to our double ups

 

[Libbaaaa]

Consolidation needs to be the key message all off-season if Rutten and the powers that be are serious about sustained success. Any talk of breaking the finals draught or even worse pushing for top 4 (which will happen from certain Bombers supporting media members) is just setting up the playing group for failure.

 

[citizen-erased]

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For those saying we only made it due to our double ups

nah
first team ever to make finals with a soft draw.

Is there a ladder for premierships based on priority picks?

 

[Juddernaut08]

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For those saying we only made it due to our double ups

You can only beat who is in front of you so who cares about the soft draw.

But the table you have used is pointless.

End of the day, you had double ups against the 18th, 17th and 14th sides. Spin it however you like, but it is soft.

 

[eth-dog]

You can only beat who is in front of you so who cares about the soft draw.

But the table you have used is pointless.

End of the day, you had double ups against the 18th, 17th and 14th sides. Spin it however you like, but it is soft.

Not really. The only "spin" is coming from those who say we only made it due to a soft draw. We made it, if we had played everyone once we would have made it. Fact.

 

[citizen-erased]

Consolidation needs to be the key message all off-season if Rutten and the powers that be are serious about sustained success. Any talk of breaking the finals draught or even worse pushing for top 4 (which will happen from certain Bombers supporting media members) is just setting up the playing group for failure.

Nor should said twitter account even be dwelled upon.

You play the games in front of you and try win them all.
11/23 isn't great, but it's better than 4-6

Aim for next year needs to be to another 2-3 wins. Would love to get the results v. Swans & Giants plus a Blues win.

As for soft draws, we get the hawks, pies & north twice most years due to the rivalries.
We tend to get the giants and swans twice quite regularly as well.

over the years, we've had the Suns twice in a season once.
We go to the SCG & Optus every year for the Swans and Eagles.
We go the Gabba most years.

our draw is most predictable.
It just happened to be soft this year cos the Eagles are shot and the hawks, pies and roos are rubbish.

 

[Halftimehero]

Which club who missed the 8 deserved to be in instead of Essendon?

We finished a game and 16% clear of 9th, didn’t just scrape in.
West Coast, St Kilda and Fremantle were the 3 directly below us and we were 3-0 against them.

We obviously weren’t ready to advance past week 1 but we definitely deserved the spot more than any of the others who didn’t make it.

 

[Highly Evolved]

We did well and it is something to build upon.

It doesn't really matter whether it is/was a soft draw either. It is a bit like Weightman's frees against us on Sunday - you have to capitalise on the opportunities made available. He did and we did.

 

[Juddernaut08]

Not really. The only "spin" is coming from those who say we only made it due to a soft draw. We made it, if we had played everyone once we would have made it. Fact.

Yeah it's a bit overly simplistic (example, playing north in the first 6 weeks is a different proposition to the last 6 weeks)...ditto WCE when they were in their down patch.

But as I said, end of the day, the draw doesn't matter. You beat who you beat and made it into the 8.

Blues couldn't even beat North lol, so either way probs wouldn't have made it.

 

[La Dispute]

Which club who missed the 8 deserved to be in instead of Essendon?

We finished a game and 16% clear of 9th, didn’t just scrape in.
West Coast, St Kilda and Fremantle were the 3 directly below us and we were 3-0 against them.

We obviously weren’t ready to advance past week 1 but we definitely deserved the spot more than any of the others who didn’t make it.

It’s more a case of out of all the average teams in the middle of the ladder you just happened to be least average.

Last weekend’s belting shows the Bombers were nowhere near finals quality however.

I actually suspect a team like St Kilda would have given a better account of themselves in Week 1 given they beat the Doggies in last years finals series, and their absolute best this season was very good.

 

[Halftimehero]

It’s more a case of out of all the average teams in the middle of the ladder you just happened to be least average.

Last weekend’s belting shows the Bombers were nowhere near finals quality however.

I actually suspect a team like St Kilda would have given a better account of themselves in Week 1 given they beat the Doggies in last years finals series, and their absolute best this season was very good.

We beat the Dogs 3 weeks prior to the elimination final and it meant nothing in the scheme of things, pretty sure a match 12 months ago would have meant even less, your just plucking that out of nowhere and it has zero substance.

Are Geelong not finals worthy either? They got belted by almost as much.

 

[Halftimehero]

% has always been a pretty good indicator on where teams sit in the pecking order.

 

[La Dispute]

We beat the Dogs 3 weeks prior to the elimination final and it meant nothing in the scheme of things, pretty sure a match 12 months ago would have meant even less, your just plucking that out of nowhere and it has zero substance.

You reckon a more mature team who have a recent finals win against the Doggies wouldn’t have done better than get belted by 50 points in the wet?

That’s a hot take.

 

[eth-dog]

Yeah it's a bit overly simplistic (example, playing north in the first 6 weeks is a different proposition to the last 6 weeks)...ditto WCE when they were in their down patch.

But as I said, end of the day, the draw doesn't matter. You beat who you beat and made it into the 8.

Blues couldn't even beat North lol, so either way probs wouldn't have made it.

You mean like we did?

 

[cobra land]

Yeah it's a bit overly simplistic (example, playing north in the first 6 weeks is a different proposition to the last 6 weeks)...ditto WCE when they were in their down patch.

But as I said, end of the day, the draw doesn't matter. You beat who you beat and made it into the 8.

Blues couldn't even beat North lol, so either way probs wouldn't have made it.

Is that the same West Coast that your pathetic mob lost to ??.. they were more depleted than when they played us !.. or to Gold Coast whose home game was
changed to Marvel Stadium ?

 

[Halftimehero]

You reckon a more mature team who have a recent finals win against the Doggies wouldn’t have done better than get belted by 50 points in the wet?

That’s a hot take.

Well considering the last time the Saints played the Dogs they got belted by 111 points yeah I do.

 

[La Dispute]

Well considering the last time the Saints played the Dogs they got belted by 111 points yeah I do.

In May, the past couple of months St Kilda knocked off Brisbane and Sydney and had been competitive against Geelong.

It’s a moot point, but I suspect the Saints would have been far more competitive if they’d snuck into the 8 than the Bombers.

 

[Juddernaut08]

You mean like we did?

Yeah I guess that's the benefit of the double-dipping no doubt you finished the season strongly and we shat the bed.

 

[Cripps 'n' Blue Bloods]

% has always been a pretty good indicator on where teams sit in the pecking order.

It can also hide how wildly inconsistent a team is.
5 losses by 6 goals or more. 5 wins by 6 goals or more.

 

[Halftimehero]

In May, the past couple of months St Kilda knocked off Brisbane and Sydney and had been competitive against Geelong.

It’s a moot point, but I suspect the Saints would have been far more competitive if they’d snuck into the 8 than the Bombers.

Yes in May, you were referencing a match in October 2020 as a reason why the Saints would have done better….

 

[Halftimehero]

It can also hide how wildly inconsistent a team is.
5 losses by 6 goals or more. 5 wins by 6 goals or more.
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So now put St Kilda’s up

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It can also hide how wildly inconsistent a team is.
5 losses by 6 goals or more. 5 wins by 6 goals or more.
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So 5 shithouse performances out of 23?

I'll take it. Sounds pretty consistent to me

 

[Cripps 'n' Blue Bloods]

So now put St Kilda’s up

Why? It does nothing to change my point that percentage can be a false indicator.

 

[Ambrosia]

So 5 shithouse performances out of 23?

I'll take it. Sounds pretty consistent to me

Only one loss since round 5 that Essendon weren’t within 10 points of their opposition at some point during the final quarter.