Essendon 2021

[citizen-erased]

what is your expectations of 2022?

how do my expectations impact the clubs season?

FYI, i have none. We're building. Finals was a bonus experience this year.

It was a largely enjoyable year of viewing - Parish having a break out season, Stringer is hitting new peaks, Draper got out there for a good chunk...can't wait for a full season from him, backline has come together, positive game plan, we're scoring well and been top 5 defensively in back half of the season.
No complaints from my end.
Solid A for 2021.

2022, will take it as it comes.
pre-empting failure is foolish. It was pre-empted in 2021 and didn't quite pan out that way.

 

[HeathySure]

how do my expectations impact the clubs season?

FYI, i have none. We're building. Finals was a bonus experience this year.

It was a largely enjoyable year of viewing - Parish having a break out season, Stringer is hitting new peaks, Draper got out there for a good chunk...can't wait for a full season from him, backline has come together, positive game plan, we're scoring well and been top 5 defensively in back half of the season.
No complaints from my end.
Solid A for 2021.

2022, will take it as it comes.
pre-empting failure is foolish. It was pre-empted in 2021 and didn't quite pan out that way.

Agree with your assessment. As i said before i still think you need to improve to make finals next year given that Parish will get more attention. I am not convinced about Draper, he is still raw and young but he might be a gun. We will see. FWIW i think that your midfield fell into place by accident. If Sheil (who i do not rate at all) and Caldwell didnt get injured would Parish have got all the midfield time he did? Kudos to your coach for getting the best out of almost everyone.
Collingwoods 2018 side fell into place by accident as well as we had a lot of players injured and got replaced by better fits to the team, then we regressed ...

 

[Bipolar Bear]

what is your expectations of 2022?

Depends if we have Carracella or not.

 

[citizen-erased]

Agree with your assessment. As i said before i still think you need to improve to make finals next year given that Parish will get more attention. I am not convinced about Draper, he is still raw and young but he might be a gun. We will see. FWIW i think that your midfield fell into place by accident. If Sheil (who i do not rate at all) and Caldwell didnt get injured would Parish have got all the midfield time he did? Kudos to your coach for getting the best out of almost everyone.
Collingwoods 2018 side fell into place by accident as well as we had a lot of players injured and got replaced by better fits to the team, then we regressed ...

Draper is a bona fide gun. Not sure why you'd think him raw. He's proven himself against the best rucks. His ? now is can he break the injury curse and play a full season.

Parish is the leading clearance player in the comp. Moving forward, Shiel & Caldwell compliment him, not the other way around.
Part of his (and any emerging mid) development is to learn to handle the tag. But whilst they do, we have the likes of Merrett, Stringer, McGrath, Shiel (how you don't rate him i'm not sure) and Langford getting off the hook.
Caldwell is the one you'd be waiting to see on. 3 years, continually injured.
Add to that, we have progression to be seen from Cox and Perkins. And whoever we draft this year.

Our midfield trajectory is less the issue. Consistency is the key now.
Whether this was an accident or by design, what does it matter? We have it sorted moving forward. To the point i'm questioning for the first time since 01 whether we need to add any more mids.

 

[citizen-erased]

Depends if we have Carracella or not.

Gia + Cara.
We've got a nice coaching setup. Hoping they stick together for a decent period to embed this development.

 

[Bipolar Bear]

Gia + Cara.
We've got a nice coaching setup. Hoping they stick together for a decent period to embed this development.

Hoping they go for a premiership before moving on. Collingwood coach openings without the interference of Eddie doesn't come up often.

 

[dave10]

Given you guys cannot critique any assessment of your season without resorting to attacks just leads to you guys being set up for a big fall. You will bring this on yourselves and it will be beautiful

We’re happy to fall. We’re on a journey. A final this years a bonus. A free swing at it. Clubs back on track. From here we ride the inevitable ups and downs along the way.

 

[Dave]

Given you guys cannot critique any assessment of your season without resorting to attacks just leads to you guys being set up for a big fall. You will bring this on yourselves and it will be beautiful

Yes, the behavior of people on an internet discussion forum will influence the outcome of a footyball game.

 

[Dave]

what is your expectations of 2022?

Hopefully continued improvement of the kids - Jones, Draper, Cox & Perkins. Get to see some of Reid after his illness & injury this season.

Better ability to defend against sides bringing the ball out of defensive 50.

 

[JayJ20]

Agree with your assessment. As i said before i still think you need to improve to make finals next year given that Parish will get more attention. I am not convinced about Draper, he is still raw and young but he might be a gun. We will see. FWIW i think that your midfield fell into place by accident. If Sheil (who i do not rate at all) and Caldwell didnt get injured would Parish have got all the midfield time he did? Kudos to your coach for getting the best out of almost everyone.
Collingwoods 2018 side fell into place by accident as well as we had a lot of players injured and got replaced by better fits to the team, then we regressed ...

We know the point you're trying to make, but I don't believe your assessment is accurate. It may be correct on surface level, but it doesn't paint the full picture. Of course we need to improve to make finals again next year and I do believe we have the ability to improve, but I don't believe we are a level below sides like GWS and Sydney just because we're 1-8 vs top 8 sides. If anything, you can make an argument that we've underperformed this year by losing a lot of close games. Splitting the GWS and Sydney games would have had us at 13-9 for the year with a record of 3-6 vs the top 8 so I do believe our record is a bit deceiving. Doesn't make any difference now though considering we made finals.

We also had players like Shiel (who you may not rate, but is an integral part of our clearance dominance), McGrath and Draper missing a huge chunk of the season. Stringer, the number 1 ranked player in the competition from round 14 onwards, wasn't really playing in the midfield before that. Laverde, Stewart (who missed the start of the year) and Hind were only weeks into their new role as defenders so our defence has taken time to gel as a unit. In fact, our whole side has taken time to implement the game plan. Draper in particular has been instrumental in making us one of the best clearance sides in the competition. The side that plays Bulldogs on Sunday is much, much better than the side Port played back in round 2, or the side Brisbane played in round 5. We had probably the top 3 or 4 most points conceded in the first 8 rounds and we started the year 2-6. We've gone 9-5 since then with close losses to Sydney, GWS and Melbourne. Our defence ranks 5th for points against from round 16-23. For context, we played Geelong, Sydney, GWS and Bulldogs during that period as well. That's why quoting our record vs the top 8 sides is pointless given how much we've improved throughout the season.

For a side expected to be bottom 4, we've done well.

 

[Yoda_]

Wonderful well thought out arguments all of these lol

To be fair, every non Essendon supporter wants to pour on the fire when we were/are shit.

It but hurts so many when we start showing something. What will BigFooty look like when we win a final?


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[Yoda_]

Agree with your assessment. As i said before i still think you need to improve to make finals next year given that Parish will get more attention. I am not convinced about Draper, he is still raw and young but he might be a gun. We will see. FWIW i think that your midfield fell into place by accident. If Sheil (who i do not rate at all) and Caldwell didnt get injured would Parish have got all the midfield time he did? Kudos to your coach for getting the best out of almost everyone.
Collingwoods 2018 side fell into place by accident as well as we had a lot of players injured and got replaced by better fits to the team, then we regressed ...

I don’t think it is such a nominal and natural development in younger guys, it is about the C and D grade guys who, although not stars for most, are playing B grade footy.

Peter Wright has almost a career best year, Jayden Laverde playing 22 games in one year after 46 in the preceding 6 years. Kyle Langford finding his niche. Nick Hind replacing one of our most reliable players and almost upgrading on him. Mason Redman after showing glimpses ina role so natural to him has locked one in and contributed all year.

Not to mention the older guys like Hooker who was in the top 5 in the Coleman in the first half of the year, Heppell’s move to half back has been a coaching masterclass, ditto 27 year old James Stewart who is doing an ok job. Not to mention guys who were on the chopping block
Have gone and filled a role suited to them perfectly. Tom Cutler at HB, Dev Smith finding form again.

So yes, it’s nice to give kudos to Archie Perkins, Sam Draper, Harry Jones, Nik Cox etc but it’s not them driving the change.


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[rumply]

What will BigFooty look like when we win a final?

I already feel sorry for the hamsters.

 

[Macca18]

*tumbleweed* right now… apart from some red & black contributions.

Wait until Sunday afternoon though when/if things go awry. They will find a voice again.

The same geniuses who picked us to finish 16th and 17th. They will come.

 

[HeathySure]

I don’t think it is such a nominal and natural development in younger guys, it is about the C and D grade guys who, although not stars for most, are playing B grade footy.

Peter Wright has almost a career best year, Jayden Laverde playing 22 games in one year after 46 in the preceding 6 years. Kyle Langford finding his niche. Nick Hind replacing one of our most reliable players and almost upgrading on him. Mason Redman after showing glimpses ina role so natural to him has locked one in and contributed all year.

Not to mention the older guys like Hooker who was in the top 5 in the Coleman in the first half of the year, Heppell’s move to half back has been a coaching masterclass, ditto 27 year old James Stewart who is doing an ok job. Not to mention guys who were on the chopping block
Have gone and filled a role suited to them perfectly. Tom Cutler at HB, Dev Smith finding form again.

So yes, it’s nice to give kudos to Archie Perkins, Sam Draper, Harry Jones, Nik Cox etc but it’s not them driving the change.


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Yep the youngsters have shown promise but none have really been the reason your season is better. They will be able to effect a game in 2 to 3 years but right now they are role players. You dont have a contending team yet, you need a couple of players in key positions, whether you can trade for them or the youngsters improve that much is yet to be seen.
My best mate is a bombers supporter and he reckons you have zero depth. That might be a problem that you will need to fix over the summer. Also some players find it hard to back up after a good season because they get worked out. A 4 game player in Rantall kept Parish quiet on Sunday, thats a worry, Anyway if you make the finals next year then i think you can contend in a couple of years. But its not that easy, Plenty of sides sneak in and go backwards (saints last year is an example) so the pressure will be much higher to maintain the form

Anyway its nice someone actually wanted to discuss this in a reasonable manner. Thanks

 

[Andronicus]

fact is you didn't split the games against the good sides you lost. I dont think interstate games against neutral sides really is significant. You have caught a lot of sides at their lowest ebb, especially towards the end of the season and the only 2 sides who you played twice in the finals were GWS and Sydney who also both missed the finals last year and copped an easy draw.

No doubt you have improved. but you play Geelong and Brisbane twice instead of us and North and you finish 12th

So hypotheticals don't count unless they are your hypotheticals.

Gotcha.

 

[Yoda_]

Yep the youngsters have shown promise but none have really been the reason your season is better. They will be able to effect a game in 2 to 3 years but right now they are role players. You dont have a contending team yet, you need a couple of players in key positions, whether you can trade for them or the youngsters improve that much is yet to be seen.

I don't get the obssession with trading (?) why the need to do it when natural improvement should occur to a list team that was one of the youngest most weeks in the latter parts of the year.

It's nice to suggest that we need a shiny new toy (aka KPF Im assuming) but would like to point out we were the fourth highest scoring team this year. Many Essendon fans will admit deffensively we could upgrade on Stewart &/or Laverde with young Zac Reid debuting and many ITK suggesting he is the safest of those three prized top 10 selections.

We have an abundance of kids merely needing opportunity. Many won't make it but that is not through opportunity (yet). Cody Brand, Josh Eyre, Zac Reid, Cian McBride, Brandon Zerk Thatcher (17 games), Kaine Baldwin, Harrison Jones, heck Aaron Francis is 24 and wil lplay 50 games this weekend.

My best mate is a bombers supporter and he reckons you have zero depth. That might be a problem that you will need to fix over the summer. Also some players find it hard to back up after a good season because they get worked out. A 4 game player in Rantall kept Parish quiet on Sunday, thats a worry,

What depth is this your mate speaks of? From the team on the weekend; Jye Caldwell, Kyle Langford, Harry Jones were missing from the best 22. Gleeson, Zaharakis, Brayden Ham and even Andrew Phillips have played significant minutes when played this year. We have depth.

Just on the Parish thing, he is merely a sum of the moving partshe is apart of. If Darcy doesn't get you then Zac will, if they don't Stringer will.If they don't then no doubt Shiel will get back to his best. McGrath, and even Devon Smith have played minutes on ball this year. If Darcy is held to 15 possessions and we win, I'm fine with that. Salary cap or not, it's about the team.

Anyway if you make the finals next year then i think you can contend in a couple of years. But its not that easy, Plenty of sides sneak in and go backwards (saints last year is an example) so the pressure will be much higher to maintain the form

And what has Carlton, St.Kilda and even the most well versed in this area (us) taught us?? Don't top up too early. We tried that with S(mith), S(tringer), S(aad) and went backwards. Hence why I question the obsession many have over topping up when the current list has so much improvement left in it.

Anyway its nice someone actually wanted to discuss this in a reasonable manner. Thanks

NOT AIMING THIS COMPLETELY AT YOU, BigFooty has a tendency to want to be ****wits, I'mas guilty as anyone. Be a dick, get crap replies.

I'll be civil as long as it doesn't get stupid with the lack of acknowledgement on what is actually happening and not what you (or others) think is happening. The moment people throw barbs is when this main board becomes a cesspit of rubbish.

 

[Percel]

Quite happy for Rutten through all of this. Coming in on the back of the dramas Of years past, then Woosh taking an eternity to move on, he’s done a super job this year. Seems like a decent chap too.

it’s a little infuriating to have to like him

 

[Andronicus]

My best mate is a bombers supporter and he reckons you have zero depth.

Why do people always think that an incorrect idea they have suddenly has some credibility when they pretend to have a friend supporting the team in question to pin the idea on?

 

[Ambrosia]

Yep the youngsters have shown promise but none have really been the reason your season is better. They will be able to effect a game in 2 to 3 years but right now they are role players. You dont have a contending team yet, you need a couple of players in key positions, whether you can trade for them or the youngsters improve that much is yet to be seen.
My best mate is a bombers supporter and he reckons you have zero depth. That might be a problem that you will need to fix over the summer. Also some players find it hard to back up after a good season because they get worked out. A 4 game player in Rantall kept Parish quiet on Sunday, thats a worry, Anyway if you make the finals next year then i think you can contend in a couple of years. But its not that easy, Plenty of sides sneak in and go backwards (saints last year is an example) so the pressure will be much higher to maintain the form

Anyway its nice someone actually wanted to discuss this in a reasonable manner. Thanks

Agree that outside of Draper our young inexperienced players haven’t been a driving force for our improvement this year. That being said they’ve all shown they can impact games at AFL level and should be a source of improvement over the coming years

I really don’t think Rantall playing a 100% negative role and limiting Darcy to 21 touches is concerning at all.

Every club needs better depth it’s a reality of their only being 22 able to play each week plus the salary cap. Still I would have thought having Cox, Hooker, Tippa and Ham who are fit and not playing AFL at the moment is a sign we have pretty handy depth.

 

[brmi]

What will BigFooty look like when we win a final?

We'll have to wait another 15 years to find out.

 

[faible]

I really don’t think Rantall playing a 100% negative role and limiting Darcy to 21 touches is concerning at all.

If winning by 6 goals because Parish got tagged is the outcome of most games, I think we'd all be OK with that.

 

[Ambrosia]

If winning by 6 goals because Parish got tagged is the outcome of most games, I think we'd all be OK with that.

Yeah I’m not even sure Parish should be copping criticism for not beating a tag it becomes quite clear that our response to him being tagged is to make Stringer and Shiel our go to mids at a stoppage.

 

[faible]

Yeah I’m not even sure Parish should be copping criticism for not beating a tag it becomes quite clear that our response to him being tagged is to make Stringer and Shiel our go to mids at a stoppage.

Good learning experience for Parish, didn't seem to impact the game too much unlike when Merrett was basically the only midfielder we had worth tagging.

 

[Andronicus]

We'll have to wait another 15 years to find out.

How long til we hit the enviable mark of 1 flag in over 60 years?