Essendon 2021

[bomberman500]

we are totally sh*t and will be for a couple of years at least. Doesnt burn me at all, we have won plenty of finals since you last won one... I will take pleasure in the few wins we have in the next few years and enjoy watching the youngsters play.
I got to love all you bombers supporters humility. Its lovely to see especially since i gave you guys credit. You seem to be ignoring important facts though and that might bite you in the bum. We shall see

Who honestly gives a flying F about won finals.

I don't care about the 6000 or whatever days since a finals win. I care more about the 21 years since a premiership.

Do you nurse yourself to sleep reminding yourself about your 2 winning finals in 2018 to make you feel better for bottling the Grand Final?

 

[Yoda_]

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.

I don’t necessarily think that a young player should be a driving force in a (good) side. If they are contributing in a role that should be enough for now. Kudos to the Jackson’s, Greene’s, Jordan’s and Georgiades for contributing to there teams success.


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[Ambrosia]

I don’t necessarily think that a young player should be a driving force in a (good) side. If they are contributing in a role that should be enough for now. Kudos to the Jackson’s, Greene’s, Jordan’s and Georgiades for contributing to there teams success.


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Agree - I think some people just like to point out that our rise up the ladder isn’t due to the performances of our first year players.

On the flip side I’d say getting as many games into Jones, Cox, Perkins, Draper and Durham whilst remaining competitive is impressive.

 

[Vindicater]

How you lot doing?

Still reckon you were worthy finalists after having the softest draw of any team?

LOL!

#thestreakcontinues

We were the 8th team playing the 5th team.

How do you feel supporting the best ever wooden spoon team?

 

[theiaofseed]

When 70% of your victories come against the bottom 5 sides, is anyone surprised? Great pretenders

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[Milanista28]

When 70% of your victories come against the bottom 5 sides, is anyone surprised? Great pretenders

On SM-G955F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Pretending to be what?

 

[Milanista28]

Massively successful season.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Disappointing end but Dons on right track.
Have a good young side

Will be better team next year

 

[Kreuuuzeurns]

When 70% of your victories come against the bottom 5 sides, is anyone surprised? Great pretenders

On SM-G955F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I reckon a good 80% of their best 22 had career best years.

They have a fair way to go but their supporters should be happy.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Essendon seem to have a habit of scraping into finals, getting smashed then missing finals the next year. Will history repeat?

 

[Andronicus]

People act like this thread was started by a bombers supporter claiming we might make the finals this year.

It was a thread by a supporter of a team that didn't make the 8, that was full of other teams predicting we would finish near the bottom.

The hawkes, north and carlton supporters drawing attention to the fact that we did far better than they hoped is pretty bizarre.

 

[Vindicater]

Great first season under Rutton and alot of youth blooded.

Big challenge comes next year with a tougher draw and actual expectations on us.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Yup, got this one wrong. Reckon most people did, including Essendon fans.

Good luck next week. Don't disappear if it goes pear shaped.

Alright, let's get this over with.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Disappointing end but Dons on right track.
Have a good young side

Will be better team next year

They won't have the softest draw of any team next year.
And they also don't have a top 12 draft pick this year (had 3 last year).

 

[boncer34]

Essendon seem to have a habit of scraping into finals, getting smashed then missing finals the next year. Will history repeat?

I was stunned we made it this year. I'll be even more stunned if we back it up.

 

[Rich01]

I reckon a good 80% of their best 22 had career best years.

They have a fair way to go but their supporters should be happy.

That’s an interesting way to look at it.

Definitely the following has career best years: Parish, Merrett, Stringer, Draper, Hind, Ridley.

Room for improvement on 21: Heppell, Shiel, McGrath, Smith, Tippa, Francis.

Then there is a glut of first and second year players.

Shows that the coaching structure seems to be working and their list build over the last five years has been solid.

Looking forward to seeing some continuity with this group and seeing young talls Draper, Cox and Perkins develop into this side over the next couple of years.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

They won't have the softest draw of any team next year.
And they also don't have a top 12 draft pick this year (had 3 last year).

Our current draft pick is #11 though?

 

[Ambrosia]

I reckon a good 80% of their best 22 had career best years.

They have a fair way to go but their supporters should be happy.

A fair portion of that was by default though (Hind, Perkins, Cox, Draper, Laverde, Stewart, Jones, Durham and Waterman)

Stringer seems like an obvious regression candidate and Hooker/Tippa were important in the first half but didn’t have career years.

 

[Gruffles]

They won't have the softest draw of any team next year.
And they also don't have a top 12 draft pick this year (had 3 last year).

But next year we'll have 3 players who were top 12 draft pics with a year's worth of experience under their belt. Or do these players just get forgotten because they're no longer in their draft year?

You say some odd things sometimes.

 

[scyth]

This post is best viewed with your eyes open

Debatable.

 

[Ambrosia]

That’s an interesting way to look at it.

Definitely the following has career best years: Parish, Merrett, Stringer, Draper, Hind, Ridley.

Room for improvement on 21: Heppell, Shiel, McGrath, Smith, Tippa, Francis.

Then there is a glut of first and second year players.

Shows that the coaching structure seems to be working and their list build over the last five years has been solid.

Looking forward to seeing some continuity with this group and seeing young talls Draper, Cox and Perkins develop into this side over the next couple of years.

Wouldn’t have it a career year for Merrett or Ridley.

Don’t see Heppell as a candidate for improvement at all. He had an excellent year off HBF and given his injury history I’d be stoked to get the same return from him next season let alone expect improvement.

Given we had a soft draw and making the finals with 11 wins Essendon could easily improve next year and not make finals but I struggle to see a case for us going backwards.

 

[Ambrosia]

They won't have the softest draw of any team next year.
And they also don't have a top 12 draft pick this year (had 3 last year).

Can be a better team without getting more wins/finishing higher on the ladder. Reid is pretty much a new addition to the list next year given he spent most the year injured and he’s a top 10 pick.

Make a case for us going backwards next year.

 

[Kreuuuzeurns]

A fair portion of that was by default though (Hind, Perkins, Cox, Draper, Laverde, Stewart, Jones, Durham and Waterman)

Stringer seems like an obvious regression candidate and Hooker/Tippa were important in the first half but didn’t have career years.

For that reason I can see you pulling back for a few years until these guys build into their primes. Clearly this group was not ready for finals, but a great experience for them nonetheless.

I don’t see Stringer regressing. You have figured out his perfect role and need to leave him there. Build around him. Hooker, Tippa and Heppell will naturally regress. Massive question marks over Shiel.

Bombers need to be targeting that 20-24 bracket at the trade table and should look to use their banked cash on an FA. Merrett, Parish, Draper, Ridley, Stringer and IMO Cox can be as strong a 6 as any.

 

[La Dispute]

That’s an interesting way to look at it.

Definitely the following has career best years: Parish, Merrett, Stringer, Draper, Hind, Ridley.

Room for improvement on 21: Heppell, Shiel, McGrath, Smith, Tippa, Francis.

Then there is a glut of first and second year players.

Shows that the coaching structure seems to be working and their list build over the last five years has been solid.

Looking forward to seeing some continuity with this group and seeing young talls Draper, Cox and Perkins develop into this side over the next couple of years.

I don’t think Tippa has any improvement left, same with Heppell.

Francis is a bust.

McGrath can certainly improve, but isn’t much chop.

Injury has ruined Shiel as a footballer. Can certainly go up another level but also not much chop, a genuinely awful kick.

They’ve got some decent young players, but so do most teams. Draper is going to be an elite ruckman as early as next year. Great player.

Reckon getting belted in another final undoes a lot of their good work. Stark reminder they are still well off the pace, and their forwardline is very much a work-in-progress.

Not sure they make the finals next year.

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

For that reason I can see you pulling back for a few years until these guys build into their primes. Clearly this group was not ready for finals, but a great experience for them nonetheless.

I don’t see Stringer regressing. You have figured out his perfect role and need to leave him there. Build around him. Hooker, Tippa and Heppell will naturally regress. Massive question marks over Shiel.

Bombers need to be targeting that 20-24 bracket at the trade table and should look to use their banked cash on an FA. Merrett, Parish, Draper, Ridley, Stringer and IMO Cox can be as strong a 6 as any.

Making finals or not making finals shouldn't change anything we're doing. We're still a rebuilding team, we'll probably keep targeting talent at the draft for the next couple of years while we turn the list over and build on the game plan. I doubt we'll be doing much trading this off-season and probably won't be chasing any FAs until next year at the earliest.

I think we'll improve on this years' performance, even with a harder draw, simply by getting more games out of Caldwell, Draper, Jones, Cox, Perkins & Reid with hopefully less injuries to our top ten players. I wouldn't be surprised if we win the same or more games next year but don't make finals, as this finals series was the easiest to get into in years. Generally it takes 13 wins, this year it was 11 and %.