Essendon are EXTREMELY Impressive

[The Dustbin]

no, you're an Ess fan bringing up the past to milk a bite when you should be looking at more meaningful results....like 3-0

This is the stat really matters;

Ess v Haw

P: 145

Ess: 92 Haw: 53

This 3-0 crap you keep bringing up means ditto.

 

[danzan22]

Only 4 games in.... Last year Hawks had 3 wins so far - I think the Dons will lose to Brissy, Syd, Eagles and Port (Based on that fact that they are away)

Should still leave you in top 8 though

We play brissy at the TD dont we? if so then we have a good chance at winning it.

 

[Sam the RAMA fan]

They have changed and improved a hell of a lot since last season and also the moral around the club. Things are looking good,form,speed and results.

GOOD LUCK TO THEM,
I do hope that they keep it up.

Well done boys!


GO BOMBERS 2007!

 

[mark73]

Richmond and the Kangaroos say hi

The Kangaroos say hi, and say suck it up.

 

[PowerForGood]

Keep flying the flag, Dons, it's good to see you back....

A bit like World Cricket not being well until England are playing well, VFL/AFL football is not really right without Essendon being competitive....

 

[DonMania#5]

The Kangaroos say hi, and say suck it up.

Because they have won 1/4 games

 

[Paul Kersey]

Keep flying the flag, Dons, it's good to see you back....

A bit like World Cricket not being well until England are playing well, VFL/AFL football is not really right without Essendon being competitive....

The 1970s say you're full of s hi t.

 

[gadj1976]

Wow what an improvement from last season. I honestly think this team is for real; they will make the 8 in 2007. They play an exciting, attacking brand of football and are a joy to watch.

Meanwhile the Saints are the biggest pretenders ever.

I've said this to many people:

Essendon are improving, but with an aging squad of KPP. They will go ok till mid season, then slump because their young quick players will get found out by hardened bodies.

Not many teams have improved from 15th (four wins) to do anything major the following year - in the modern era.

Yep, they're playing well, but they really haven't played anyone at their peak yet.

 

[Dan26]

The AFL is so even these days that "nearly" any team with a bit of luck and a full list is a contender.

I have no doubt at all that the Bombers are capable of winning the premiership (and have been "capable" in probably 20 of Sheedy's 26 seasons), but so can probably 7 teams IF those teams have everything go their way. I think we are one of those 6-7 teams.

Why not? You gotta think big.

 

[gadj1976]

The AFL is so even these days that "nearly" any team with a bit of luck and a full list is a contender.

I have no doubt at all that the Bombers are capable of winning the premiership (and have been "capable" in probably 20 of Sheedy's 26 seasons), but so can probably 7 teams IF those teams have everything go their way. I think we are one of those 6-7 teams.

Why not? You gotta think big.

Hey Dan, how many bottom 8 sides do you play twice this year - serious question, not taking the pi$$, just asking. I'm sure we have about the same but it does make a huge difference for teams on the "up" like yourselves.

 

[Tas]

Actually i dont think you know enough about our players or have seen us play enough. Davey and Jetta are not running through the midfield.
Jetta hasnt actually done a lot. His name get raised often becasue he kicked a couple of goals in the first few games and it catchy but he hasnt really had much of an influence on games.
Davey has made a difference with his tackling and pressure but has played solely in the forward half. Given he is 22 i dont think he will suffer from the first year problems as much as the younger kids.
Now apart from these two in the side the improvement has come from Slattery (3rd year)starting to become an effective tager in the middle.
Winderlich (4th year) adding some pace and run.
Peverill playing the best footy of his career and improving how he uses the ball.
McVeigh also having a very good start to the year.
McPhee injury free and getting back to some form.
Ryder (2nd year) actually realising how good he can be. he is one bloke who may drop off but given his job is the third tall it isnt the biggest role.
Monfries (3rd year) being able to have a couple of runs in the middle.
Watson and Hird sharing the in and under role.
Lucas and Lloyd both being in form.
Lovett (3rd year) getting more involved from the wing.
The other plus is the work we have done off season as far as focusing completly on football skills rather than any other bootcamp,surfing etc activities. The fact the club has lifted their fitness level above anything they have had before also helps.
People have been going on about how the young kids have helped but apart from Davey having a big impact it has been the improvement of our 3rd and 4th year guys that has helped along with the good form of a few vetrans. And just to let you know there are two or three kids running around with Bendigo who are also going pretty well

I've seen all of Essendon's games actually.

The senior players that have been around for a while have been good so far but where Essendon had real problems the last two years was that your second tier group of players were not holding up, some because they were just not AFL quality, others because they were AFL quality but just not ready.

Now you have a second tier which is good enough to hold up at AFL level. Some of them are young and could be exposed later on in the year. We put the pressure on some of Brisbane's younger players and they turned the ball over a fair bit, as you would expect.

Still, Essendon's start has been fantastic and I think it is great that the teams who have struggled a bit over the last few years are very competitive now.

 

[Dan26]

Hey Dan, how many bottom 8 sides do you play twice this year - serious question, not taking the pi$$, just asking. I'm sure we have about the same but it does make a huge difference for teams on the "up" like yourselves.

The sides we play twice are

Adelaide
Collingwood
Hawthorn
Fremantle
Carlton
Richmond
West Coast

Of the sides we play once, the important aspect is WHERE we play them. The sides we play once and where are:

St.Kilda - away
Port - away
Sydney - away
Kangaroos - away

Melbourne - home
Geelong - home
Bulldogs - home
Brisbane - home

 

[Slattery_20]

Hey Dan, how many bottom 8 sides do you play twice this year - serious question, not taking the pi$$, just asking. I'm sure we have about the same but it does make a huge difference for teams on the "up" like yourselves.

not when we lose to them

 

[Slattery_20]

I've seen all of Essendon's games actually.

The senior players that have been around for a while have been good so far but where Essendon had real problems the last two years was that your second tier group of players were not holding up, some because they were just not AFL quality, others because they were AFL quality but just not ready.

Now you have a second tier which is good enough to hold up at AFL level. Some of them are young and could be exposed later on in the year. We put the pressure on some of Brisbane's younger players and they turned the ball over a fair bit, as you would expect.

Still, Essendon's start has been fantastic and I think it is great that the teams who have struggled a bit over the last few years are very competitive now.

I have a vastly different angle on why we "struggled" last year
Partly to do with not having half our team in for most of the year, partly trying to force two round pegs into square holes - Solomon and Kepler Bradley (both naturally attacking, offensive players) to try and hold up our backline, and partly a bit of a long game being played by the man in the coaches box

 

[gadj1976]

The sides we play twice are

Adelaide
Collingwood
Hawthorn
Fremantle
Carlton
Richmond
West Coast

Of the sides we play once, the important aspect is WHERE we play them. The sides we play once and where are:

St.Kilda - away
Port - away
Sydney - away
Kangaroos - away

Melbourne - home
Geelong - home
Bulldogs - home
Brisbane - home

Dan, Dan, Dan. I'm with you until you say things like "St Kilda away". That makes diddly difference IMO. Driving up the road and wearing white shorts isn't "away"! If you know what I mean.

Port, Sydney away, MASSIVE difference in home and away compared to St Kilda.

You guys do have a decent draw - I have no idea what Carlton's draw is by the way so I'm not taking the mickey! Playing WCE, Adelaide and Freo home and away isn't as bad as some teams, cos you guys do play well at Telstra.

 

[Mattlowry]

I have a vastly different angle on why we "struggled" last year
Partly to do with not having half our team in for most of the year, partly trying to force two round pegs into square holes - Solomon and Kepler Bradley (both naturally attacking, offensive players) to try and hold up our backline, and partly a bit of a long game being played by the man in the coaches box

I think injuries were part of it but i think it was mainly the mental attitude of the players and the physical condition they were in and for that i blame the players and the coaching staff.

How many games did it look like we were gonna win at 3/4 time? More than half our games were decided by under 20 points from memory. 13 I think. We simply took our foot off the pedal in too many games and let our opponent come back. We were unfit and often unable to run out those last quarters also. It was an extremelly frustrating season as a supporter because its not like i was constantly resigned to losing. We often looked like winning only to get my hopes dashed in the last quarter. The Richmond, St Kilda and Hawthorn games were particularly bad.

Another problem was pressure. We had little to no pressure all year. We just let the opponent play there own game. This year we have played BEYOND ourselves because of our speed, fitness and most of all PRESSURE. When we let that pressure drop against Carlton we let them come back.

I refuse to believe we are playing that much better this year all because of Lloyd and Davey. We played some good (first 3/4) football last year. Most people just never watched an Essendon game and think because we finished 2nd last we were hopeless all year. Its all about pressure.

 

[Slattery_20]

Dan, Dan, Dan. I'm with you until you say things like "St Kilda away". That makes diddly difference IMO. Driving up the road and wearing white shorts isn't "away"! If you know what I mean.

Port, Sydney away, MASSIVE difference in home and away compared to St Kilda.

You guys do have a decent draw - I have no idea what Carlton's draw is by the way so I'm not taking the mickey! Playing WCE, Adelaide and Freo home and away isn't as bad as some teams, cos you guys do play well at Telstra.

decent draw?
Well we won it anyway, so fk em let's forget about them.
We beat Adelaide in Adelaide, which has been our biggest barrier for about 3 years. That's what has impressed me. Then we beat a (I'm having to eat my words a bit here) tough, and determined Freo side over here. I've got a complete loss of memory about the other week, but we've won another away game against a highly-touted team. I rate our form line a bit better than that of Collingwood, who we come up against on Wednesday

 

[Dagless]

I think injuries were part of it but i think it was mainly the mental attitude of the players and the physical condition they were in and for that i blame the players and the coaching staff.

How many games did it look like we were gonna win at 3/4 time? More than half our games were decided by under 20 points from memory. 13 I think. We simply took our foot off the pedal in too many games and let our opponent come back. We were unfit and often unable to run out those last quarters also. It was an extremelly frustrating season as a supporter because its not like i was constantly resigned to losing. We often looked like winning only to get my hopes dashed in the last quarter. The Richmond, St Kilda and Hawthorn games were particularly bad.

Another problem was pressure. We had little to no pressure all year. We just let the opponent play there own game. This year we have played BEYOND ourselves because of our speed, fitness and most of all PRESSURE. When we let that pressure drop against Carlton we let them come back.

I refuse to believe we are playing that much better this year all because of Lloyd and Davey. We played some good (first 3/4) football last year. Most people just never watched an Essendon game and think because we finished 2nd last we were hopeless all year. Its all about pressure.

Im also a confident believer that a lot of the team/players are confidence players

They need something to build upon and if they dont they just dont seem to get their attitude right - seeing Lloyd go down (also an injury factor) would have been greatly demoralising and I think we saw that for much of the year

 

[Slattery_20]

yep that hurt - and that just after we lost a few bloody tight ones that honestly could have gone the other way
then it kept happening, and injuries kept nagging

this year, we've just got this fantastic feeling running through the club

 

[gadj1976]

decent draw?
Well we won it anyway, so fk em let's forget about them.
We beat Adelaide in Adelaide, which has been our biggest barrier for about 3 years. That's what has impressed me. Then we beat a (I'm having to eat my words a bit here) tough, and determined Freo side over here. I've got a complete loss of memory about the other week, but we've won another away game against a highly-touted team. I rate our form line a bit better than that of Collingwood, who we come up against on Wednesday

Slatts, did I miss something - you play 18 games in Melb and you play three of the top 8 sides twice? Most would kill for that draw.

Twas a great win in Adel, I certainly didn't pick you and their form has improved out of site since.

Yeh, you'll beat the Woods easily I'd think/HOPE!!!!

 

[Smokin]

I might be still sloshed, but didnt someone work out a forumula for determining the hardness of the draw (based on an NFL equation or something) at the start of the season, whereby Essendon were rated with the hardest draw in the comp?

Tell me Im not going crazy...

 

[ant555]

I've seen all of Essendon's games actually.

The senior players that have been around for a while have been good so far but where Essendon had real problems the last two years was that your second tier group of players were not holding up, some because they were just not AFL quality, others because they were AFL quality but just not ready.

Now you have a second tier which is good enough to hold up at AFL level. Some of them are young and could be exposed later on in the year. We put the pressure on some of Brisbane's younger players and they turned the ball over a fair bit, as you would expect.

Still, Essendon's start has been fantastic and I think it is great that the teams who have struggled a bit over the last few years are very competitive now.

I just dont like it when people say its only the kids that has lead to our improvement and we will drop away when they get worn down because it isnt the fact. It is the improvement across the whole list which has us in the position we are in now. The attention to the 1%ers has lifted and our tackiling rate and method has finally improved after 18 months or so of specialised training in the area. Yes we have weeded out a good number of the dud second tier players and replaced them with younger blokes but most of them have still had 2,3 and 4 years of footy.Guys like Watson,Stanton and Monfries have already proven they can stand up to a season of footy baring serious injuries. Yes the first year players will get worn down but the upside here is we are only playing a couple of them (Davey and Jetta) and Houli and Hislop have both been 20 possession plus players with Bendigo. Jason Johnson will be ready to come back shortly. Gumbleton has been in the best 5 with Bendigo for the last 3 weeks so there is a bit of a list with some form waiting to get back in.
If you have seen all our games then your would know the reason for our improvement.
Davey and his forward efforts.
Lloyd and Lucas both being in form and kicking goals.
McVeigh playing better than before.
McPhee returning to some better form.
Peverill playing really well and running his arse off all day as well as being damaging with the footy.
Mal Micheal , despite being beaten he still gives our backline a better structure and allows us to use Fletcher better and play Ryder in a lesser role and utilise his talent. It also allows us to use McPhee on the flank rather than KP.
Trust me i have seen all our games,all the Bendigo games and training 3 or 4 times a week. The improvement has come from a lift in a number of areas from the players to focus in deficient areas of our game and game plan at training over the last 4 months and the coaching staff recognising the key areas we have fallen away in and making them the areas to be worked hardest in.

 

[Angelus512]

Wow what an improvement from last season. I honestly think this team is for real; they will make the 8 in 2007. They play an exciting, attacking brand of football and are a joy to watch.

Meanwhile the Saints are the biggest pretenders ever.

I agree with the sentiment Essendon looks great. On a side note however isn't this all similar to stuff that was said about the Pies last year?
OMG Collingwood looking so good etc etc.
Just going to wait another month or two until all you who posted same about Pies last year start the bagging threads in due course.

But once again cred to essendon looking good.

 

[The Fireman]

If the bombers keep playing like that they will do extremely well, their disposal by foot all over the park was impecable (whereas the Saints were the complete opposite)
Sheedy did well again against us.
The Saints will improve when some of our top players gain more game time after their long lay offs due to injury and we get a few back but on the day the Bombers were way too good.

 

[DaSawx]

Slatts, did I miss something - you play 18 games in Melb and you play three of the top 8 sides twice? Most would kill for that draw.

Twas a great win in Adel, I certainly didn't pick you and their form has improved out of site since.

Yeh, you'll beat the Woods easily I'd think/HOPE!!!!

We play 17 games in Melbourne, Brisbane is the only interstate team we don't travel too, still a long way to go