Essendon

[bOmBeR_BoY1]

No I actually saw it all the way from the MCG Members

So you must of rushed home on a Saturday Night from apparently watching two teams, allegedly from the "MCG Members" I'll add, that you don't even barrack for to log onto Bigfooty to post your clearly valued and biased opinions?

Great.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Davey, forgot about him.

Dempsey and Houli wouldn't be in our best at the moment IMO.

Who would be then? Welsh, Nash, Dyson, Slattery, NLM, Reimers, Monfries

 

[ManWithNoName]

Who would be then? Welsh, Nash, Dyson, Slattery, NLM, Reimers, Monfries

Geez we have a shit list at the moment.

 

[fraser25]

I think Hille and Laycock should both be traded.

Hille is 1981 and too old for rebuilding and will get a decent pick.
Laycock is 1984 and might get some interest due to the high value of mobile rucks.

Trade these two for middle of the range picks I reckon.

out: Hille, Laycock
in: Warnock, Natanui

 

[ManWithNoName]

I think Hille and Laycock should both be traded.

Hille is 1981 and too old for rebuilding and will get a decent pick.
Laycock is 1984 and might get some interest due to the high value of mobile rucks.

Trade these two for middle of the range picks I reckon.

out: Hille, Laycock
in: Warnock, Natanui

Hille's one of the players who can hold his head high this year.

I'm willing to accept an orange peel for Laycock however.

 

[fraser25]

Hille's one of the players who can hold his head high this year.

irrelevant

 

[ManWithNoName]

irrelevant

We're down on confidence, morale and you're suggesting we trade one of the players who's constantly been giving it 100% and consistently contributing when others do nothing but stuff up.

It has every bit of relevance.

 

[fraser25]

We're down on confidence, morale and you're suggesting we trade one of the players who's constantly been giving it 100% and consistently contributing when others do nothing but stuff up.

It has every bit of relevance.

Not in today's football landscape.

 

[Valve Bounce]

Do they need to completley rebuild? Or just need some more time to figure out this game plan...or come up with a new one? (it is nearly round 10).

Watching the last few weeks (missus is a bombers fan) i gotta say im leaning towards the former...they really dont seem to have any coherency whatsover, just trying to win the ball, hack it out and hoping for the best, doesn't seem to be much system there at all.

Is the situation knights' fault or has he just inherited a shocking list of players (they really don't have any guns to speak of apart from mcveigh, the rest are either ageing or borderline star/good honest player)?

Is sad to see, I'd love Essendon to be up there, they draw big crowds and are usually pretty exciting to watch...I'm just trying to figure out where it all went wrong!

Our guys didn't run and didn't want to tackle or man up in the first half. That just about sums it up.

 

[Tonche]

We should definitely be chasing Warnock at the end of this year - Hille has been great but Laycock only comes to play when Hille is not around.

 

[Smyth94]

Not in today's football landscape.

Yes it does...young players actually need senior players to educate and protect them.

Why do you think Ryder's development process has been accelerated due to having Michael and Fletch in the team so he doesn't get smashed by the oppositions best forward.

Its one of the reasons why Carlton have taken so long to progress - the development of their younger players has been stifled by the lack of senior players surrounding them.

 

[Big Scottknowsall]

Davey, forgot about him.

Dempsey and Houli wouldn't be in our best at the moment IMO.

What are you on mate?

You seriously think Daniher, Myers, Jetta and other youngsters are in our best 22? NO ton potential but on actual current output, capacity?

They are playing for experience and development purposes (not that I agree with this) not because they are genuinely in our best 22.

And that is why we can't hold a tackle, can't bust our a$$ to get to a contest, can't break a tackle to get a clean handball off, can't keep a resonable level of skill for a game, can't remain composed under pressure.....can't win a fuc*ing game or even be competitive against a Richmond team that is also nothing special.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking Knights is playing the best 22 simply cause that's who he picks. No team in the competition would have first year players straight into their starting 22 based on output, barring a couple of exceptions.....

 

[Sigmund]

You have to ask who they are building a successful future around and when do they think this future will come?

Down back, I can't see Michael & Fletcher being around too much longer. The great white hope is Ryder, but what has he really done? I'd back Josh Kennedy at CHF to beat Ryder, and he hasn't even played 30 AFL games. People talk up Ryder vs Franklin as some future Jakovich/Carey type duel, but that fact is Franklin would tear him a new one now, and I can't see that changing in the next few years.

In midfield, the cupboard is pretty bare. Mcveigh is going well in 2008, but after that there isn't much. Peverill and Johnson are on the outer, and Stanton & Watson are plodders, despite the ravings of the Bomber faithful. Houli has shown a lot of promise, but he is basically Rhys Palmer in black and red. As good as he might become, he can't carry a midfield alone - particularly as a 20-30 gamer. If there were 2-3 players like Houli with similar experience who looked just as promising, there'd be more cause for optimism.

Up forward, it's still the Lloyd and Lucas show. They won't be around forever, and while Gumbleton is rated highly he has shown very little (a lot of that due to injury). Will him & Neagle be up to the standard required to build a forward line around by the time Lloyd and Lucas depart? I doubt it. Davey, Jetta & Lovett is a trio of players with exceptional pace and creativity. If consistency could be harnessed (and they could avoid injury) from these three, then there is cause for more optimism.

There's going to be a lot of pressure on the recruiting at Essendon over the next year or two. I can't predict how good the unproven draftees of recent years (Reimers, Dempsey etc.) are going to become, but the group that have been in the system a few years is pretty disappointing, so even if the current first and second year players become jets I can't see their best coming at a time when the likes of Lloyd, Fletcher, Michael & Lucas are still around, which is worrying.

Scots - you make some reasonable points. But --- I agree that Ryder is well well behind Franklin - but Paddy has shown 10x more at senior level than Kennedy

 

[Sigmund]

Hardwick knew very well that Essendon's list was on the nose, and told them they needed to re-build (Hawk style).

It seems the board got sucked in by the rosy pic that Knights sold them.

I see a fair bit of pain coming up for Essendon.

You are so predictable and boring Tazhawk. Until you actually get some credibility to comment on such issues (i.e., married to Hardwick, member of the EFC board who was in the interview process), I can pay you very little respect.

What makes you think that Hardwick would have done a better job? Because he is from Hawthorn?