Review Good/Bad vs Essendon, R17 2023

[George Kramer]

McHenry with 18 disposals, 9 of which were turnovers, and just 3 of which contributed to scores.

Is that the worst ratio of turnovers vs positive impact in the history of the game?

Panther Blood think he was good this week too?

 

[adelaidecrows]

One of the most disappointing things is we came out after half time after being smashed and put Sloane straight into the centre bounce.

Really Nicks, that's the solution?

Nicks solution when being beaten is defend his job first... i mean game, then take the game on on counterattack a distant 40th

 

[WheresGroomgone]

Panther Blood think he was good this week too?

He was putrid back to his usual- everyone was fooled by his energy driven sub roles

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

To then get belted at Docklands in an away Final....

On SM-A325F using BigFooty.com mobile app

We wouldn't play a final at Docklands.

 

[George Kramer]

When are we going to accept Murphy and McHenry are not the players you should be playing. McHenry sub or nothing.

Nicks ****ed it again this week by moving Jones from the wing.

 

[Scorpus]

I disagree with the lesson you're taking from this.

The acid should be on the younger players - why didn't any of them stand up and take control of the game? Why do their efforts consistently have little impact on the results of games?

Sure we lost the game because the senior players s**t the bed, but the most important question is why is that still the case? We should be well past that by now.

Our younger players (<23) were playing the following roles:

Small forward
Small forward
Small forward
Half forward
Tall forward
Third tall forward / second ruck
Wing
Wing
Tall defender
Tall defender
Third tall defender
Small defender
Sub

I wonder why, when the midfield is getting smashed, our younger players have little impact on the game?

 

[WheresGroomgone]

When are we going to accept Murphy and McHenry are not the players you should be playing. McHenry sub or nothing.

Nicks ****ed it again this week by moving Jones from the wing.

Exactly this is the best take on the current situation at AFC - they are not in our forward plans -we can all see it why do the coaches persist - both would struggle to make another AFL side

 

[Drakescoffeecake]

The only good thing about today is I don't have to worry about being nervous for finals anymore. It's over.

Everything to play for and this is what they decide to dish up. What do we do during the week?

 

[NSolis]

Our younger players (<23) were playing the following roles:

Small forward
Small forward
Small forward
Half forward
Tall forward
Third tall forward / second ruck
Wing
Wing
Tall defender
Tall defender
Third tall defender
Small defender
Sub

I wonder why, when the midfield is getting smashed, our younger players have little impact on the game?

This is just pure confirmation bias. After Dawson and Laird, our most CBAs went in order to Rachele, Schoenberg and Pedlar. In the first term, Soligo was right up there as well. We had kids in the middle, they just weren't getting the ball.

NTRabbit is right that you can't just kneejerk blame senior players because we lose. Not because those senior players didn't play poorly, some of them did, but we had young players who had the opportunity to positively impact the game and did not do so.

Even if Sloane plays the worst game of all time, it's not his fault if Rachele and Soligo are in the middle and give up a clearance or if Max gets beaten by his opponent.

 

[Hate the pear]

Bad: nicks continues to not trust the kids in the important games



CBA’s for pedlar, soligo and Rachele



4 vs collingwood



41 vs north



0 yes 0 vs eSsendon



Wasn't Rochelle at the first centre bounce of the game???

 

[CrowBloke]

Are you serious old mate Rory was horrid absolutely horrid

With respect, I did not say Sloane played well, or defend Sloane in any way.
But this:
" the loss of that game rests directly on the shoulders of RORY SLOANE.

what a shitful club.".
is rubbish.
Sloane was one of several who played badly.

To be clear: I want Sloane to retire, but the Club will see him to game #250 at the very least.
Btw, that doesn't make the Crows "a shitful club".
It's a fair reward for his many good years to play his 250th at home, but if he got the tap on the shoulder after that, I won't mind.

After 5 minutes, we were down 3.2 to 0.1 and lost by 18 (which flattered us, because Essendon got up to 7-odd goals in front, then eased off).
That poor, slow start, the hesitation, the bad choices/decision-making and our lack of speed all contributed to the loss.
Murphy/Michalanney/Fogarty all had poor games as well.
Blaming one player for a three-goal loss when we weren't within 5 goals of them for most of the game is ridiculous.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

My two-month-old asked me today “why is Rory Sloane still considered a best 22 player if he’s as slow as a glacier and has average skills?”. I replied, “I don’t know”. We then sat and cried together

Congratulations mate ......not often you can truly say, your 2 month old is truly "gifted"

 

[PCORF]

I tipped Essendon .... but I expected better from us.

Probably our worst effort of the season, did not show up (especially in first half) and got destroyed in all stats. Dawson best on ground. Next week is just as tough with GWS. That game vs the Pies 2 weeks ago = that was the one.

I don't think we will play finals in 2023. Not consistent enough. But even if we scrape into 8th I expect a quick exit.

 

[Fivel_79]

Frustrating team frustrates supporters. Feel that selection didn’t set us up well vs. Essendon. Like many, I would have preferred playing the extra tall in defence (eg Borlase on Langford) then use the sub for extra run later in the game.
Lost by 18pts felt like we were thrashed all over the field all day. Fumbled, missed targets and made some real momentum killing decisions and we were three kicks away? What a wasted opportunity in the end. We only had to play ten to fifteen minutes of slightly cleaner football.
My issue is largely it’s the same culprits in “down” games and we never shuffle the deck surely this one was bad enough to finally pull the trigger? Big gaps and the same old answers aren’t working.
Give a couple of Cook, Berry, Borlase, McAdam, or Newchurch a run. Please park any thoughts of Sloane in 2024 and add extra $50,000-$100,000 on an offers for Williams and Redman. We’re not far away but we’re miles off.

 

[NSolis]

Get ready to fall off your fxxkn chairs folks… but…

I actually though Ben Keays was pretty good today..

apart from that one kick on goal from 40 that landed on the chest of a Dons player.

his handballs and most of his kicks hit their targets.. and for once his handballs didn‘t run his team mates into trouble… they actually released his team mates from the contest..

Probably his best game where he wasn't playing in the midfield or as a tagger/defensive forward. Not his best game for the year but he's generally struggled to have an impact without those roles.

 

[MRB37]

Probably our worst effort of the season, did not show up (especially in first half) and got destroyed in all stats. Dawson best on ground. Next week is just as tough with GWS. That game vs the Pies 2 weeks ago = that was the one.

I don't think we will play finals in 2023. Not consistent enough. But even if we scrape into 8th I expect a quick exit.

It's worrying that Nicks said he gave them "bad cop" at the end of the 1st quarter and they still put up that effort in the 2nd.

 

[CrowBloke]

Didnt you watch the game?..

oh thats right.. you did.. you were wearing these again i see..

View attachment 1733513

Just put me on ignore please.. I don't want to argue with your (c)rose coloured opinions..

Uncanny.
They're exactly the ones I have, except I've jazzed them up with more blue, red and gold sequins for that extra pzazz.

I call'em my I-hope-we-win glasses.

Took-em off after the first 5 minutes.
======================================
(Goodonya. Got nothing intelligent to say ==> attack the man)

 

[WaynesWorld19]

One of the biggest concerns for me was watching TT.

He looked worse than Himm out there today - running under every marking contest.

I’m a huge fan of his but that was shocking viewing.

Fog was uncompetitive too. Needs a massive rocket.

Totally agree re Thilthorpe .....he was horrible

1. I've said many times, TT is just not a RUCK ....the fact Phillips, who is the Stauchan of ESS, beat him so convincingly at ruck contests, is shameful

2. TT's marking has come on well this year, it's a true weapon .....however his follow-up efforts to chase & harass were dreadful, and allowed ESS players easy passage

But I could say that about a number of players today

 

[PCORF]

The only good thing about today is I don't have to worry about being nervous for finals anymore. It's over.

Everything to play for and this is what they decide to dish up. What do we do during the week?

And the Giants are coming to town. They always play hard and you need to earn it against them.

 

[WaynesWorld19]

Looking at the stats pedlar had zero center bounce attendances, not easy to dominate as a mid if you don’t get played there.

Nah, they're incorrect .....Pedlar had a number of CBA's ....wasn't many, but he did attend in the 1st half

 

[WeeBlake]

It's worrying that Nicks said he gave them "bad cop" at the end of the 1st quarter and they still put up that effort in the 2nd.

He also said “we came with a plan and didn’t execute” and “we changed to plan d at half time”.

Sounds like Plan A for today was no good?

 

[WaynesWorld19]

That can’t be right. I def saw Rachele in the CBA.

Correct ....stats indicate Rachelle had 33% of CBA's

 

[WeeBlake]

Totally agree re Thilthorpe .....he was horrible

1. I've said many times, TT is just not a RUCK ....the fact Phillips, who is the Stauchan of ESS, beat him so convincingly at ruck contests, is shameful

2. TT's marking has come on well this year, it's a true weapon .....however his follow-up efforts to chase & harass were dreadful, and allowed ESS players easy passage

But I could say that about a number of players today

His form is the most variable of any of our players I think?

 

[MRB37]

Nah, they're incorrect .....Pedlar had a number of CBA's ....wasn't many, but he did attend in the 1st half

View attachment 1733613

Peds had 6 in the 1st quarter and 3 in the 2nd.

 

[StonesThrow]

Was pretty funny watching lots of folk on here overconfident before the game. Essendon have been better than us all year and today gave us a football lesson at a ground we have really struggled at in recent times (for whatever reason).

We're a 6-10 team that struggles on the road. I don't know why people were so confident.

Good:
Essendon played very well. They've managed to get a lot out of some players that were mediocre for quite a while. Picked us apart in every area and we couldn't get any grip on the game despite lifting in the second half.

Hinge. Two poor turnovers but he seemed to be the only player that turned up from the opening bounce. People bag him for some reason especially when he makes a turnover. Thing is he's constantly attacking and taking on kicks that aren't long bombs to a contest. They don't always come off.

Tex was good for what came his way. Created a lot when the ball hit the ground

Worrell pretty good given how the ball was coming in and his lack of experience.

Thought Jones was okay apart from one bad turnover. He's becoming pretty reliable otherwise.

I wouldn't have Milera in the good column, but he was far from our worst today and he keeps being bagged. There was one effort where he didn't run hard enough defensively that was really poor. Was okay otherwise.

Pedlar was typical. High impact low possession. I like that they're throwing him at more CBAs. He's looks cooked a lot though the same as Rachele. I wish they had one more pre season so we could keep them in there more often.

Okay:

Dawson second half really good. Where was he in the first half though? Had a shocker.

Rachele. Good and average. Was shown up by Hobbs in the midfield (although that's his natural position), but I thought he was still okay. He's on the right track imo.

ROB was okay despite being average early in the ruck

Bad:

Murphy. He's officially regressed to his former self. When you've got Rachele and Rankine up the ground and Murphy and McHenry deep in the forward line, you've gone backwards to last year. I think we need to call it for Murphy.

Sholl. This is the worst selection imo. I've been able to live with Sloane for a while, but Sholl isn't up to it long term and this is really obvious.

Sloane was worst on ground. I defended him last week, but he was terrible for the entire game.

Soligo had a couple of good touches but I think they were his only touches? Just invisible and another poor game for his 2023. People argue he'd be having more impact than laird, Keays and Sloane in the midfield, but I think he's struggled quite a bit when on the ball this year.

Murray was well beaten for the first time this year.

Michalaney likewise and he was also poor outside of his 1v1 contests. His first poor game imo.

Laird was fumbly and ineffectual. One of his worst games for the year.

Fog really in a slump. Hasn't had the year we all hoped and has probably gone backwards. I wonder if he is carrying an injury?

TT. I think I saw someone say he'd kick 6 goals today! What a call. He's got a long way to go.

Rankine needs to get better mentally. Gets shut out and his attitude is quite poor. Needs to learn to try other ways to get involved other than push and shove. Thought he got better towards the end though.

McHenry not as bad as Murphy, but showed signs of old McHenry. He's earnt the right this year for me not to put a line through him, but I wouldn't be so quick to put his name on the board.

Doesn't sound like we have anyone in the Sanfl knocking on the door. Nank seems to be preferred, but I'm not sure on him yet. We're pretty close to our best 22 so that really says something: we're still not a finals worthy team and have a some important list management and development ahead of us.