Opinion Is this it? Is this what we've waited almost 20 years for?

[fishardansin]

I feel sorry for J Watson, starts in 2003 just as we become a really crap side and finished in 2017 right as we stop being this crap team.
his timing in the game is actually quiet sad.

Perhaps it was all his fault.

 

[raskolnikov]

Grand Final tickets booked already. Bring it on.

 

[boncer34]

Perhaps it was all his fault.

Agreed

 

[ant555]

We haven't won a final in 15 years. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Agree.
I am not going out on a limb any further than saying we should make the 8 and would be nice to win a final.
Until I see it for longer than 10 weeks I am not going to sucked in too far. We have not had a team first culture for a long while.
There is enough ability on the list to be a very good side but we simply have to prove we can play team first hard edge footy and not the all about the stats sociable footy we have played in the last 10 seasons.

 

[Maxabillions]

Eight reasons to get excited:

https://outline.com/9p2Jqz

 

[Haychh]

Eight reasons to get excited:

https://outline.com/9p2Jqz

If only it wasn't an offseason fluff piece from the HUN chasing likes and comments on social media

 

[Maxabillions]

If only it wasn't an offseason fluff piece from the HUN chasing likes and comments on social media

Yeah... I'm still excited though

 

[Beerfish]

Makes sense to me.

 

[daffo]

We really should improve a fair bit this year. We have to win at least one final.

 

[Mr_McBoogerBalls]

On paper, we look good - but games aren't won on paper. I think the next step for this club is to work hard towards building a successful culture; that means competing in finals.

FWIW - I'm proud of the way our club has worked to repair and build towards becoming a good Football team. We've come from being a club that rests on it's laurels, to a club building towards the next era.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Agree.
I am not going out on a limb any further than saying we should make the 8 and would be nice to win a final.
Until I see it for longer than 10 weeks I am not going to sucked in too far. We have not had a team first culture for a long while.
There is enough ability on the list to be a very good side but we simply have to prove we can play team first hard edge footy and not the all about the stats sociable footy we have played in the last 10 seasons.

Really agree with this. We need to get to a point where other teams get a sinking feeling when they see us coming up in the draw.
We have the offensive weapons - just need to pair them an unsociable, swarming defensive approach 100% of the time..

 

[fishardansin]

On paper, we look good - but games aren't won on paper. I think the next step for this club is to work hard towards building a successful culture; that means competing in finals.

FWIW - I'm proud of the way our club has worked to repair and build towards becoming a good Football team. We've come from being a club that rests on it's laurels, to a club building towards the next era.

heheh ... great cliche

 

[Mad Bomber Sean]

Had lunch with an Essendon legend the other day. He said that top 8 was the goal and perhaps a finals win. Anything else is a bonus. He highlighted a lack of a genuine big bodied mid to explain his position.

He made no reference to the injuries we have except for Joe.
He mentioned that he wasn’t really running and was very far back from the rest of the group.

He doubts Joes replacements and there capacity to carry the team in front of goals. Brown, Mckerenan, Clark, Stewart & Stringer ain’t good enough according to him.

Mckeena is also a concern - he isn’t right at the moment, does he also have a problem with his groin?

Begley, Gleeson and Redman won’t come into the selection frame until mid season.

Smith hasn’t trained a lot this preseason and I wonder how he is going to perform without the kind of elite fitness he displayed last season.

Zaharakis is also under a small clound from what I understand.

The good news is that guys like Laverde, Langford, Guelfi & Ambrose are back and running hard. Francis is killing it and taking his fitness to a new level.
The kid is like Jesus Christ for me at least. He has also been training with the mids at times during preseason. This can only be a good thing for his confidence and fitness.

Raz hasn’t stopped running despite his injured hand and has shown new tricks marking one handed. He is now 100% and displaying great skills and tenacity.

Stringer is still only average for fitness and hasn’t really developed this that much since coming to the club. With Danihers slow recovery he won’t be able to play many midfield minutes anyway.

I was hoping with the inclusion of Shiel we would have to drop some other great players, but that’s not the case as many won’t be cherry ripe for round 1 anyways.

In conclusion i doubt this will be the season we have waited for for 20years. However we should still aim for 14+ wins. That’s two more wins that 17 & 18 and should give us a strong chance to make top 8.

Can we do that without a fit Joe ? The jury is out on that. But I think that we are good enough to get close.

 

[Haychh]

Had lunch with an Essendon legend the other day. He said that top 8 was the goal and perhaps a finals win. Anything else is a bonus. He highlighted a lack of a genuine big bodied mid to explain his position.

He made no reference to the injuries we have except for Joe.
He mentioned that he wasn’t really running and was very far back from the rest of the group.

He doubts Joes replacements and there capacity to carry the team in front of goals. Brown, Mckerenan, Clark, Stewart & Stringer ain’t good enough according to him.

Mckeena is also a concern - he isn’t right at the moment, does he also have a problem with his groin?

Begley, Gleeson and Redman won’t come into the selection frame until mid season.

Smith hasn’t trained a lot this preseason and I wonder how he is going to perform without the kind of elite fitness he displayed last season.

Zaharakis is also under a small clound from what I understand.

The good news is that guys like Laverde, Langford, Guelfi & Ambrose are back and running hard. Francis is killing it and taking his fitness to a new level.
The kid is like Jesus Christ for me at least. He has also been training with the mids at times during preseason. This can only be a good thing for his confidence and fitness.

Raz hasn’t stopped running despite his injured hand and has shown new tricks marking one handed. He is now 100% and displaying great skills and tenacity.

Stringer is still only average for fitness and hasn’t really developed this that much since coming to the club. With Danihers slow recovery he won’t be able to play many midfield minutes anyway.

I was hoping with the inclusion of Shiel we would have to drop some other great players, but that’s not the case as many won’t be cherry ripe for round 1 anyways.

In conclusion i doubt this will be the season we have waited for for 20years. However we should still aim for 14+ wins. That’s two more wins that 17 & 18 and should give us a strong chance to make top 8.

Can we do that without a fit Joe ? The jury is out on that. But I think that we are good enough to get close.

I think this “Bomber legend” didn’t tell you anything 90% of us don’t already know

 

[Mad Bomber Sean]

I think this “Bomber legend” didn’t tell you anything 90% of us don’t already know

Ok mate. Thanks for being so
welcoming.

 

[Lore]

Ok mate. Thanks for being so
welcoming.

I doubt he was being hostile. Your friend’s intel sounds just like someone who goes to every training session they can and tries to be objective about what they’re seeing.

 

[fairbump_playon]

I think this “Bomber legend” didn’t tell you anything 90% of us don’t already know

No need to be snarky just because Sean has lunch with a bomber legend.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

He said that top 8 was the goal and perhaps a finals win. Anything else is a bonus. He

Top 8 is the goal and perhaps winning a final? not for me winning a final a must anything less and the season is a failure.

 

[Haychh]

Ok mate. Thanks for being so
welcoming.

Don’t take it personally it was just an observation that most of the points you outlined were pretty common knowledge and not exactly inside info.

 

[Mad Bomber Sean]

Don’t take it personally it was just an observation that most of the points you outlined were pretty common knowledge and not exactly inside info.

I never claimed that he has secret info, just sharing the thoughts of a bomber legend.

I actually disagree with him re big bodied mid incidentally. I reckon that we can do ok in that area with the cattle we already have.

 

[Jade]

Stringer is still only average for fitness and hasn’t really developed this that much since coming to the club

That is simply, categorically, not true.

 

[Bombermania]

Had lunch with an Essendon legend the other day. He said that top 8 was the goal and perhaps a finals win. Anything else is a bonus. He highlighted a lack of a genuine big bodied mid to explain his position.

He made no reference to the injuries we have except for Joe.
He mentioned that he wasn’t really running and was very far back from the rest of the group.

He doubts Joes replacements and there capacity to carry the team in front of goals. Brown, Mckerenan, Clark, Stewart & Stringer ain’t good enough according to him.

Mckeena is also a concern - he isn’t right at the moment, does he also have a problem with his groin?

Begley, Gleeson and Redman won’t come into the selection frame until mid season.

Smith hasn’t trained a lot this preseason and I wonder how he is going to perform without the kind of elite fitness he displayed last season.

Zaharakis is also under a small clound from what I understand.

The good news is that guys like Laverde, Langford, Guelfi & Ambrose are back and running hard. Francis is killing it and taking his fitness to a new level.
The kid is like Jesus Christ for me at least. He has also been training with the mids at times during preseason. This can only be a good thing for his confidence and fitness.

Raz hasn’t stopped running despite his injured hand and has shown new tricks marking one handed. He is now 100% and displaying great skills and tenacity.

Stringer is still only average for fitness and hasn’t really developed this that much since coming to the club. With Danihers slow recovery he won’t be able to play many midfield minutes anyway.

I was hoping with the inclusion of Shiel we would have to drop some other great players, but that’s not the case as many won’t be cherry ripe for round 1 anyways.

In conclusion i doubt this will be the season we have waited for for 20years. However we should still aim for 14+ wins. That’s two more wins that 17 & 18 and should give us a strong chance to make top 8.

Can we do that without a fit Joe ? The jury is out on that. But I think that we are good enough to get close.

I think that is a level headed assessment of where the club is and I actually think it Is better to be slightly more bearish than bullish towards this list however I am not that concerned about players having slow starts to preseasons during November into the new year because as long as they are fit and ready to go come round 1 and as the James Kelly experience showed having a break isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Someone like Smith will probably be fine and the thing about Shiel which people seem to be overlooking is he has the potential to free up the likes of Hepp and Merrett and we know they have not missed a beat and could be set for big years. The forward line worked just fine without Joey, sure I want him fit but if we can get the mid field setup right then we have shown we can still score big without Joey.

The first aim of 2019 is to make the eight.

 

[Beerfish]

I never take claimed that he has secret info, just sharing the thoughts of a bomber legend.

I actually disagree with him re big bodied mid incidentally. I reckon that we can do ok in that area with the cattle we already have.

Who was it? Is he in witness protection?

 

[Bombermania]

I never take claimed that he has secret info, just sharing the thoughts of a bomber legend.

I actually disagree with him re big bodied mid incidentally. I reckon that we can do ok in that area with the cattle we already have.

Did he have a view on your counter arguement because I agree it probably isn't as big a problem as people think because if Shiel or other mids are first to the ball and the set up is working then it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Jade]

Can someone explain to me what a big bodied mid is?