Lighten up!

[Ben the Gooner]

Over the last few weeks, I've noticed a definite shift in the posting on the Essendon Board, to become much more negative. All of a sudden, players like Ryder, Lonergan and Myers who showed a fair bit during our winning streak last year are worrying, and Kyle Reimers has been forgotten altogether.

Can't you guys remember how with no players we smashed Collingwood, smashed Carlton (twice), smashed North, pushed Sydney for 2 and a half quarters, pushed Richmond all the way with no bench, and out fought a much more experienced Fremantle team?

Can't you guys remember the sudden rise in form of Angus Monfries, and the quality of his games against Adelaide (AAMI), and Collingwood?

Can't you guys remember McPhee winning us the game by putting his body on the line against Fremantle?

Can't you remember how many players were Reimered last year?

Can't you remember how many targets Myers hit from 55 metres last year?

Can't you remember how good the old guard in Lloyd, Hille, McVeigh and Fletcher looked in the second half of the year?

Can't you remember how good Lucas was the last time everyone wrote him off? And the time before that? And the time before that?

Can't you remember why we were so excited last year at Houli's future? At Neagle's? At Lonergan's? At Gumbleton's beep test? At Pears' bulk at 20m sprint times?

Because we didn't pick Rich and because we have looked a bit flat in the NAB Cup (hardly surprising given the interrupted preseasons so many players have had), all of a sudden all of these causes for optimism have simply been eroded, or so it seems from all of the negative posting here.

Come on fellas, lighten up, and remember all of these things.

One preseason does not move a team from hovering around the 8 to hovering around the spoon.

 

[stay true]

Over the last few weeks, I've noticed a definite shift in the posting on the Essendon Board, to become much more negative. All of a sudden, players like Ryder, Lonergan and Myers who showed a fair bit during our winning streak last year are worrying, and Kyle Reimers has been forgotten altogether.

Can't you guys remember how with no players we smashed Collingwood, smashed Carlton (twice), smashed North, pushed Sydney for 2 and a half quarters, pushed Richmond all the way with no bench, and out fought a much more experienced Fremantle team?

Can't you guys remember the sudden rise in form of Angus Monfries, and the quality of his games against Adelaide (AAMI), and Collingwood?

Can't you guys remember McPhee winning us the game by putting his body on the line against Fremantle?

Can't you remember how many players were Reimered last year?

Can't you remember how many targets Myers hit from 55 metres last year?

Can't you remember how good the old guard in Lloyd, Hille, McVeigh and Fletcher looked in the second half of the year?

Can't you remember how good Lucas was the last time everyone wrote him off? And the time before that? And the time before that?

Can't you remember why we were so excited last year at Houli's future? At Neagle's? At Lonergan's? At Gumbleton's beep test? At Pears' bulk at 20m sprint times?

Because we didn't pick Rich and because we have looked a bit flat in the NAB Cup (hardly surprising given the interrupted preseasons so many players have had), all of a sudden all of these causes for optimism have simply been eroded, or so it seems from all of the negative posting here.

Come on fellas, lighten up, and remember all of these things.

One preseason does not move a team from hovering around the 8 to hovering around the spoon.

Oh my gawd, WORD!

 

[Skeeta Olly]

I agree with Ben.

How can we just forget all the promise shown last year and overwrite it with some NAB Cup games.

"Keep your sunny side up"

Can't you remember when we tore Carlton apart for the second time in the year. When Lloyd took on Judd and won. When we saw Slattery go down, we lifted. It started to rain and we lost the lead, but we fought back and won. I was at that game, I felt so proud to be an Essendon supporter.

"We are Essendon" and we should be proud of it!

 

[Spikey]

We're doomed. Dyson is shit. Laycock is shit. Myers is shit. Anyone with a vowel in their name is shit.

 

[VBMAN]

We're doomed. Dyson is shit. Laycock is shit. Myers is shit. Anyone with a vowel in their name is shit.

I agree with Dyson and Laycock but Myers ain't shit

 

[Spikey]

I agree with Dyson and Laycock but Myers ain't shit

I was taking the piss out of everyone on here saying (insert player here) is shit on one game. Hence the vowel bit.

 

[Skeeta Olly]

[YOUTUBE]XZabBawtk0E[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]Mw_x4qMogkA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Ben the Gooner]

Stop ****ing derailing my threads Spikey.

We should recruit from Eastern Europe to exploit a loophole in your theory.

Players like Rndsdsdkrs Dmsmdpmdsd and Kdkpsjds Sdsdkkssdxcx are quite good, I've heard.

 

[stay true]

Loving those videos ay.

 

[Johnny619]

for sure...

 

[Spikey]

Stop ****ing derailing my threads Spikey.

We should recruit from Eastern Europe to exploit a loophole in your theory.

Players like Rndsdsdkrs Dmsmdpmdsd and Kdkpsjds Sdsdkkssdxcx are quite good, I've heard.

Those are more African tbh

 

[dons_fan185]

I know this has been said almost everywhere but apparently it needs to be reiterated:

• Our coach is kicking off his second year of coaching
• The nature of the game is changing whether you like it or not and thats not easy for any novice coach to take on
• Injuries are an unfortunate factor in any professional sport we shouldn't mope about them too long.
• Over the preseason our club has opened up twice for members and supporters, has twice donated to bushfire tragedy...as have many individual players, we were the second to crack the 30k membership, we've given a troubled guy a second chance AND we picked up two new, big named sponsers.
  We've acheived a hell of a lot, and just because we lost one stupid NAB Cup game all of our other successes shouldnt be disregarded

When I talk to people who claim to be supporters but constantly bad mouth the club i can't help but think: Do you really want to hate your club that much. It's like vomit. It ugly abuse that just keeps coming and theres nothing good about it.


I reckon we'll go alright this year, I have faith
Carn the Bombers

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

The best way to lighten up is to get metal arms. They are much stronger, but also much lighter than the regular ones.

On a more serious note, just wait until the season proper starts before making sweeping statements.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Can't you guys remember how with no players we smashed Collingwood, smashed Carlton (twice), smashed North, pushed Sydney for 2 and a half quarters, pushed Richmond all the way with no bench, and out fought a much more experienced Fremantle team?

Yep, but I can also remember the beltings we got which were more frequent than the wins.

Can't you guys remember the sudden rise in form of Angus Monfries, and the quality of his games against Adelaide (AAMI), and Collingwood?

Yep, I can remember his handful of good games. I can also remember most of his others which were not good enough.

Can't you guys remember McPhee winning us the game by putting his body on the line against Fremantle?

I can remember McPhee giving us a mobile target up forward. Now he's back again and giving my pulpitations.

Can't you remember how many players were Reimered last year?

Yep.. and now he's injured with no end if sight.

Can't you remember how many targets Myers hit from 55 metres last year?

Yep.. 0. Best kick was a floater that went 55 and luckily landed in Lloyds direction.

Can't you remember how good the old guard in Lloyd, Hille, McVeigh and Fletcher looked in the second half of the year?

Thank christ for our good older guys.... the few that aren't on their last legs.

Can't you remember how good Lucas was the last time everyone wrote him off? And the time before that? And the time before that?

Not really, no one's written him off before. He's a very good AFL footballer on the decline. It will be his last season.

Can't you remember why we were so excited last year at Houli's future? At Neagle's? At Lonergan's? At Gumbleton's beep test? At Pears' bulk at 20m sprint times?

Yep, but most are injured and unlikely to make an impact this year.

Because we didn't pick Rich and because we have looked a bit flat in the NAB Cup (hardly surprising given the interrupted preseasons so many players have had), all of a sudden all of these causes for optimism have simply been eroded, or so it seems from all of the negative posting here.

There's still plenty of optimism... just highlighting our flaws and hoping they somehow get fixed.

Come on fellas, lighten up, and remember all of these things.

One preseason does not move a team from hovering around the 8 to hovering around the spoon.

If David Hille gets injured then I'd put money on us to win the spoon.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

kelvin, you've had that opinion for a long time, and my post wasn't referring to you, or TheDon35 or others like you two. It was more referring to those who are more often optimistic than pessimistic, but are still being so negative recently.

To be honest, the truth is somewhere in the middle of what you said and what I said. But that doesn't mean we should over-react to some NAB Cup games. If we were 2-1 after three real games, would there be a sense of impending doom? And those games actually mean something.

 

[Spikey]

How many of those opinions did you have before the Collingwood match Kelvin?

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

To be honest I think we are a better side than most give us credit for. I don't think I've changed my opinion on our side with the loss to Collingwood. I was expecting that type of performance as I know we don't have the cattle when our best few our out.

I just like to voice my opinion on things that slightly irk me and that's usually the likes of Nash, Dyson, etc,etc and some strange drafting.

I think people think it's doomsday when they see our experienced second tier not able to cope and our promising youngsters are either injured or not performing as well.

I understand it's only NAB but what worries me is we already have a few injuries and we could see some more beltings.

 

[Bombermania]

A few things first we have had a good pre-season with two wins out of three matches and in my book that is a good pre-season.

There have been a few positives mainly we have shown a more defensive game during the pre-season that is good to see.

We also have several guys coming back from Injury and they will Improve, in general I am happy with our pre-season, sure I was disappointed with the performance against Collingwood but lets be real Collingwood are a top four side, we are not.

Lets not forget that Hawthorn nearly lost to Melbourne, now is anyone here predicting Melbourne will finish higher than Hawthorn (Of-course not)

Look I can sit here an say this player should be dropped in place of someone else but guess what we have our list, we have a club that has a good soild team.

If we have few injuries and a bit of luck then we can make the finals and in all my years of watching Essendon we tend to get smashed at least once per-season.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

This thread needs a bump...

 

[dave_27]

I think everyone is just fed up with everything atm.

The injuries and shocking displays in the pre season games has us all really wondering whether we have progressed much since the side started bottoming out in 2005.

- injury after injury after injury, nothings changed
- still have not unearthed a gun young player/s
- still butcher the ball something shocking
- still getting demolished by show pony small forwards and imposing key forwards

I guess if its any solace is that we won 8 games last year without Hird which couldnt be said for previous seasons where our wins were heavily reliant on him playing well.

A very intriguing season ahead.

 

[SirJimi05]

Yep, I can remember his handful of good games. I can also remember most of his others which were not good enough.

Most of his others? You amaze me Kelvin. It's like you expect every Essendon player to be a champion and if they are not they are simply not good enough. Monfries started slowly to the season but after the first 3 rounds he was one of our best and most consistant performers for the entire season. I bet you are one of those guys that just look at the stats and see 16 possesions then automatically assume that he "was not good enough". The problem with this is it was most likely one of his games where he was given a defensive duty on a running back. He performed every role he was given with aplomb and it is naive of you to suggest that the majority of his games wwere not good enough.

I can remember McPhee giving us a mobile target up forward. Now he's back again and giving my pulpitations.

Pulpitations before a ball has been bounced. You really should see a specialist. This pre season has really taken the wind out of you.

Yep.. and now he's injured with no end if sight.

Once again being overly dramatic. You will see plenty of games from Riemers this season and he will cotinue to develop.

Yep.. 0. Best kick was a floater that went 55 and luckily landed in Lloyds direction.

Not even going to discuss Myers with you. Im just gonna wait for a couple of years and then bump all of the threads in which you have written him off. When i say written off i mean they way you have, after a handful of games, come to the conclusion that he will never be anything more than average.

Not really, no one's written him off before. He's a very good AFL footballer on the decline. It will be his last season.

The vast majority of Essendon nuff nuffs and many in the football world wrote him off about 5 years ago when he was struggling to get a kick. Sheedy moving him to defence probably saved his career. Im very surprised you dont remember. I thought you definitely would have been one of those writting him off.

Yep, but most are injured and unlikely to make an impact this year.

Please list the players that have injuries that are serious enough that we can write them off for the season. You are definitely a glass half emty type of person.

There's still plenty of optimism... just highlighting our flaws and hoping they somehow get fixed.

You always say that you are optimistic but you only have negative things to say. Interesting.

If David Hille gets injured then I'd put money on us to win the spoon.

If Fevola gets injured i will put money on the Blues winning the spoon. Most tip them for the 8 or even top 4. What is your point? Are you trying to hint that we dont have the depth of a Geelong or Hawthorn?

Response above.

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

A happy tune.

[YOUTUBE]1qy0fmjxijk[/YOUTUBE]

 

[daffo]

I am a little worried about the start of our season. I don't think we are ready, i'm just hoping Port aren't either.
We have a lot of great kids that we be given a lot of oppurtunities this year and a couple will only be getting better.
A lot of coaches say you can't judge a player until he reaches 50 games. Anything before that is a bonus. We will see some of our players reach this mark soon and with natural progression you can expect better years from Dempsey, Myers, Houli, Lonergan, Jetta to name a few.

 

[Boucks09]

It is obvious that people have already developed a negative mindset for the year as a form of defense mechanism given the disappointments of the previous 5 years. If you go in expecting to be s*** and we do then yes you aren't as disappointed, but you are watching the game through jaded glasses.

This is somewhat unstandable but robs you of all the excitement that this year will bring...regardless.

Now this might sound ridiculous but I have actually been more involved and enjoyed the last 3 years as much as I did when we won the flag in 2000. Why you might ask? Well here are my reasons:

1). There is a different sense of excitement when your team performs when they are not expected to (just ask any Hawthorn fan last year). In 2000 anything less than a premiership was a tragedy and most games were boring as we were up by 6 goals a 1/4 time. When we win now it is thrilling to watch as we saw last year with the Carlton and Collingwood wins and even the Richmond and Adelaide losses. We were all f***en proud of our boys in those games.

2). As I am only 24 this is the first time that I can acutely remember seeing us build a side from bottom up and seeing them develop into premiership contenders (this would have happened before but I was either too young or immature to realise it). This is EXCITING. Imagine when we finally get up there and the young brigade become great players and we can all reflect on their earlier years (e.g. remember when Jobe was 10kg overweight? Remember when Reimers first wore orange boots? Remember when Hurely played his first NAB game and got 4 kicked on him in a half).

3). We play an exciting brand of football. Yeah when it doesn't come off we get flogged but when we are on there are few sides more exciting to watch. Even in Round 2 last year when Geelong handed us a mauling, I wasn't half as upset as I would be with us playing numbers behind the ball and losing by 4 goals. Kinghts has a plan and you can see where we are going with it. I'm a fan and am loving the ride so far.

4). We have some exceptional young talent coming through. It is easy to get disheartened when we hear of Gumbleton getting injured again, but if I took a poll at the start of the NAB Cup asking for what an Essendon fans hopes were I would guess that most would of wanted to see Neagle, Gumby and Dempsey get through unscaved. 2 out of 3 isn't bad especially when you throw in the successful return from serious injury of Winderlich and Davey.


In regards to 2009 specifically here are the postives which I am looking forward to most:

- The return of Alwyn Davey. I think people have forgotten how exciting this guy is. If he has a full season we are going to see plenty of highlights

- The return of Winderlich. This guys is a gun and has great skills. I'm a big fan and hope he can play 18-20 games.

- Reimers. Whether he starts Round 1 or Round 4, he the best youngster on our list and will be a massive asset.

- Hurley. He already looks the goods. Taking contested marks in your first senior game is something that most guys don't do in an entire career. We have a gem here.

- Pears. A forgotten man given all the hysteria over Myers. He is a ready-made defender. Imagine if we get him and Hurley firing together....Fletcher could have another AA year!!!

- Hille. When was the last time Essendon had one of the best ruckman in the league and the best ruck/rover combination (with Watson)?

- Lloyd. For all the s*** Lloyd copped last year he kicked over 60 goals from half forward. If that had been a Lonergan or Mooney everyone would've said 'WOW what a great season!'. But because Lloyd has kicked 100's before nobody rates it. He is a great leader and looks primed this year.

- Lucas. 12 months ago he was by far the best player at our club. Since then he has been injured yet still managed to play well last year on 1 leg. OFCOURSE he is going to take time to find his feet again at his age, but he is a champion so write him off at your own peril.

- Neagle. The guy gets me excited whenever he goes near it. Can't wait to see him play.

- Prismall. He is a ready made gun midfielder. I can't wait to see him don the red and black this year.

Apart from that I am looking forward to seeing our senior players take the next step in Watson, Stanton, Lovett, Ryder, Monfries and McVeigh which I have no doubt they will do.

Then we have our younger guys who are ready to step up and take responsibilty - Houli, Lonergan, Myers, Jetta and Dempsey

Now if that isn't exciting then you should all become Sydney and St.Kilda members and watch the crap they serve up week in and week out.

Bring on Sunday and the rest of the season as I know it will be exciting whether we finish bottom or make the 8!

GO THE F***EN DONS!

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Champion That was all class