AFL Autopsy Praccy Match v. St Kilda

[EnolaGay]

I’m still optimistic if only because Kelly looked good on the wing preseason and Martin will eventually get moved back there.

So Essendon actually have 4 decent or better wingers + Tex and Edwards show some promise.

Settling in Cox over Lav and having 4 tall intercept defenders should also help the back setup.

Just need 1x HB (which will be Caldwell or Hobbs) since Merrett + Parish is enough small mids then Sheil goes in to HF (Where he looked pretty good last year)

And structurally it’s a decent side

Lost in all this is teams can’t go loose man back against a good running HB because they can just keep running and do give and goes ect

Edwards who?


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[andleanback]

Just watched the replay - not ideal but really not too concerned - what did people expect in a match sim game against a full strength Saints side in Moorabbin…?? Our coach wasn’t even there FFS…!!

Positives for me were;-

• Its a match sim game and a great opportunity to try out players in different positions etc - and we did that…!! its a kind of like weeding the garden where we see players like Cox, Weid and even Jones will likely play more reserves than seniors in 2024
• All our recruits looked decent - Duursma in particular looks to have been an astute trade
• We were without senior players in 2MP, Draper, Shiel, Ridley, Hobbs & Kelly - all will come in over coming weeks and significantly strengthen our 23
• No injuries from the game - always a bonus this time of year…!!

No panic stations for me - get a few of the above players back against the Cats next week and hopefully we can put in a much better performance

Saints were not full strength. They were missing their best player for starters

 

[jdstorm]

Edwards who?


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Whoops meant Roberts.

My bad I get those names confused

 

[BrunoV]

Yeah this is a classic example of being careful what I wish for.

Martin is pretty horrendous at defending a wing, so naturally we decide to replace him with two players that I would say are significantly worse.

Not for a second doubting that Cox and Tsatsas can be high level footballers, and in the real stuff it sounds like Kelly will be doing some of that donkey work, but what the **** are we doing?

The same thing we always do.

Quickly running out of spots on the ground and tinkering around the edges because the people who put list together have no idea what they are doing.

It's probably worse now than it ever has been. The role players have no idea what they're doing or are fundamentally unsuited to the task. The 'prime movers' can't get the ball moving forward unless in space (just look at all the turning and half commttited bodies in the contest trying to avoid being shunted aside or swallowed up), the small forwards are slow as s**t and can't keep the ball inside 50 when it inevitably ends up on the ground because 'good players' can't hit targets and we struggle to catch a contested mark.

 

[Beerfish]

I still remember that season that Carlton won the pre-season comp and then went on get the wooden spoon.

maybe the major freaking-out could be reserved for when the real stuff starts?

It was a praccy freak out.

 

[ghostdog]

It was a praccy freak out.

Far out. The melters are going in with great form then.

 

[ant555]

It was a praccy freak out.

Okay.

 

[DERO]

It was a praccy freak out.

one of the experts needs to come on and explain the benefits of giving anxiety a pre-season.

 

[ant555]

one of the experts needs to come on and explain the benefits of giving anxiety a pre-season.

Imagine how many crimes we would commit if we could not take out our frustration on our footy side ?

 

[Happyskeret]

Personally I’m saving my melts for later. It’s a long season.

 

[JT_the_Man]

I got all my melts out the way so now I won't be upset when the season starts.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Personally I’m saving my melts for later. It’s a long season.

I need my melts to be ready to go for round one.

I'm giving them just a bit of go this weekend. Hopefully they will get through 3 quarters unscathed against the Cats and then will be cherry ripe for Hawthorn.

 

[JayJ20]

Who as an Essendon supporter genuinely gets angry at football and has expectations nowadays though? It's a waste of emotional investment. I watch out of habit without expectations more so than enjoyment.

It's very possible the season starts 1-8 or 2-7 given the difficulty of the fixture so better prepare yourself.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

We kicked just three goals in a practice game last season to the Saints and then started the season 4-1.

 

[MightyDon]

Happy New Year everyone…good to be talking footy again after a few quiet months…

I’ve read a few pages on here and wanted to know whether there was any distinct playing style yesterday that was different from last year? Besides playing people in different positions…

I did expect Scott to blow the joint up pre-season and introduce something completely un-Essendon after 1 full year and a bit of knowledge of what we can/can’t do…

Perhaps I’ll hold off on the guaranteed GF option for another week

Yesterday looked very much like the 2nd half of last season, if our playing style is to roll over and be uncompetitive we are nailing it

 

[Beerfish]

Who as an Essendon supporter genuinely gets angry at football and has expectations nowadays though?

Have you ever seen one of our game day/autopsy threads?

 

[fairbump_playon]

Who as an Essendon supporter genuinely gets angry at football and has expectations nowadays though? It's a waste of emotional investment. I watch out of habit without expectations more so than enjoyment.

It's very possible the season starts 1-8 or 2-7 given the difficulty of the fixture so better prepare yourself.

Good in principle but in reality we are watching a competitive game and still barracking for the sash.

I suspect many of our supporters find their hopes are fairly beaten down but it’s gonna come out here and there at least.

Last year I was very measured all year but something clicked in the GWS game and I found myself turning off the TV and punching a pillow

 

[Foxx]

On the plus side, Goldstein was fantastic!

 

[Milanista28]

We kicked just three goals in a practice game last season to the Saints and then started the season 4-1.

Maybe if we kicked 12 goals and won that game we wouldn't have lost by 126 points in round 23 when finals was still on the line?

 

[Gumby2Hurley]

i didn't get to watch but i miss ben hobbs

 

[citizen-erased]

Who as an Essendon supporter genuinely gets angry at football and has expectations nowadays though? It's a waste of emotional investment. I watch out of habit without expectations more so than enjoyment.

It's very possible the season starts 1-8 or 2-7 given the difficulty of the fixture so better prepare yourself.

My expectations are bottom 6.
And yet, here I am still underwhelmed

 

[owen87]

You can only recruit from the players who are available. I have no doubt we made some discrete inquiries of some very good players but if they don't want to sign up we have to make do.

Incorrect, all AFL players want to play for essendon. It’s entirely our fault if they aren’t playing for us.

 

[Nicholas61]

Same number one issue. No one can take a mark forward of the footy so side just strangle us to death through the middle and rebound it . We would have taken maybe 3 marks out 30 attempts inside 50 .
Harry can not mark.

I thought Harry was suppose to be a good overhead mark when he came to us albeit he was very slight - has he regressed in this area? Is there a development thing (lack off) going on with contested marking?

the small forwards are slow as s**t and can't keep the ball inside 50 when it inevitably ends up on the ground because 'good players' can't hit targets and we struggle to catch a contested mark.

In a way we end up with "nothing players". Talls who can't contested mark and smalls who aren't very fast to create havoc/lock the ball in. This might be why some recruiters put a line through guys no matter how appealing as they will not suit the structures of the modern game.

That Richmond game we won last year Baldwin took a couple of very strong grabs that relieved pressure, it really stood out then I don't think we saw him again until the last round and he got knocked out in the first 5 minutes.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

Gawn takes 3 or 4 marks around the ground on top of the ruck work . That is where the difference would be. The problem is we are simply easy to defend because we do not have the rucks or a CHF that can take a relieving mark when need one. Sides just strangle our play and we die a slow death.

After all these years of the same problem we’ve had for years, I wonder if you have a template for this post to save yourself some time?

 

[ghostdog]

Good in principle but in reality we are watching a competitive game and still barracking for the sash.

I suspect many of our supporters find their hopes are fairly beaten down but it’s gonna come out here and there at least.

Last year I was very measured all year but something clicked in the GWS game and I found myself turning off the TV and punching a pillow

I was at the GWS game. I knew our form was poor but I thought that playing for our season would be enough.

Ended up staying until the end and having a great time with my boy, paying out on how shite we were and all the fairweather GWS people near us who obviously didn't follow the game. Sometimes all you can do is laugh, but nothing about our footy club surprises me anymore.