AFL Autopsy R8: 5 point loss to the Powa

[Cold Sober]

Essendon people have a hate of Phillips that is not warranted. Watch the game. Drops marks sometimes he should take but we get four quarters of effort which is more than some of the favorites.
Parish couldn't pick a pumpkin up in the first half but, no-ones talking about dropping him.

 

[Call Me Cake]

Can't be too mad at that. Competitive to the end.

Still finding our best 22 and got some talent to come back in.

In the context of the season this loss and a loss to the Lions doesn't really affect us much, it's the bulk of matches after those that we have to be much better in and I'm confident with the competiveness we've shown against the better sides (no smashings) that we will.

Lots to work on, obviously, but also lots to like.

Definitely a far cry from what we were last year.

 

[eddie_punchclock]

incredible amount of whinging in here. Just enjoy the footy ya ----s

 

[maskmcgee]

9 starts ago we lost to a worse version of this team by 90 points. I think we're going ok.

 

[Cold Sober]

Competitive but, losing games through skill errors under pressure. WE'RE COMING.

 

[Beerfish]

Competitive but, losing games through skill errors under pressure. WE'RE COMING.

We simply don't have much depth. If Ridley hadn't gone off early we might have lost by just a point.

 

[sameolds33]

Didn’t hear a single boo at the game today which is a great thing. Plucky performance today, all the best for the rest of the year.

There was booing but not by Bombers fans - by Port fans about umpiring. The irony!

 

[Runk]

I'm not having a go, so don't read it that way.

But has our form been that good?
Did we really think we were some kind of force or player in this season?
Everyone has looked at the ladder the last month and thought, yep, Dons aren't supposed to be there.
We beat some s**t teams and we got Melbourne at the absolute best time.

We got run over the top of by pies. Not a bad performance.
We got destroyed by the cats, typical and expected.
We looked decent enough today and then lost one of our top 5 players and fell away as you would expect.

We will most likely lose next week. As expected 5 weeks ago.
None of those results actually impact where we are at.
We will probably snag a bunch of wins in a row after that, injuries permitting and will be sitting exactly where we deserve to be.

We do not have the players.
For the first time it looks like we have the coach.
We appear to have turned the corner, I don't think a win or loss actually changes that today.
The result is secondary at the moment.

I’m a bitter and aged not at all like a fine wine old man, you know that.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Plucky - yes, we hung in.

But I reckon this was our worst loss this year. Other losses, we had a costly lapse. This one, we were outclassed most of the day and should have been absolutely buried by 3 qtr time. Was the first one where it was clear we didn’t have the personnel.

 

[citizen-erased]

I'm not having a go, so don't read it that way.

But has our form been that good?
Did we really think we were some kind of force or player in this season?
Everyone has looked at the ladder the last month and thought, yep, Dons aren't supposed to be there.
We beat some s**t teams and we got Melbourne at the absolute best time.

We got run over the top of by pies. Not a bad performance.
We got destroyed by the cats, typical and expected.
We looked decent enough today and then lost one of our top 5 players and fell away as you would expect.

We will most likely lose next week. As expected 5 weeks ago.
None of those results actually impact where we are at.
We will probably snag a bunch of wins in a row after that, injuries permitting and will be sitting exactly where we deserve to be.

We do not have the players.
For the first time it looks like we have the coach.
We appear to have turned the corner, I don't think a win or loss actually changes that today.
The result is secondary at the moment.

i think we're better than the pessimism may have had us think we were late last year.
Which is perhaps a correction of the more bleak outlook many of us had.
Last line is key for me. we can't take that stance forever, but i'd think this year expectations should be tempered around 4pt outcomes vs. building into a team that isn't easy to play against.

 

[longdonkey]

To any Essendon fans at the game thanks for showing some class and not booing Jason Horne-Francis. Not sure if there was none but it wasn't noticeable.

 

[cAsEy_18]

Our bottom 5 or 6 hurt us week in week out today
Hind - just doesn't do enough
Caldwell - I just don't see what he brings he should be better
sheil - has never played a complete game
Davey - not his fault but not ready yet
Menzies - surely Voss would offer more

(Normally put heppel in there but I thought he was OK, it is his last year though)

The side is lacking a bonafied superstar, we have nobody in the side that says come on fella jump on my back and I will get us home. It is also desperate that we get a KPP full back. It's time to open that war chest

Wtf is this..

 

[citizen-erased]

To any Essendon fans at the game thanks for showing some class and not booing Jason Horne-Francis. Not sure if there was none but it wasn't noticeable.

snubbed Norf
Will always have a home away from home with us

 

[mcgrath_truther]

i think we're better than the pessimism may have had us think we were late last year.
Which is perhaps a correction of the more bleak outlook many of us had.
Last line is key for me. we can't take that stance forever, but i'd think this year expectations should be tempered around 4pt outcomes vs. building into a team that isn't easy to play against.

i think we can be disappointed in results/outcomes, esp. ones that we lose close like this week & last week (both against what'll probably be top 4 sides) and still be content with what happened during the game that's good. we don't want to go the way of early 2010s carlton or current day north/west coke. mistakes happen, we're still a (relatively) young team, so to speak, and we're missing some key position players (ie: wright/ridley/leverede etc) and we're still coming close to beating good sides. doomposting about it all will just make it harder to have faith in the future.

 

[NAB777]

Anyone know why we've got such a hard draw?

 

[DapperDon]

Anyone know why we've got such a hard draw?

Coz we're not that good a team and most teams we play are better than us

 

[Old Campaigner]

To any Essendon fans at the game thanks for showing some class and not booing Jason Horne-Francis. Not sure if there was none but it wasn't noticeable.

he shafted norf so he's basically an honorary member

 

[Dudoro]

As far as I’m concerned the most I’ll take away from this game was the lack of care those boys showed to Ridley. Did anyone even get into Rioli for that cheap shot. They would have known who did it at HT. Look at Collingwood if a player lays a finger on Daicos they stand up for their team mates.

Our team is full of nice guys who have no mongrel. Pathetic. This club won’t do anything while Dodoro keeps recruiting straight A students from private schools

 

[Keystone agony]

Ok performance considering we lost Ridley, playing a top 5 side at their home ground and a side that relies on tall forwards as theyre quality.

Soundly beaten in the 2nd and 3rd, although clearances during this time i think we still seemed ok during this period.

1st and last were good considering circumstances

 

[HirdsTheWord]

turnover & fumble city

 

[HirdsTheWord]

As far as I’m concerned the most I’ll take away from this game was the lack of care those boys showed to Ridley. Did anyone even get into Rioli for that cheap shot. They would have known who did it at HT. Look at Collingwood if a player lays a finger on Daicos they stand up for their team mates.

Our team is full of nice guys who have no mongrel. Pathetic. This club won’t do anything while Dodoro keeps recruiting straight A students from private schools

thats what she'll be right attitude will do to you

 

[citizen-erased]

i think we can be disappointed in results/outcomes, esp. ones that we lose close like this week & last week (both against what'll probably be top 4 sides) and still be content with what happened during the game that's good. we don't want to go the way of early 2010s carlton or current day north/west coke. mistakes happen, we're still a (relatively) young team, so to speak, and we're missing some key position players (ie: wright/ridley/leverede etc) and we're still coming close to beating good sides. doomposting about it all will just make it harder to have faith in the future.

id add Durham and Snelling. our best pressure comes when these two play. not KPP, but we play better when they play
Not sure why we dropped Snelling tbh.

If i'm looking at the side, we still have holes;
Ridley - Zerk - Kelly
Redman - ? - ?
Martin - Setterfield* - Durham
Perkins^ - ? - Caldwell
Snelling - Wright - Stringer
Draper - Merrett - Parish
Shiel - Hobbs - ? - ?
*gotta stop jamming him on a wing
^still early, but needs to find more ways to impact games. one mark in a game is not ideal.

So that's;
CHF - Jones v Weideman v Flip as it stands. Are any of the 3 top 4 std though?
CHB - Expect one of Reid or Hayes take this spot.
HBF - McGrath plays a lot of jekyll/hyde. Can do great things, then becomes a liability. would love Mass' disposal back there with Andy's defensive nous.
hard to pick last two spots on the bench without landing the others.

 

[frodos gardener]

Essendon people have a hate of Phillips that is not warranted. Watch the game. Drops marks sometimes he should take but we get four quarters of effort which is more than some of the favorites.
Parish couldn't pick a pumpkin up in the first half but, no-ones talking about dropping him.

I value Phillips and I think he’s got that clumsiness that can be really useful to disrupt the opposition. Sometimes he gets in his own way though and I guess that’s part of being a bit unco.

 

[citizen-erased]

As far as I’m concerned the most I’ll take away from this game was the lack of care those boys showed to Ridley. Did anyone even get into Rioli for that cheap shot. They would have known who did it at HT. Look at Collingwood if a player lays a finger on Daicos they stand up for their team mates.

Our team is full of nice guys who have no mongrel. Pathetic. This club won’t do anything while Dodoro keeps recruiting straight A students from private schools

that's been an attitude we've long had entrenched.
Collingwood play a brand we couldn't be further from. they're on the edge. they'll niggle all day and retaliate if anyone tries it on.

They all do it too.

I think it comes from being both competitive and good. we've got a ways to go before we strut like that

 

[mcgrath_truther]

id add Durham and Snelling. our best pressure comes when these two play. not KPP, but we play better when they play
Not sure why we dropped Snelling tbh.

If i'm looking at the side, we still have holes;
Ridley - Zerk - Kelly
Redman - ? - ?
Martin - Setterfield* - Durham
Perkins^ - ? - Caldwell
Snelling - Wright - Stringer
Draper - Merrett - Parish
Shiel - Hobbs - ? - ?
*gotta stop jamming him on a wing
^still early, but needs to find more ways to impact games. one mark in a game is not ideal.

So that's;
CHF - Jones v Weideman v Flip as it stands. Are any of the 3 top 4 std though?
CHB - Expect one of Reid or Hayes take this spot.
HBF - McGrath plays a lot of jekyll/hyde. Can do great things, then becomes a liability. would love Mass' disposal back there with Andy's defensive nous.
hard to pick last two spots on the bench without landing the others.

i think durham's been good in patches but compared to 2022/2021 he's been a bit worse with disposal, but i agree with snelling. when he came back in earlier this season he was super effective with his pressure. also agree with setters, no point playing someone like him on the wing when he's been great in the centre, and i know that perko wants to play in the midfield eventually.

what's the go with james stewart? i checked the injury list and he's been "TBC" for a while, feel like when he's on he does well, but my memory is foggy