Roast RD 13 Game Review:- Blues v Essendon

[Alpha1]

Just got back home after a disgraceful, embarrassing night. We truly were pathetic, no leaders, too many passengers and no one willing to stand up and take the heat off Judd. How Stevens continues to get a game and is in our leadership group continues to puzzle me. He is soft, wont chase, wont tackle and turns over the ball and makes some shocking skill errors for a so called elite kick/decision maker. Holla is a liability a down hill skier, wont chase, tackle, or put his head over the ball (see Stevens) and we need to start trimming the dead wood like him off our list if we are to seriously challenge for the flag in the next few years.Ratten is starting to worry me as well, we don't have a game plan and he seems to get out coached a lot on game day. I hate to question our coach but this was a must win and to get beaten by 69 points, and lose close to 7% is going to cost us big time. Simpson again was nowhere to be seen, had one good game against the Saints and will live off that one for a few more years. Irish tried, Betts tried hard, Kruz as usual tried. Hammo did some nice things, didn't see Grigg, Carrazzo was missing as well. Not many positives, it's hard to believe they kicked 16 goals to 2 in the second half. But that just goes to show how embarrassing we were, a pathetic display. Our problem is we have passengers, and some of our supporter's are constantly defending the same culprits every week. We will never be a great team with what we have at the moment.

 

[Hallie_Swift]

The game plan was simple tonight, move the ball quickly and get it into fev, and for the first quater and a half it was working, i think whne we lead by 14 halfway through the 2nd we thought gee this is easy and i too was waiting for the 40 point win. Plain and simple skill error beat us tonight 10 goals direct for skill error, no matter what coach you have, you cant beat that when your beating yourselves.

 

[Alpha1]

The game plan was simple tonight, move the ball quickly and get it into fev, and for the first quater and a half it was working, i think whne we lead by 14 halfway through the 2nd we thought gee this is easy and i too was waiting for the 40 point win. Plain and simple skill error beat us tonight 10 goals direct for skill error, no matter what coach you have, you cant beat that when your beating yourselves.

But that's just the thing, skill errors always beat us. It's disgraceful that our leaders like Stevens make simple skill errors. Fisher is another who has to go, did nothing, our so called senior players go missing all the time when the heat is on. Sick of excuses, sick of the pathetic crap we put out. We knew this was a big game for us and we ****ing got embarrassed. They did't give a shit in the second half and you could tell that it was almost like oh well we don't care we are getting hammered.

 

[Hallie_Swift]

yes i agree it did reek of years past

 

[Kegs44]

Sorry to troll on your board guys, but had to say something about Nick Stevens. Get rid of him now, he is a terrible excuse of a footballer. As stated he is soft, won't do any hard stuff and his so called strength with disposal is shithouse. He is pathetic. Any pressure and he coughs up the ball, cant take a tackle properly, is slow, and doesnt man up. How winderlich can get so far away from him is ridiculous.
Carlton (altho tonight wasnt great) will be a good team in the future and have alot of upside and I wish you guys all the best, but as long as he keeps getting games you won't get as far as you guys could. The standards he set for his teammates are incredibly low and younger players will never benefit looking up to him.
I was going to put up a massive rant about Stevens but its probs not my place. It was big enough.
Good luck for the rest of the year, you will play finals and soon enough will be a top team in the competition. You will probs be up there as my side slides!

 

[wdgann]

The game plan was simple tonight, move the ball quickly and get it into fev, and for the first quater and a half it was working, i think whne we lead by 14 halfway through the 2nd we thought gee this is easy and i too was waiting for the 40 point win. Plain and simple skill error beat us tonight 10 goals direct for skill error, no matter what coach you have, you cant beat that when your beating yourselves.

that game plan is rubbish

 

[kreuze_missile]

Cant be bothered going into the game in great detail. Only thing I will say is that the Match Committee needs to take a good hard look at itself. We were far too tall tonight and got shown up when the game opened up in the second half with Essendon rebounding out of our forward 50 with ease. Kreuzer, O'hAilpin, Fevola and Fisher all in the forward line at the same time does not work. Austin was also not required in the back half, Bower and Jamison gave us enough height.

 

[Hallie_Swift]

dont want to make this a stevens review but he is being shown up now that judd is here and murphy has come along. Is there a spot for him in our best 22, i dont have an answer for that. On another note any positives out of tonights game, i thought irish played a brilliant first half.
I

 

[Gibbs_09]

But that's just the thing, skill errors always beat us. It's disgraceful that our leaders like Stevens make simple skill errors. Fisher is another who has to go, did nothing, our so called senior players go missing all the time when the heat is on. Sick of excuses, sick of the pathetic crap we put out. We knew this was a big game for us and we ****ing got embarrassed. They did't give a shit in the second half and you could tell that it was almost like oh well we don't care we are getting hammered.

+1. We beat ourselves tonight. I know Stevens is an easy target but he was seriously poor tonight. Our ball use (bar Gibbs/Murphy) was dismal in the middle of the ground. And it kills me not to use Judd in that sentence, but even He played well below par tonight. But he still tried, and that's something a lot of the side don't do: when pressure is on and we're getting belted, the majority lay down and don't care.

There's no excuses for tonight. We were beaten by a side that simply wanted it 100x more than we did. Too many passengers. They can throw finals out the window unless they wake up and lift their game.

 

[Hallie_Swift]

that game plan is rubbish

explain how that game plan is rubbish?

 

[wdgann]

Sorry to troll on your board guys, but had to say something about Nick Stevens. Get rid of him now, he is a terrible excuse of a footballer. As stated he is soft, won't do any hard stuff and his so called strength with disposal is shithouse. He is pathetic. Any pressure and he coughs up the ball, cant take a tackle properly, is slow, and doesnt man up. How winderlich can get so far away from him is ridiculous.
Carlton (altho tonight wasnt great) will be a good team in the future and have alot of upside and I wish you guys all the best, but as long as he keeps getting games you won't get as far as you guys could. The standards he set for his teammates are incredibly low and younger players will never benefit looking up to him.
I was going to put up a massive rant about Stevens but its probs not my place. It was big enough.
Good luck for the rest of the year, you will play finals and soon enough will be a top team in the competition. You will probs be up there as my side slides!

Spot on mate. Have been saying for years that Stevens is rubbish. Unfortunately half our side can't kick a football and in comparison Stevens has good skills -that is why he gets a game

 

[wdgann]

explain how that game plan is rubbish?

main reason it is our forward set up is one dimensional and unless Fev kicks 7 goals + will invariably result in a loss

 

[jj1978]

• Mindset.. all this talk from the players and Ratts that we are seeking revenge... The bombers knew we were worried.. it was obvious early we were too mindful of them and attempted to change what little game style we have.
• Our elder players (Fev, Stevens, Houlihan, Scotland) are just not the most ideal elder players in terms of on/off field guidance and leadership to have. Lloyd, Lucas, Fletcher in comparison have earned their kudos and funnily enough have at least a premiership or 2 to show for it.
• Murphy, Gibbs, Simpson, Grigg, and yes even Judd are not consistantly playing above average at the one time. Too much fading in and out of play for these blokes. You see one get 3 possessions in 2 minutes.. then don't see them for another 5 minutes.
• Knights has been working towards a game plan for the last 1.5 years.... and now we can see what it's about. Ratt's please tell us what our game plan is about!!!
• I miss Josh Kennedy.
• Having great facilities come the end of the year... a good board.. money etc etc... means bugger all if our players have no heart.
• Houlihan, Stevens, Bannister, Pfeiffer, Cloke, Hartlett, Hadley, Bentick, Russell, Fisher and Edwards have a few big weeks ahead of them.... cos if they wanna play for the navy blue in 2010 they'll have to fight for it. 5+ of these blokes will be offered for trade or delisted come years end.
• Ratts it's time to step up and be a coach and not a buddy.... Voss from the outset said.. I'm expecting hard, disciplined footy... I was once your team-mate but now I'm your coach... our players I think still see Ratts as a team mate.
• Time to prep for 2010... not tank... but work on a new game plan and get time into Hampson, Garlett, Yarran, Austin, Browne, Jacobs..
• I'm depressed!

 

[Hallie_Swift]

main reason it is our forward set up is one dimensional and unless Fev kicks 7 goals + will invariably result in a loss

how can fevola kick 7+ when we turn the ball over in the midfield, not the game plans fault we couldnt handball to someone two metres away

 

[AlecDuncan]

Hey, Ian Dury wrote a song about us!

Where do you start? We were lucky Essendon missed some easy ones in the 1st quarter, then we got on top, then the umpires (#9 you know who you are) remembered the fix was in, then we turned to water. Even water offers more resistance than we did in the second half.

Stoppages, center bounces, set-up, delivery, everything was shite. Essendon deserve to play finals much, much more than we do. We are not good enough, and that's the story for 2009.

 

[Blueinblood]

We need pace. Decided to have a look at some quicker blokes who we could bring in. Apart from Walker we have SFA to come in.

 

[Alpha1]

Stevens isn't a leaders arse hole, Fisher, Holla, Simpson few others passengers the lot of them. When the heat is on you can almost guarantee who will go missing in order. And Stevens is always the first to disappear, sick of people who keep defending this down hill skier.

 

[wdgann]

We need pace. Decided to have a look at some quicker blokes who we could bring in. Apart from Walker we have SFA to come in.

Pace has been our problem since the early 1980s
Andy Lovett was out of contract last year, not sure why we didn't try for him

 

[Uhumagoo]

Welsh played a good game on Judd coming back from a bad injury, but I liked Ch7 talking it up, and then showing a montage of holding and scragging. Quite humorous even if ch7 didn't get it.

 

[Big John]

In all seriousness i'm not to sure what went on tonight. In my mind there was few standout players for Essendon which i think means that you guys were beaten for depth. I was cursing Murphy in the 1st half, he looked really dangerous, but didn't really see much of him in the 2nd.

From the little i've seen of the blues this year i still think you are short 1 quality key position player at each end. I say that knowing Waite is a quality player missing and that Kruezer could very easily play half forward.

Also on Judd, he's one of the best players i've seen, but just liike Kerr is struggling at west coast atm Judd needs some support to really shine.

And for my little bit of gloating, i'm not sure who destroyed you guys more Pears or Welsh. Both showed your "suprestars" how to play. Essendon missing our 2 best midfielders is 10 goals better than Carlton. Carltong missing its 2 best midfielders is as bad as it was in 06.

 

[Alpha1]

Was embarrassed sitting in the stands today. Ratten has to be questioned now, must win game and again we get hammered. I question the MC constantly selecting the soft, dud in Stevens when it's obvious to everyone that he is just leeching us dry. Fisher, Holla few others must be gotten rid of, they are just dead wood and are dragging us down.

 

[Godzke]

Stoppages, center bounces, set-up, delivery, everything was shite. Essendon deserve to play finals much, much more than we do. We are not good enough, and that's the story for 2009.

Our best win in 2-3 years as far as 4 quarters of hard running ... but long-term consistency is a big question for us.

Who the hell was that player who was marking everything outside 50?? Setanta or Waite or some huge bloke... had like 3-4 contested marks in the first quarter. Once he disappeared i notice things became a lot easier for us.


edit*: reading on, i understand waite was injured. was wiggins out as well?

 

[Super Gusto]

• Mindset.. all this talk from the players and Ratts that we are seeking revenge... The bombers knew we were worried.. it was obvious early we were too mindful of them and attempted to change what little game style we have.
• Our elder players (Fev, Stevens, Houlihan, Scotland) are just not the most ideal elder players in terms of on/off field guidance and leadership to have. Lloyd, Lucas, Fletcher in comparison have earned their kudos and funnily enough have at least a premiership or 2 to show for it.
• Murphy, Gibbs, Simpson, Grigg, and yes even Judd are not consistantly playing above average at the one time. Too much fading in and out of play for these blokes. You see one get 3 possessions in 2 minutes.. then don't see them for another 5 minutes.
• Knights has been working towards a game plan for the last 1.5 years.... and now we can see what it's about. Ratt's please tell us what our game plan is about!!!
• I miss Josh Kennedy.
• Having great facilities come the end of the year... a good board.. money etc etc... means bugger all if our players have no heart.
• Houlihan, Stevens, Bannister, Pfeiffer, Cloke, Hartlett, Hadley, Bentick, Russell, Fisher and Edwards have a few big weeks ahead of them.... cos if they wanna play for the navy blue in 2010 they'll have to fight for it. 5+ of these blokes will be offered for trade or delisted come years end.
• Ratts it's time to step up and be a coach and not a buddy.... Voss from the outset said.. I'm expecting hard, disciplined footy... I was once your team-mate but now I'm your coach... our players I think still see Ratts as a team mate.
• Time to prep for 2010... not tank... but work on a new game plan and get time into Hampson, Garlett, Yarran, Austin, Browne, Jacobs..
• I'm depressed!

Bad night for the Blues but I still think you're on track. Would be very surprised if you missed the finals this year. Geelong took a bealting from North before it realised what it takes to be a great team. This defeat may help the Blues. You have the players - they just need to start playing for each other.

 

[The Airing of Grievances]

Pace has been our problem since the early 1980s
Andy Lovett was out of contract last year, not sure why we didn't try for him

Perhaps if you go back to the trade/draft boards last year you'll see that everyone outside Essendo n was convinced Lovett was a no-hoper hack who you wouldn't draft in a fit. Much likr the Essendon team who all of your posters last week dismissed as not worthy of licking the bootds of even yor 22nd man - seems your rating of some of your players has altered significantly in 12 hours !

 

[SolidTiger]

• I miss Josh Kennedy.
• Time to prep for 2010... not tank... but work on a new game plan and get time into Hampson, Garlett, Yarran, Austin, Browne, Jacobs.

Firstly the sacrifice of Kennedy for Judd was more then worth it. Judd is a true champion and leader. Though he had a well below average game tonight he has shown that he is by far Carltons best player and still amougst the best in the competition.

Secondly dispite how bad Carlton played tonight they are still very likely to make the finals with easiest fixture for the rest of the season. Carlton should win at least two or three of the next four games. The 2009 season is not finished for Carlton yet.