AFL Toast RND 5: Vanquishing Demons Whilst Donning Red Shorts

[MightyDon]

Suspect McGrath was a temporary role just for Pickett

But how much better did the backline look without him

 

[ant555]

Have to say it again but slowing down the attack from all out go to a more tempo and go when you can really made a difference. It was almost like they had taken a step too far and the mentality of flat-out attack was leading to players making poor decisions and pushing the envelope too far. By bringing it back by 30%-40% it eliminated a lot of the dumb handball errors and also allowed us to defend the ground better as we were in a better position to transition.

 

[ant555]

Suspect McGrath was a temporary role just for Pickett

Hope not. Personally, I think he can lead the side better if we give him a role to run with someone in the midfield.

 

[ant555]

But how much better did the backline look without him

The backline was helped by a change in the attacking game plan and the fact they were able to transition into defence as a team a lot better.

 

[Pweter]

says a lot about his leadership style and ability

I think it says a lot about the leadership developing in the younger ranks as much as it does about the attitudes of the existing senior leadership.

Seriously, how many quality sides think of protecting a lead at 3qt? Thanks god the youth have the guts to speak up otherwise we'd seemingly never change.

 

[Gabe251]

rewatched. Demons gave us huge amount of space, which for the last few years, has usually helped us to win.

It’s when the pressure turns up we go back to those errors.

Nice to know we haven’t gone backwards, and our forward line looked functioning, which is a legit improvement on all of last season.

 

[Gabe251]

What I would like is to use Mcgrath in the middle when it gets hot, to really arrest primary ball users. That was really effective. When teams have 3 midfield stars, we will really struggle in there. If we can slow down when there is two, we will get some more wins.

 

[Vindicater]

Hopefully we continue to grow from here. While I do t expect us to win next week we at least have to be competitive. I think with the young brigade we have that will continue.

 

[Gabe251]

Hopefully we continue to grow from here. While I do t expect us to win next week we at least have to be competitive. I think with the young brigade we have that will continue.

I think you have to expect with young teams that sometimes, they won’t be competitive..

See Eagles, richmond and north.

We are further back than some of these teams in the rebuild. They still have shockers.

 

[bommer16]

I want the team to develop such a strong (and level headed) confidence and belief going forward that there is no more opportunity to regress back into that C game cbf output. It is a now a non negotiable. The game yday has set the standard and is a result of all the hard work behind the scenes and a new perspective from the youth. Don’t just hold a lead - smash an opponent!

And Brad now has selection pressure for once! i.e. Robey has had a taste which is going to be very hard for Perkins (he’s had plenty of chances). The debut of both Farrow and Sharp have equally been highlights. As was seeing ADW, Edwards, Rids and Reid play again. These players already add so much quality to the team over a 1.5 game sample.

We’ve been really patient and loyal as supporters. But I have absolute faith that the young group will lead Essendon out of this 20 year drudgery. (and I can stop watching old Ess games - although some are great to rewatch).

Fly up you good things.

 

[MightyDon]

What I would like is to use Mcgrath in the middle when it gets hot, to really arrest primary ball users. That was really effective. When teams have 3 midfield stars, we will really struggle in there. If we can slow down when there is two, we will get some more wins.

The guy got 28 disposals and 2 goals, anyone even a little bigger than Pickett 171cm 73kgs will brush McGrath aside like he’s not there

 

[Yoda_]

Hard to tell but Duursma play a more wing role than this stupid HF role he was flagged in the pre season?


The mid > older guys really set the tone for this win that allowed the kids to show some green shoots of brilliance.

Scott coached well, let's not take that away from him. Yes, Dees let themselves down with execution at times but Scott won this in the box.

Langford behind the ball was a smart deploy, especially having Edwards, Caddy (May) inside forward 50.

Wright in the ruck to quell Gawn was good coaching. Gawn probably took the overall points but it allowed us to not be dominated by him.

I have been really torn on this one but the midfield mix looked much better. Tsatas' (midfield) 29 + Caldwell's 16 (forward is better than Caldwell's 30 + Tsatas 16 (forward) if you know what I mean? Ditto Parish + Durham.

Read somewhere that it was literally the 6th or 7th time Ridley has played with Reid, add the chances of the three amigos having played together (Ridley, Reid, McKay) and once again, having three genuinely better than AFL average defenders does wonders to a team defence.

Just on McKay, bar the couple of monumental * ups, thought he was the best of the three today. Very happy with his output.


To the kids and wowser, do we have a player in Farrow. I dont even care if he doesnt transition into a midfielder, having someone like him kicking behind the play is what all the good teams have. His ability to rack up touches cannot go unnoticed as it shows we trust and almost actively look for him.

Kako is building into something, almost the perfect half forwards game.

Tsatas has been a long time coming, Im not completely sold on him him being a long term solution to our inside woes as we got spanked early in the game from the middle, but props where they are due and he was good at winning his own ball. Goal poured some sand on the doubters suggesting his outside game struggled (even if it was a mung kick on his left lol)

Archie May continues to lead barrel chested, something that I enjoy. Someone pointed out the space in the F50 without Wright. Could not agree more. Particularly liked that he and Caddy interchanged between who played deeper. If May can keep his averages around 10 possessions then we'll have a particularly important player for us.

Could say something about everyone, ADW behind the ball was a good move, Robey showed his passion and tenacity for AFL football with a couple of genuinely massive tackles, Edwards with couple of early goals. They all contributed


Now for a Gold Coast side seething after losing a game many expected them to win yesterday. Media darlings will be torched all week, just hope our young side can continue with the effort and not get blown off the park.

 

[eth-dog]

I hate Andrew McGrath and will bitch about him even if he has a perfect game

FTFY

 

[Gabe251]

The guy got 28 disposals and 2 goals, anyone even a little bigger than Pickett 171cm 73kgs will brush McGrath aside like he’s not there

Pickett got those disposals because of his speed and many of those disposals were under pressure. Not many mids as fast as him.

Definitely take the point that he would be less effective against bigger bodies though. Still think he could do jobs on some outside runners

 

[cobra land]

The family made the long trek to Adelaide and we could not have asked for a better performance to show the kids this is why we love this club, you know the passion is there when they ask if we can watch the replay on getting home at 2am

Brad's coaching moves were spot on yesterday and he must get a lot of the credit for the win.

Wright has to be No. 1 ruck until Bryan returns, gives a good contest in there and he also wins his share of footy around the ground and gets back to help the defenders and I think the forward line works better when he's not the focal point, we have more options and players aren't tunnel visioned with their delivery.

ADW, very strong in the contest and some of his kicks through the middle opened up the play which led to goals, just keep playing him.

Kako, this kid works his socks off, takes the game on and gives us the spark in the middle that we lack.

Caddy, his work rate has to be seen to be beleived, he outworks his opponents and he will be our next big thing just give him time. I heard during the week on SEN that a club will be making him an offer that may be to hard to refuse..we must match that offer whatever that is!

McKay, I'm his harshest critic but today was the McKay we were hoping to get, he still made a couple of skill errors but his attack on the footy and composure was so much better than it has been.

To the Parish knockers can we give it a rest now?, he's so important in the middle and is one of the few in our team that can win contested footy, his positives far out weigh the negatives.

Robey, didn't get that much of it but his defensive pressure for a first gamer was pretty impressive and his tackles stick!, he will never play seconds again!

And lastly, gee we have a loyal following, lots of red and black in the house and it was a great feeling when the siren sounded yesterday, if we can can apply that same type of pressure and workrate there are more wins to be had this season!

 

[MiguelM]

I know Gresham is a bit of a whipping boy but he looked hungry for once. Good game.

 

[ant555]

The guy got 28 disposals and 2 goals, anyone even a little bigger than Pickett 171cm 73kgs will brush McGrath aside like he’s not there

Take the blinkers off.
McGraths job was to limit his influence. He did.

 

[Learntopray]

The interesting part about the chip-mark game plan from yesterday is that I was under the impression we were trying to move away from that.
Yesterday seemed more balanced however, with more intent to spread the ground instead of simply retain possession. It was nice to finally see leads honoured in the forward half.
How much of it is intentional game plan with/without Wright? Or is it just the players taking the easy option because its available?

 

[MightyDon]

Take the blinkers off.
McGraths job was to limit his influence. He did.

Pickett had 4 more disposals than his seasons average which is well above his career average, laid 8 tackles, had greater meters gained, kicked double the goals, his disposal efficiency was cut by all of 5%, he had one less center clearance and one less stoppage clearance.
McGrath the defensive mid laid 2 tackles, Pickett laid 8 had 650m gained kicked 2 goals, 28 disposals at 46% his average is 51. It was an above average game for Pickett he who was their best on ground, he was a defensive mid who destroyed McGrath going the other way

 

[Yoda_]

Take the blinkers off.
McGraths job was to limit his influence. He did.

people look at Kosi's possession tally (28), look at his DE% (46%) and turnovers (10) and the pressure being applied was obviously red hot all game.

McGrath had 3rd most pressure acts (15) for Essendon yesterday

 

[jannissary]

Pickett had 4 more disposals than his seasons average which is well above his career average, laid 8 tackles, had greater meters gained, kicked double the goals, his disposal efficiency was cut by all of 5%, he had one less center clearance and one less stoppage clearance.
McGrath the defensive mid laid 2 tackles, Pickett laid 8 had 650m gained kicked 2 goals, 28 disposals at 46% his average is 51. It was an above average game for Pickett he who was their best on ground, he was a defensive mid who destroyed McGrath going the other way

did you watch the game or are you simply just looking at the stats.

 

[MightyDon]

did you watch the game or are you simply just looking at the stats.

Watched the 2nd half yesterday, just watched the first half today

 

[ant555]

Pickett had 4 more disposals than his seasons average which is well above his career average, laid 8 tackles, had greater meters gained, kicked double the goals, his disposal efficiency was cut by all of 5%, he had one less center clearance and one less stoppage clearance.
McGrath the defensive mid laid 2 tackles, Pickett laid 8 had 650m gained kicked 2 goals, 28 disposals at 46% his average is 51. It was an above average game for Pickett he who was their best on ground, he was a defensive mid who destroyed McGrath going the other way

Maybe try watching the game and not just reading the stats page. Also try going to spec savers.
Pickett had limited influence on the game.

 

[jannissary]

Watched the 2nd half yesterday, just watched the first half today

so you’re aware that often pickett has limited impact in and around the contest, then, right?

 

[Blind Turn]

Perkins, Jones, Cox, not being gifted games would be a blessing. Most of their games have not been hard earned throughout their careers. With so many youngsters not being carried by senior players this weekend it augurs well for weeding out players who don’t have the desire to overtake players in the best 23.
Fiorini, Redman, Martin, and Bryan all have genuine claims on best 23 which pushes those mentioned above back even further. Over to you lads. Time to lift your game or you’ll be making way for draftees this year.