Autopsy Round 1, 2023: Bombers beat the Hawks

[Restricted Free Agent]

Some really positive signs but ultimately our now seemingly engrained inability to play a full four quarters let us down. Still, lots of positives to take! McKenzie looked the goods on debut, Wingard's goal was delicious and Worpel was solid in the midfield

 

[Kanga Commando]

Hate losing to those cheating ‘scum

 

[Dewnior]

Thoughts go out to the 83 premiership team that had to watch that shite today

 

[MinerBoy]

That was fun


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[Suntory Boss Coffee]

Being on level 4 I noticed multiple times where the switch was on with spares and we just didn't pull the trigger. Players constantly taking the safe option by kicking down the line to a contest. We look best when we switch and then change the angle back into the middle.

 

[WWSD]

Koschitzke is effectively useless as a key forward. If he keeps this form up he will be playing in the VFL soon.

 

[MinerBoy]

Worps had a go, MacKenzie debuted nicely…. Yep.


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[Rocket72]

A lot went wrong, hard to know if that was as bad as it seemed.

 

[Dazza the Viking]

Need to look at going with a smaller forward set up, until Lewis gets back, no Kosi or resting Ruckman

 

[JoeHawk]

So about that Harley Reid kid

Hopefully a gun forward. Desperately need one…..or more

 

[smeltitdeltit]

It’s never as bad as it seems. It’s never as good as it seems. Get us on our best day and bombers on their worst and it would be a similar result in reverse. Oh well

 

[Wesley2]

Mids need to learn some resilience, and if there's a turnover, remove the red carpet that appeared in the corridor.

Defense needs some cohesion.

Can't be too harsh on the forwards, ball barely made it that far.

Welcome back, Worpedo


Please temper your expectations for the rest of the year folks.

 

[HedgeFund]

Brad Scott in 5 months has managed to turn around a previously pretty loose Essendon side by implementing a team defence which is pro-active and very hard to get through.

Sam has chosen not to - he has made that clear.

That was the main difference tactically, and hopefully he acknowledges that. He hasn’t coached our player on how to defend on turnover.

 

[JoeHawk]

Need to look at going with a smaller forward set up, until Lewis gets back, no Kosi or resting Ruckman

Resting ruckman works well if the ball is delivered to the forward line. Today was a complete shambles.

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Welcome to the rebuild.

Definite positives to take, a decent percentage of the younger brigade where the better performers on the day.

Stings more given the opposition, but ultimately the scoreboard isn't what we are about at the moment.

At times we where clearly frazzled and lost, leading to a perceived lack of effort, but it will come.

Buckle up and ride those bumps with a grin.

 

[Off The Couch]

Just going to focus on the positives

Worps looked good
Jai picked up where he left off
Frenchie looks like he belongs
You can see the midfield has the potential to become something special

The bad news:
I can’t imagine what Sydney will do to this side next week

It’s going to be a long year and I’ve just got to keep reminding myself that it’s 2004 and in 2008 we won a premiership

I don’t mind if we lose - but it’s how we lose that will be important

 

[Wingnut19]

Just not enough blue chippers. A lot of us, me included overate our own. Fact is we haven’t had access to the top end of the draft yet. We need a few years picking top 3. Majority of our players are just limited. Lots of late picks and mid season pick ups. Just not gonna cut it. We stripped back a list that finished consecutive years in bottom 6. The pain starts now. We need to play DGB, Scrim, Butlers over Impey, Frost, Kosi etc. they’re just battlers. Kosi should prob have a chance at playing key back again to save his career, cos as a fwd it’s painful to watch.

 

[Kuuz]

OUT:
- Bad pitch laid like an ice rink

IN:
- Bit more grit and some forward line structure

Onto next week! Hopefully the boys don't take the loss too hard. Just reset and take the learnings.

 

[JoeHawk]

Koschitzke is effectively useless as a key forward. If he keeps this form up he will be playing in the VFL soon.

Was hoping hard that he’ll step up but looks lost.

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Brad Scott in 5 months has managed to turn around a previously pretty loose Essendon side by implementing a team defence which is pro-active and very hard to get through.

Sam has chosen not to - he has made that clear.

That was the main difference tactically, and hopefully he acknowledges that. He hasn’t coached our player on how to defend on turnover.

Lists are in totally different realms.

People where mainly hard on them in recent times because there list looks decent, but on field was a dumspter fire.

 

[Jazzfan]

Positives:

Worpel, Mackenzie, Ward, Bruest and Day in parts.

Ok:

Finn and Meek.

Negatives:

Sicily played lazy and clumsy. CJ's ball handling, Day's kicking. Newcombe butchered it too. Forward line. Reeves, can't play him and Meek.

Concerns:

Kosi is unlikely to make it.
Dimma. Started on the pine, looked a shadow of himself out there and was pushed forward. Not sure what's up with him and Scrimshaw at present.

 

[Cheersquad71]

What happened to Wingard?

 

[VandoHawk]

With such a young side focused on offence it was always going to be a work in progress. But I’m frustrated at how much more Essendon wanted this win, and how little we responded to their style. We laid 3 tackles as a team in the second quarter - that’s an insane lack of effort.

A lot of players were downright atrocious or ineffectual. Our lack of effort combined with a breakdown in gameplan resulted in some ugly viewing. It’s hard to take positives from such a drubbing from an average side.

Worpel seems to have found some form. MacKenzie & Ward had some good moments. I actually think Blanck was rather good too given the sheer number of entries.

That was a tough watch.

 

[Hawker1167]

Need to look at going with a smaller forward set up, until Lewis gets back, no Kosi or resting Ruckman

Exactly what I was thinking we don’t have a marking forward so the resting ruck must play forward juts bring the ball to ground and let the smalls go to work,

 

[Denver Day Lewis]

Our seniors need to show the way

Has been a problem for a few years.

Hodge, Mitchell, Roughead and Lewis are a hard act to follow for on-field leadership. Even the Threepeat players offered little once those four left. McEvoy was solid but uninspiring.

In terms of leadership, none of our senior players now are anywhere near the levels of the four-time premiership stars, but there's hope for the younglings. Still quite a few years away though.

Today's result was worse than I thought possible. Despite rebuilding the midfield around the kids, the lack of key position players is stark.