Round 1 NAB Cup - Essendon v Fremantle v West Coast

[Red Black and Blue]

How any Essendon supporter could say they were happy enough with our performance is beyond me.

Sure there may be reasons for it but how that could make you happy enough is beyond bizarre.

Its clear we're not setting up like last year, which for one is enough to be happy about alone, considering how badly we slumped last year.

Also, maybe because I saw things that will actually help us complete the balance of our list. We played 9 kids that had never played a game before, a couple more that only played 1-2 games last year. Howlett, Melksham, Colyer look like they have improved significantly, we looked to have found a genuine small forward in Dell'Olio, Baugley was also good, Kavanagh looked fairly comfortable, I think Jetta will complete our backline, Hookers body work has improved heaps, Crameri, Pears and Dempsey got a full run and all held their own. We were actually winning a heap of contests, and going extremely hard but rusty disposal let us down. No injuries. Heaps of positives.

I suppose the fact I wasn't expecting to win either game didn't hurt.

 

[Hump 17]

Essendon were no worse than Collingwood just that Essendon were playing two Perth teams in Perth. I read nothing into Collingwoods effort as I dont with Essendons.

 

[lamaros]

I'm sure most sides go into the NAB cup thinking the same thing.

FWIW against Essendon we were missing 17 of our best 22.

LeCras, Gaff, Kerr, Waters, Naitanui, S.Selwood, Shuey, Kennedy, Mackenzie, Cox, Rosa, Hurn, Darling, Schofield, Embley, A.Selwood, Butler from our best 22.

Only Lecras is unavailable out of that lot and hopefully A. Selwood is pushed out sometime this year.

You'd have to be very disappointed in how you played

Those missing include the top 7 from our B&F (Zaha, Stanton, Hurley, Watson, Hocking, Fletcher, Heppell), with Ryder (who was 9th) only playing half a game (the half we out-scored you), and Crameri (8th) playing his first since shoulder surgery. Howlett (10th), entering his third AFL season, was our leader in the middle. McVeigh was the only guy from our leadership group playing.

I would not get carried away by the fact Priddis, Masten and co beat a group of rookies and second and third season guys playing out of position.

 

[HyperAgressiveDonk]

Usually don't read much into NAB cup games, but some Essendon players looked really, really, really ordinary.

 

[Lyyynnnchy]

Those missing include the top 7 from our B&F (Zaha, Stanton, Hurley, Watson, Hocking, Fletcher, Heppell), with Ryder (who was 9th) only playing half a game (the half we out-scored you), and Crameri (8th) playing his first since shoulder surgery. Howlett (10th), entering his third AFL season, was our leader in the middle. McVeigh was the only guy from our leadership group playing.

I would not get carried away by the fact Priddis, Masten and co beat a group of rookies and second and third season guys playing out of position.

You were beaten by a group of rookies and second and third season guys playing out of position. IMO you should be concerned if you were hoping to improve on last season.

We had 4 best 22 players and 1 fringe 22 player playing with Priddis gathering 2 touches.

You outscored us in 1 half with 2 goals in the last few minutes. Those last 2 or 3 minutes certainly didnt reflect the rest of the game.

We also only had 3 of our top 10 B&F playing

 

[Marlin01]

There's no point worrying about the opposition in NAB Cup. I went to watch our new players and see how the team was operating, as a whole. I'm really happy with the competition for LeCras' spot and that we've got plenty of fringe players that will be able to at least play a role in the event of further injuries.

 

[lamaros]

You were beaten by a group of rookies and second and third season guys playing out of position. IMO you should be concerned if you were hoping to improve on last season.

We had 4 best 22 players and 1 fringe 22 player playing with Priddis gathering 2 touches.

You outscored us in 1 half with 2 goals in the last few minutes. Those last 2 or 3 minutes certainly didnt reflect the rest of the game.

We also only had 3 of our top 10 B&F playing

My bad, you're clearly going to win the flag based on that showing.

 

[Butler]

I would not get carried away by the fact Priddis, Masten and co beat a group of rookies and second and third season guys playing out of position.

Would actually say Priddis was one of our worst. Fumbled the ball a fair bit and just didn't have an impact.

Anyways, I think most Eagles fans are excited by our depth on show last night more than the result. Players like Masten, Swift, Hill, Weedon, Hams, Wilson, Brennan, Sheppard, McInniss, Stevens (in the second game) all showed very good signs. Well that's what i am stoked about anyway

 

[Suma Magic]

Essendon games doesn't mean much as there isn't a reserves comp.

Our press against Freo was good to see.

Overall enjoyed our intensity and the performances of depth players like Hams, Weedon and Hill, Stevenson and Sheppard. I thought Smith was rubbish though.

Hopefully we can get some games into those who missed out last night in the next few weeks.

 

[mayne iac]

Not really. Our 23 and under team is one of the better ones going around. Thought that was just common sense by now

Not going to win us a flag or anything. Not that relevant really but its still a small win (bigger then the NAB Cup win really)

No what I mean is that your eyes really are to close together.

 

[Blues_Man]

Essendon were no worse than Collingwood just that Essendon were playing two Perth teams in Perth. I read nothing into Collingwoods effort as I dont with Essendons.

The difference was Collingwood had 13 of their best side not playing ..whereas Essendon were near full strength .

It's only a NAB cup game, but Essendons skills were atrocious .

 

[Slattery_20]

The difference was Collingwood had 13 of their best side not playing ..whereas Essendon were near full strength .

Go on - how did Watson, Hurley, Stanton, Zaharakis, Hocking, Heppell & Fletcher go?
(FWIW that's the entire top 7 from our 2011 B&F.)

(FWIW, pt II: Zaha played about 5 minutes)

 

[Jesse Custer]

The difference was Collingwood had 13 of their best side not playing ..whereas Essendon were near full strength .

It's only a NAB cup game, but Essendons skills were atrocious .

Agree with the skills but any chance you could do some research before posting crap most of the time?

We were missing Jobe Watson, Brent Stanton, Dyson Heppell, Michael Hurley from both games. Not to mention resting a few for the second game.

Yep near full strength.

 

[Hump 17]

The difference was Collingwood had 13 of their best side not playing ..whereas Essendon were near full strength .

It's only a NAB cup game, but Essendons skills were atrocious .

I really dont care who had who out but ESS had the toughest first up start of all Vic clubs. Its fair to say if Collingwood fronted up like they did Saturday night they to would have been well beaten. Not that it counts for stuff all.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

In the past few years when we have done well in NAB, everyone on Bigfooty has thrown water on Bombers fans, parroting "it's only NAB cup, it means NOTHING!"

But when we underperform, they are lining up to pot shots and scream how telling this form guide is to Essendon's immenent doom.

Ahh BF, so much contradiction.

 

[Bestbird]

Our second game was simply a test of our defensive structure. Without Mcpharlin, Silvagni and Grover I thought it held up well.

It was interesting watching from up near the coaches box

I'm note sure if it was much of test of your defensive structure and the tactics seemed strange with 17 of Fremantles 18 players inside the defensive 50 metre arc for long periods of the game.

From an Eagles perspective

Although only February depth wise it looks great for us considering that we played an inexperienced side yet our forward press was still very good

 

[Bestbird]

In the past few years when we have done well in NAB, everyone on Bigfooty has thrown water on Bombers fans, parroting "it's only NAB cup, it means NOTHING!"

But when we underperform, they are lining up to pot shots and scream how telling this form guide is to Essendon's immenent doom.

Ahh BF, so much contradiction.

True LOL

Mind you, last year was a pretty reliable guide with Essendon and WCE both playing well in the NAB cup and that form continued into the season proper

 

[Lyyynnnchy]

In the past few years when we have done well in NAB, everyone on Bigfooty has thrown water on Bombers fans, parroting "it's only NAB cup, it means NOTHING!"

But when we underperform, they are lining up to pot shots and scream how telling this form guide is to Essendon's immenent doom.

Ahh BF, so much contradiction.

Essendon were massively talked up after a good NAB cup showing last year...

 

[Rocky_Star_Pro]

Essendon were massively talked up after a good NAB cup showing last year...

There was still a fair portion of 'It's only NAB Cup that doesn't mean anything!!!! Carlton won it but won the wooden spoon when they won the pre-season cup so it's gonna happen to Essendon!!!!'

Now when we don't take it serious, 's**t list they are doomed!!!!!!!!!'

We can never win

 

[raskolnikov]

Essendon were massively talked up after a good NAB cup showing last year...

One guy started a thread on the Essendon board after the NAB Cup last year saying we were certainties for the top four. He got shot down by all and sundry. Not sure how that equates to us massively talking ourselves up?

 

[Butler]

One guy started a thread on the Essendon board after the NAB Cup last year saying we were certainties for the top four. He got shot down by all and sundry. Not sure how that equates to us massively talking ourselves up?

Both by the media and on here Essendon were talked up. Whether that was from Essendon fans or not i can't remember.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

There was still a fair portion of 'It's only NAB Cup that doesn't mean anything!!!! Carlton won it but won the wooden spoon when they won the pre-season cup so it's gonna happen to Essendon!!!!'

Now when we don't take it serious, 's**t list they are doomed!!!!!!!!!'

We can never win

Remember last year? when Mark Williams kicked that goal after the siren to level the scores and ensure we proceeded. He quite rightly celebrated, being practically the only good thing he'd done at the club.

BF was full of comments like "lol, celebrating a NAB draw! struggle culture much Roflcopter lmao!"

Gee i'm sorry, I didn't know we were built with a switch to turn emotions off to suit BF nerds mindset.

 

[summerthebat]

This thread deserves to be thrown into the sea.

Mostly posts about justifying each teams performance in the very first pre-season match and comparing them to the next as if it's a science.

You're all idiots that can't wait 12 weeks to make appropriate assessments.

 

[Lyyynnnchy]

One guy started a thread on the Essendon board after the NAB Cup last year saying we were certainties for the top four. He got shot down by all and sundry. Not sure how that equates to us massively talking ourselves up?

Theres a difference in being talked up and being top 4 certainties. I'd say Freo have been talked up this year but not as "top 4 certainties".

It's a fact, Essendon were talked up after the NAB campaign buy most on BF

 

[Kong]

I loved Leigh Montagna butting his little head in with the "you'd want to draw" comment.

If anybody should know about draws in important games..