Round 22 sees March Rivals, Essendon and North Melbourne once again compete in a late-season dead rubber.. ok, not quite for us, but that game against West Coast has me feeling very flat. The AFL season is long when you are s**t. I want to be positive here; to be proud of the team, to celebrate the year, to acknowledge the quality Debut of Tsatas, the arrival of Langforward, the improvement of Bryan... but this was another week of feeling like the more things change the more things stay the same. It's easy to blame the coach for these late seasons' fade-outs, but I think it's more. This list... isn't right... this isn't about individuals, it's about team balance. It's the fitness levels, the lack of power running, the willingness to work as hard defensively as forward of the ball. It's the shocking core skills - at least to the eye, we are one of the worst hand-balling and contesting-marking teams (with the exception of a few in the backline)
I honestly think we need and am almost hoping for a worse season next year; this mid-tier finish s**t ain't working. I also hope we have the balls to make major changes this off-season. I don't think we do...
The Round that Was
Congrats to Tsatas for your first game and first win!
As for North.. who the hell really cares? I ain't updating this section regardless of what happens tomorrow.
The Last Time We Met
We broke their hearts.. that was kinda fun, I guess.
ESSENDON 6.2 6.6 12.7 16.9 (105)
NORTH MELBOURNE 3.0 6.4 10.8 15.9 (99)
GOALS
Essendon: Langford 4, Perkins 2, Merrett 2, Martin 2, Guelfi 2, Stringer, Menzie, Draper, D'Ambrosio
North Melbourne: Zurhaar 4, Larkey 2, Coleman-Jones 2, Tucker, Thomas, Scott, Phillips, McDonald, Goldstein, Stephenson
BEST
Essendon: Merrett, Ridley, Martin, Caldwell, Heppell, Perkins
North Melbourne: McDonald, McKay, Zurhaar, Coleman-Jones, Phillips, Tucker
INJURIES
Essendon: Shiel (calf)
North Melbourne: Jy Simpkin (concussion), Greenwood (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Massimo D'Ambrosio (replaced Dylan Shiel at three-quarter time)
North Melbourne: Tom Powell (replaced Jy Simpkin at quarter-time)
Crowd: 40,488 at Marvel Stadium
The Team
Possible Ins:
Baldwin - Can't do much more
Tex - 4 Goals in the vfl
Monty - Always good in VFL, will he get a chance at AFL level?
Setterfield - Might come back in
Possible Outs:
Guelfi - Got to take your chances
Cox - Not sure what's he's offering at the moment
Davey - Needs a full-game VFL or AFL
My Tip
There'll be more "learnings" next week. (The curse of Worsfold is not easily shaken)
I honestly think we need and am almost hoping for a worse season next year; this mid-tier finish s**t ain't working. I also hope we have the balls to make major changes this off-season. I don't think we do...
The Round that Was
Congrats to Tsatas for your first game and first win!
As for North.. who the hell really cares? I ain't updating this section regardless of what happens tomorrow.
The Last Time We Met
We broke their hearts.. that was kinda fun, I guess.
ESSENDON 6.2 6.6 12.7 16.9 (105)
NORTH MELBOURNE 3.0 6.4 10.8 15.9 (99)
GOALS
Essendon: Langford 4, Perkins 2, Merrett 2, Martin 2, Guelfi 2, Stringer, Menzie, Draper, D'Ambrosio
North Melbourne: Zurhaar 4, Larkey 2, Coleman-Jones 2, Tucker, Thomas, Scott, Phillips, McDonald, Goldstein, Stephenson
BEST
Essendon: Merrett, Ridley, Martin, Caldwell, Heppell, Perkins
North Melbourne: McDonald, McKay, Zurhaar, Coleman-Jones, Phillips, Tucker
INJURIES
Essendon: Shiel (calf)
North Melbourne: Jy Simpkin (concussion), Greenwood (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Massimo D'Ambrosio (replaced Dylan Shiel at three-quarter time)
North Melbourne: Tom Powell (replaced Jy Simpkin at quarter-time)
Crowd: 40,488 at Marvel Stadium
The Team
Possible Ins:
Baldwin - Can't do much more
Tex - 4 Goals in the vfl
Monty - Always good in VFL, will he get a chance at AFL level?
Setterfield - Might come back in
Possible Outs:
Guelfi - Got to take your chances
Cox - Not sure what's he's offering at the moment
Davey - Needs a full-game VFL or AFL
My Tip
There'll be more "learnings" next week. (The curse of Worsfold is not easily shaken)
