AFL Autopsy Round 5: 49 Point loss to Collingwood

[Shane Heard]

We have a CEO that is more concerned about NBL teams, big bash sides, netball teams, coffees in LA with Andrew bogut, selfies with every new player that walks in the club. leadership starts at the top and young Xavier is not the right guy to steer the club through these difficult times. Essendon will always have a strong P&L due to membership and pokies but unfortunately this guy is all about self promotion and his next career move!

Mate...ffs...might as well blame the merchandise manager as well for the team’s poor form.

The players have to look at themselves and be honest.

It all starts and finishes right there.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Not liking the cristcsim of Xavier.

Had the dificult task of reparing the club off the field from the saga fallout that's no easy task for a young CEO deserves some credit

 

[Bombers36]

I went to the game and had been looking forward to it for some time. But we were bloody terrible. I know people can over react after a big loss, but I really don’t think it’s over reacting to say there needs to be some wholesale changes with the 22 we put out on the park against Melbourne on Sunday. I’m unsure why we keep persisting with the likes of JMerrett and Myers, Daniher looks shot and needs a rest, and lots of players really not performing up to expectations this year or seem to be downhill skiing- Tippa, Zakka and Bellcho to name a few. Finals gone now so I just bloody hope Woosha starts playing kids


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[yaco55]

Bit of a strange game - 4 out of 5 of Collingwood's first goal were shank goals with no defined plan - This then got Collingwood on a roll - Felt like EFC conceded the game at half time to concentrate on Sunday, hence chipping the ball around in the second half - It was strange how often Collingwood got scores from their back half.

Have previously posted that EFC will go nowhere unless they tidy up their kicking - Lose to Melbourne on Sunday, then expect younger players to be given priority - Need to get McGrath back to the midfield and I am confident Guelfi can play defence - Bring in McNiece for Baguley, Langford for Begley and Mutch for Green.

 

[table tennis]

oh jesus christ that’s a terrible comment. lolololol someone got injured - yay!!

No someone else gets an opportunity this little leprechaun has been taking away from.

How can anyone be satisfied with kids in the VFL not getting a game and progressing their career for this selfish bloke who isnt capable and more interested in easy kicks, and can only play one position......

Thats why its a positive, it forces the rock heads in the box to actually try something else.....

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Not liking the cristcsim of Xavier.

Had the dificult task of reparing the club off the field from the saga fallout that's no easy task for a young CEO deserves some credit

Xavier has nothing to do with it. When the club dishes out a performance like that people naturally dig in to the big names at the club.

Xavier has nothing to do with on field issues. He has done a great job taking us through the last few years

 

[MarkG]

We have no on field leadership and our team lacks quality disposal.

Our idea of leadership is goddard getting angry and barking orders, which quite clearly today wasn't being received well. Where was heppel? Probably lobbing some more kicks... no penetration at all.

The way that Zaka and others reacted to Goddard's criticism made it appear as though what he was saying didn't make sense. Just a completely non sensical rant.

Wasn't he removed from the leadership team?

 

[Charlie Payne]

well you would have seen what you saw today plenty of times over that 5 decades

That was the most limp wristed "effort" I have ever seen by an EFC team including the 70's where we lost often but hurt the opposition physically. All you want is players having a crack. :-(

 

[MarkG]

That was the most limp wristed "effort" I have ever seen by an EFC team including the 70's where we lost often but hurt the opposition physically. All you want is players having a crack. :-(

From the outset of the game, senior Collingwood players were getting in the Essendon players faces, pushing them, bumping them every time they walked past them. Not once did the Essendon players push or bump back.

The only small semblance of aggression was when Stringer gave away the free before the first bounce. The description of Essendon playing Swans was boys playing against men. More of the same yesterday. We need a few of our players to get angry and not towards our own players Goddard style.

 

[Doss]

From the outset of the game, senior Collingwood players were getting in the Essendon players faces, pushing them, bumping them every time they walked past them. Not once did the Essendon players push or bump back.

The only small semblance of aggression was when Stringer gave away the free before the first bounce. The description of Essendon playing Swans was boys playing against men. More of the same yesterday. We need a few of our players to get angry and not towards our own players Goddard style.

You seem to have this weird idea that puffing your chest out and players telling an opponent to * off a couple of times and laying a couple hip and shoulders is some mysterious progenitor from which everything else flows.

Like some magic alchemic effect almost.

It doesn't actually work like that. We could be more aggressive at times, yes, but our issues go way, way beyond a few dudes not laying little hip and shoulders and snarling.

 

[MarkG]

You seem to have this weird idea that puffing your chest out and players telling an opponent to **** off a couple of times and laying a couple hip and shoulders is some mysterious progenitor from which everything else flows.

Like some magic alchemic effect almost.

It doesn't actually work like that. We could be more aggressive at times, yes, but our issues go way, way beyond a few dudes not laying little hip and shoulders and snarling.

It did work for Collingwood.

 

[Doss]

It did work for Collingwood.

Putting their win down purely to chest beating is rubbish.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

You seem to have this weird idea that puffing your chest out and players telling an opponent to **** off a couple of times and laying a couple hip and shoulders is some mysterious progenitor from which everything else flows.

Like some magic alchemic effect almost.

It doesn't actually work like that. We could be more aggressive at times, yes, but our issues go way, way beyond a few dudes not laying little hip and shoulders and snarling.

It’s a good point, who is our snarling coach? Do we even have one????

This ******* club.

 

[Doss]

What was apparent to me watching from home, was how stagnant we appeared to be coming out of defence. Collingwood shut us down very well by guarding the space, and Saad aside, we seemed to have no one who even threatened to break through with any regularity.

The absence of Gleeson and McKenna is really hampering us but we also don’t appear to run hard enough to create options in the first place.

Our work rate is putrid.

 

[MarkG]

Putting their win down purely to chest beating is rubbish.

Did you tape the game? If so, look at the first quarter and observe how well Zach Merrett was playing. At the 15 minute mark, Merrett planted a pass onto Stringers chest who subsequently goaled.

Pendlebury confronted Merrett and tried to rough him up. Merretts response was to laugh. Pendlebury went to another Collingwood player who was obviously told to continue to rough Merrett up. Result was Merrett went from being an absolute star (9 possessions in first 15 minutes) to become average at best for the rest of the game.

This occurred right across the park to multiple Essendon players. Not once did another Essendon player go in to assist.

 

[Doss]

Did you tape the game? If so, look at the first quarter and observe how well Zach Merrett was playing. At the 15 minute mark, Merrett planted a pass onto Stringers chest who subsequently goaled.

Pendlebury confronted Merrett and tried to rough him up. Merretts response was to laugh. Pendlebury went to another Collingwood player who was obviously told to continue to rough Merrett up. Result was Merrett went from being an absolute star (9 possessions in first 15 minutes) to become average at best for the rest of the game.

This occurred right across the park to multiple Essendon players. Not once did another Essendon player go in to assist.

I remember the passage very well. Pendlebury got into a scuffle not only with Merrett but two others, so your recollection is incorrect.

If you think our issues are going to be fixed by a bit of roughing up then I’d suggest you need to look a bit deeper.

 

[number 75]

I remember the passage very well. Pendlebury got into a scuffle not only with Merrett but two others, so your recollection is incorrect.

If you think our issues are going to be fixed by a bit of roughing up then I’d suggest you need to look a bit deeper.

With all due respects on your opinion, we are by far the softest and most selfish side in the comp.
We just want to see some fight (not fisticuffs) put your head over the footy and have a crack make them earn their kicks. How many tackles didn't stick or the Collingwood's players waltzed through was beyond belief., if you can't see that then you need to look a bit harder.

 

[Doss]

With all due respects on your opinion, we are by far the softest and most selfish side in the comp.
We just want to see some fight (not fisticuffs) put your head over the footy and have a crack make them earn their kicks. How many tackles didn't stick or the Collingwood's players waltzed through was beyond belief., if you can't see that then you need to look a bit harder.

We are talking about different things. Going harder at the hall and tackling more, we 100% need to do that more. Chest beating and fisticuffs on the other hand? It’s filler that more often than not results in silly free kicks, especially if you are retaliating.

 

[DapperJong]

I actually thought the effort was ok for the first half, but whatever we were trying to do to score just wasn't working. And the more it didn't work, the more the players just seemed to second guess themselves, make mistakes and give up.

We got totally psyched out of the game.

I'm glad it wasn't a repeat of the dogs game where we only lost by 20 points. I hope the big loss makes each player address their own mental turn around in the folllowing weeks. It's more about that than dropping anyone, even tho some may benefit that.

 

[SherbertLemon]

This inconsistency is not good enough.
We overrate our list.
I do not give a s**t if they beat Richmond.
It all means squat if we can't put Collingwood away, who is bare at both ends of the ground, yet who we allowed to give us a bath.

Hard decisions need to be made on s**t players. Players like god damn Myers, he's a complete bloody liability who actually should be paying reparations to the EFC for being such a spud and taking a list spot for so long.

 

[DapperJong]

Did you tape the game? If so, look at the first quarter and observe how well Zach Merrett was playing. At the 15 minute mark, Merrett planted a pass onto Stringers chest who subsequently goaled.

Pendlebury confronted Merrett and tried to rough him up. Merretts response was to laugh. Pendlebury went to another Collingwood player who was obviously told to continue to rough Merrett up. Result was Merrett went from being an absolute star (9 possessions in first 15 minutes) to become average at best for the rest of the game.

This occurred right across the park to multiple Essendon players. Not once did another Essendon player go in to assist.

Way to completely misread a situation. We had 3 blokes trying to rough pendlebury up and then he goes on to play his best game for the year. Stop posting this rough-housing crap, please.

 

[Sockeye]

We insisted on playing circle work whilst Collingwood played football.
They swarmed, pressured, then ran the ball with numbers. Richmond like.
We were all looking for easy ball and trying to play a precise, robotic like style. It's so easy to counter. Too predictable. One fumble, one spoil, one slightly off pass and then we are outnumbered and off they go.

They always, always, had a player front and centre off every marking contest. Spoil our marking and off they go again. There coaches did their homework and there players implemented a simple game plan. We have been easily worked out by the opposition.

Goddard and Hurley racked them up off half back but really had no impact.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

TBH I’m reasonably at peace with yesterday’s game. I was far more pissed off after the Dogs game.

This is a very even league and if you’re off a bit, that’s what happens. Watching neutral games all year I’ve noticed that nobody is as bad as they seem after a bad loss and nobody is as good as they seem after a big win. That applies to us too.

We have the same things to work on as we have for a while but i don’t see yesterday as particularly disastrous.

 

[Gumby2Hurley]

The games we’ve lost the opp has made us look slow. Being down to two on the bench doesn’t help. Frkn !!!

 

[Mootsy]

The games we’ve lost the opp has made us look slow. Being down to two on the bench doesn’t help. Frkn !!!

Didn’t help.

Let’s not sugar coat how poor we were at two way running and kicking accuracy was a let down. Looked really slow out there, let’s not mention overhead contested possession either. They won overhead easily.

Howe was taking grabs off Daniher from behind the play. Picking them off.

Our play lacked eagerness to win.