AFL Autopsy Round 6: 38 Point loss to Melbourne

Hold me?

  • I got you bro!

    Votes: 28 62.2%
  • Eww gross.

    Votes: 17 37.8%

  • Total voters
    45
Apr 12, 2014
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I think Watts is a bit underrated, sure the guy was a spud for a while but he has started to take his game up a few levels since early years, he is a bit like the Melbourne FC, really struggled when the team struggled but is now playing good solid footy in a good team.

He's a very dangerous player if you don't put one of your best two KPDs on him, was surprised Worsfold just let him play on guys like Dea when it was clear the main source of our goals was always going to be Watts/Garlett/Petracca.

Was talking to my Essendon supporting mate and we were a bit puzzled at why Worsfold didn't really try anything different when it was clear the game was sliding out of reach. Hooker back Hurley forward, Tippa back etc. You guys will laugh at me but I still think Tippa suits your team more on the HBF, McGrath will be a star but the fact that he is already your best runner off HBF is both impressive and damning.

Anyway good luck for the rest of the season, I think the big ground at subi will suit your pace this week.
 
Just clicked on the replies of Twomes' tweet about poor selection bringing poor result and all I can say is Jesus Christ we've got some s**t 'supporters'
 
Didn't think we could sink any lower than the Carlton effort...s**t today had it covered in spades.

To be fair we played superb wet-weather football today
 

parishfever

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We had no matchup for Watts the moment Ambrose was out, he's not even a good player he's just an athletic 3rd tall who we don't have a matchup for. If Joey kicks straight and we made a better team selection we'd have won this game by 40 points.

TBC should never be a solo ruck at AFL level, his only good season was in tandem with Ryder. I'm a massive fan of TBC, his goal kicking is generally good and he can be a 20HO, 2 goal ruckman in tandem with Leuey. Personally think the next step is to drop Gleeson/Dea, move Hooker back again and have the resting ruckman play at FF. Draft a KPF and hope we can hit our straps before its time for some of our senior players to retire.
 
Oct 12, 2012
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I think Watts is a bit underrated, sure the guy was a spud for a while but he has started to take his game up a few levels since early years, he is a bit like the Melbourne FC, really struggled when the team struggled but is now playing good solid footy in a good team.
He's reasonably good, he's just highly criticized as he was taken with the #1 pick.
 
We had no matchup for Watts the moment Ambrose was out, he's not even a good player he's just an athletic 3rd tall who we don't have a matchup for. If Joey kicks straight and we made a better team selection we'd have won this game by 40 points.

TBC should never be a solo ruck at AFL level, his only good season was in tandem with Ryder. I'm a massive fan of TBC, his goal kicking is generally good and he can be a 20HO, 2 goal ruckman in tandem with Leuey. Personally think the next step is to drop Gleeson/Dea, move Hooker back again and have the resting ruckman play at FF. Draft a KPF and hope we can hit our straps before its time for some of our senior players to retire.

Hurley or Brown could have comfortably played on Watts - Yeah let's go back to caveman footy and play 2 rucks.
 

parishfever

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Hurley or Brown could have comfortably played on Watts - Yeah let's go back to caveman footy and play 2 rucks.

When you suggest putting our most damaging defender and number 1 backman on a 3rd tall is proving my point, we had no matchup for Watts. Brown can't go with him and Hurley needed to be in our defensive 50 unless it was on his own terms.

Caveman footy? Adelaide are flogging everyone, kicking 100pts+ a week and have Jacobs with Otten pinch hitting... GWS playing mumford in the ruck, lobb too?

If caveman footy is being on par with them I think majority of our supporters would be happy
 
Jan 10, 2015
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Hurley or Brown could have comfortably played on Watts - Yeah let's go back to caveman footy and play 2 rucks.
Bulldogs played ok with 2 rucks. It worked better than when Cloke arrived. So did Hawthorn. Unless the FF is very mobile like Cameron (GWS), you may as well have 2 ruckman who can take a good grab up forward and ruck as well. You need a lot of runners to make it work.
 
our selection committee is making some fairly obvious errors.
Jobe wasn't needed in Adelaide. Nor required after a 5 day break when Myers did well in his VFL return. And how Kelly needs a rest and Jobe doesn't?

Hartley is our best spoiling defender. Yet he sits out. Casboult, Walker and Watts go to town on us. We're lucky Collingwood don't have an effective 2nd tall forward.
I do not see what Brown or Dea provide us defensively.

We freed Joey up to play his natural game with 2 other tall forwards last week (Hooker & Francis). We don't replace that and all of a sudden he is taking set shots instead of wheeling around his man.

Howlett has come in twice now and given us little. Langford is a goal kicker. He may lack intensity and still be learning the ropes, but the last year and a bit has put runs on the board as a goal threat. He may drift in and out, as a young player will, but we don't score enough to give up his goals.

Zaka. Once my melbourne mates were comfortable they were going to win the talk turned to what has happened to Zaka. He is a shadow of the player who started last year. Give him some time in the VFL, or even a week or two away from the game, to regain the confidence. His best is too good not to have out there.

i get we are transitioning players back & still developing the squad chemistry.
I am seriously puzzled by some of the selection decisions we make.

Great post and spot on. Exactly my thoughts, too.
 
Jan 30, 2015
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I'm actually pretty disgusted with some of our own members today.
Seriously the abuse joe d copped from some of our own members gave me the shits to the point where I called the flog with a moustache that was sitting behind me out. I hope it's not one of you...
For Christs sake, the bloke tries his heart out and basically won us a game off his own boot last week and our own supporters have the audacity to give him the lip they served out... cmon guys I know we weren't great today on field, but some of the s**t I heard from our own today was repulsive to say the least..
I am glad you called people out although I have never been more annoyed at a player than I Was at Daniher yesterday. But eventually it got to the point where I was annoyed at anyone that passed it to him. It was blatantly obvious me was mentally shot re kicking for goal.

I might called out "Daniher, Nooooo!!!!!" but that was about it.

Gosh I hope we can turn him into a good ruckman because he will never be a set shot unless he can completely change his thought processes. It's not a technique issue or else he wouldn't kick them from outside 50 on the run. And changing thought processes is 100 times harder than changing technique. They need to find him a good psych to teach him not to scare himself out of kicking set shots.
 
Jan 31, 2012
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How is it boloney?

Melbourne are a much better team than Carlton. That is fact.

They utterly outplayed us in the second half.

It's boloney because you're simply marginalising our performance because you perceive Melb a better team than Carlton?? What's that got to do with anything?

No disputing they outplayed us in the 2nd half, but anyone would've.

Point being we were our own worst enemy today, not because Melbourne were any good. A Melb mate of mine even admitted as much. They had Gawn & Hogan out, structurally their two best players, they were significantly disadvantaged if you want to talk strength of opposition.
 

Killer_Mike

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I am glad you called people out although I have never been more annoyed at a player than I Was at Daniher yesterday. But eventually it got to the point where I was annoyed at anyone that passed it to him. It was blatantly obvious me was mentally shot re kicking for goal.

I might called out "Daniher, Nooooo!!!!!" but that was about it.

Gosh I hope we can turn him into a good ruckman because he will never be a set shot unless he can completely change his thought processes. It's not a technique issue or else he wouldn't kick them from outside 50 on the run. And changing thought processes is 100 times harder than changing technique. They need to find him a good psych to teach him not to scare himself out of kicking set shots.
Maybe due to the smaller oval or even just trying different structures but both Hooker and Joe D played a lot closer to goal yesterday and I believe that affected Joe's confidence.

He is far more comfortable leading up the ground and doubling back where he can use his athleticism but also where he doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders in regards to kicking the winning score. Having said that if he had of kicked straight we wouldn't be having this conversation.

The problem I have with Joe and Hooker playing closer to goal is it renders Fanta, Walla and Green far less effective as they don't have the space to operate in.

I would like to see Langford come back in soon because his ability to drag his opponent up and down the ground is underrated and when we have that interchangeable forward structure we look far more dangerous.
 
I haven't been to a game in ages and have not sat behind the goals in years - at times I felt I was actually on the wing as the ball was being switched from wing to wing constantly in front of me.

Not the best game to take my 7yo to for her first exposure :(

I felt we couldn't possibly play that poorly for the whole game, that we were not that bad - I was wrong. Never mind, there is always next week. I am an eternal optimist.

However by far the worst part of the experience was the behaviour of a few of the Essendon fans. McKenna was a significant target as were Melksham and Daniher, I will forgive some trash talk if it it is humorous but it was not even that. Many players from both teams copped it, one spectator even drew the attention of Jack Watts with a bizarre rant about him having an armchair ride in a crap team and looking a better player by comparison (on purpose?). Watts laughed disbelievingly and jogged away. There was also a Melbourne fan who let fly with a few C-words.

I confess I gave my 7 yo my phone and earphones so she could play games instead, I had hoped she would enjoy the atmosphere but in the end was happy for her to avoid it.
This is exactly the reason why I am reluctant to take my kids in. Some people take it way too far. A bit of lighthearted banter is fine but the bad language and relentless, humourless, abuse isn't. You just never really know what you are going to end up next to.
The worst supporter that I have seen was one of ours out at Waverley one day in the early 90's. She spent all day colourfully abusing our players. She went on with little regard to where she was and who might be listening often so busy abusing the players that she missed the good stuff and in the end we won the game. I would have been 11 or 12 years old and my brother two years younger. One lady who had kids turned around at one point and gave her a look and the lady threatened to put her can up her arse because "it would fit". I remember my Dad telling me after the game that the woman was most likely mad (in the stark raving bonkers sense) but it made a huge impression on me. Thst sort of thing can stay with you.
 
not sure we lost this game because of "match ups"...

our basic skills were absolutely s**t house. You cannot win games of football from the amount of turnovers we produced.
 
This is exactly the reason why I am reluctant to take my kids in. Some people take it way too far. A bit of lighthearted banter is fine but the bad language and relentless, humourless, abuse isn't. You just never really know what you are going to end up next to.
The worst supporter that I have seen was one of ours out at Waverley one day in the early 90's. She spent all day colourfully abusing our players. She went on with little regard to where she was and who might be listening often so busy abusing the players that she missed the good stuff and in the end we won the game. I would have been 11 or 12 years old and my brother two years younger. One lady who had kids turned around at one point and gave her a look and the lady threatened to put her can up her arse because "it would fit". I remember my Dad telling me after the game that the woman was most likely mad (in the stark raving bonkers sense) but it made a huge impression on me. Thst sort of thing can stay with you.
It seems more jarring when it comes from the teams own supporters. I remember going to a Geelong v Hawks game out at Waverley and sitting in amongst a group of cats fans. Language was pretty bad but more like Melb 30 years ago as opposed to straight outta Compton levels. Anyway Garry Ablett senior was having a shocker and a rabid Geelong fan who had the been atrocious all day screamed out '* off ablett, every thing you touch turns to s**t'. The aggressiveness and loudness kinda shocked that section of the crowd and it all went quiet. Then another Geelong supporter, a woman 5 or so rows behind, said softly but loud enough to break the silence and for everyone to hear 'when did he touch you mate'. We all erupted in laughter - gold!
 
Last edited:
Sep 12, 2003
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Look if you're worried about your kid hearing shocking things said then maybe keep them at home. People mad or otherwise tend to say stuff out of emotional frustration at the footy and have been doing so for decades. It's not new. There are places you can sit where that stuff is minimal at best but you'll struggle to find a place at the footy that's swear word/nutter free.

My dad took me to Windy hill as a kid and if you think our supporters are bad now, let me tell you it's old hat.
 

Halftimehero

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Have no idea why people want Brown and Mckenna out of the team - Brown was solid again and did his job - Mckenna showed some exciting glimpses of play and is progressing well.

Mckenna is at least finding the aggot, making some mistakes but only way he is gonna to fix that up is under AFL pressure not VFL, the big ground this week should suit him even better.
 
Have no idea why people want Brown and Mckenna out of the team - Brown was solid again and did his job - Mckenna showed some exciting glimpses of play and is progressing well.
My thinking was that McKenna and Gleeson should not both be put into in the same team at this time, particularly with Ambrose out. They are both too green and need support and direction (such as that provided by Kelly) at this stage of their careers. Yesterday, McGrath, Brown and Dea all played better than Gleeson and McKenna.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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We had no matchup for Watts the moment Ambrose was out, he's not even a good player he's just an athletic 3rd tall who we don't have a matchup for. If Joey kicks straight and we made a better team selection we'd have won this game by 40 points.

TBC should never be a solo ruck at AFL level, his only good season was in tandem with Ryder. I'm a massive fan of TBC, his goal kicking is generally good and he can be a 20HO, 2 goal ruckman in tandem with Leuey. Personally think the next step is to drop Gleeson/Dea, move Hooker back again and have the resting ruckman play at FF. Draft a KPF and hope we can hit our straps before its time for some of our senior players to retire.

Watts is a very good player. Very smart read of the play. Good marks and is one of the best kicks in the AFL for mine. His only real weakness for me is he fumbles when the ball is below his knees a bit. But he's good enough to get out of the pressure he creates. As their FF, he provided a lot more than our forwards did in the end.
Agree Ambrose was a big loss, but i get the feeling he would have taken Petracca, who also got off the leash.

Not sure we can play Berger and Belly in the same side. We lose a lot of pace/mobility in doing so.
If anything, Daniher as 2nd ruck to either of these is an ideal scenario. I didn't mind Belly in the 2nd half once. To be expected for his first game in a while.
Daniher's missing was a major issue, but you get games like that from players. He is still developing. Riewoldt & Buddy had the same issues until they got to 24/25. Im not overly concerned.
Effort was appalling though. Worsfold needs to address the hunger and intensity of this group. The only fire you see out there is from the kids and Goddard.
 
Jan 7, 2005
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having watched Adelaide rip the only other undefeated team to shreds after our game, and having seen GWS give last years premiers a touch up, it is blatantly obvious to me that we are not winning the flag this year.

Given this is simply a fact, it is only right and proper to manage the team in such a way as to be prepared for next year. I would be aiming to play younger players and try a few things out if I was the coach, and as a supporter I am not getting to upset at losses personally
 
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