Remove this Banner Ad

Should we make the finals?

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

sheller891

sheller891

Club Legend
Veteran
Aug 13, 2004
2,521
37
Melb
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Cavs, Pens
After the great Stkilda win...people are saying that we still have a chance to make the finals.

But, is it really worth for us to make the finals, becuase lets face it - we're not going to challenge for the premiership; maybe in 2 years time, but defineitely not this year.

So, wouldn't we rather, get some good draft picks and help our future, rather than making the finals - just to make up the numbers.

Thoughts?
 
Ridiculous post.

Of course we should aim at making the finals.
What are we ? St Kilda all of a sudden.

Say we came 8th this year instead of 11th. This is what it would mean in terms of the draft. This includes the priority picks picked up by clubs who finished with less then 22 points for that year.

2001
Luke Molan (for the 11th placed team)
Brent Reilly (8th placed team)

2002
Steve Salopek (11th)
Hamish McIntosh (8th)

2003
Raph Clarke (11th)
Beau Waters (8th)

2004
Jordan Russell (11th)
Danny Meyer (8th)

No difference at all. If anything the 8th placed team is better off than the 11th team.
 
Of course I want to see the boys play finals and I don't think it would be a disadvantage if we did.

By the looks of it, only 1 club will be eligible for priority picks as Coll and Haw look like getting over 5 wins. I've also seen reports from people who follow the draft closely and have said that apart from the Top 5, the rest of the draft is "dodgy".

The draft isn't the be all and end all of recruiting although it is extremely important.

Last Friday night, 3 rookie listed players were named in the best players and another is probably leading the B&F. Our best on ground was a trade, our captain slipped through to 79.

A certain Melbourne player who will be leading the Chas after round 3 was a rookie listed player.
 

Log in to remove this Banner Ad

Yes we should try and make the finals because we aren't a team that strives for mediocrity.

But even if we do beat: Carlton, Collingwood, Richmond, Kangaroos, Sydney and Hawthorn we will still miss out. We will have to win all those matches plus an unlikely win against Brisbane at the Gabba or Melbourne/Geelong to make it.

Extremely tough.
 
Whether we win or lose we need to keep up the effort we have displayed over the last two matches. If that means we continue winning games and push for the finals then that is fantastic. Finals experience for young players like Stanton, Lovett, Laycock etc could do wonders for their development and possibly outweigh the impact at top 5 draft pick could do. If it means we have to take a Brent Stanton with our first pick instead of a Farren Ray or a Jason Laycock instead of a Jarrad McVeigh or a Angus Monfries instead of a Danny Meyer, then so be it.

If we keep the effort up but simply aren't good enough and end up with top draft picks then we go from there. But to suggest we are better off not winning games is laughable and quite frankly not 'the Essendon way.'
 
Longy413 said:
Whether we win or lose we need to keep up the effort we have displayed over the last two matches. If that means we continue winning games and push for the finals then that is fantastic. Finals experience for young players like Stanton, Lovett, Laycock etc could do wonders for their development and possibly outweight the impact at top 5 draft pick could do. If it means we have to take a Brent Stanton with our first pick instead of a Farren Ray or a Jason Laycock instead of a Jarrad McVeigh or a Angus Monfries instead of a Danny Meyer, then so be it.

If we keep the effort up but simply aren't good enough and end up with top draft picks then we go from there. But to suggest we are better off not winning games is laughable and quite frankly not 'the Essendon way.'
Click to expand...

I totally agree - i've never been one to expect anything other than finals footy and a competitive showing...i was just wondering to see waht essendon supporters thought on the matter...
 
I think we have to keep winning, or at least play with that intensity, as I think it builds critical confidence, team chemistry, and experience for later.

Look at Friday night. All the draft picks and talent in the world haven't done St. Kilda any good, have they?
 
I think its worth a shot to make the finals.

At our best we almost beat the best side of 2005, im not saying the bombers will win the GF, or have that much of a chance, but i think if the dons d make it, they would provide a challenge to who they play, and even cause afew upsets.

Plus it would be good because it gives our kids more game time in finals.
 
marcuz said:
Tank like no team has tanked before. Have all the players watch mid to late nineties LA clippers games for inspiration. :D
Click to expand...

marcuz,
As a diehard Clips fan (blame Danny Manning) they are probably not the best team to set an example. :(
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Off couse i hope we make the finals but i cant see it . If we win 6 out of the last 9 i think we will miss out by %.
I think it is more likely we will end up on 9 or 10 wins leaving us in the 9th to 11th area.
 
If we make finals, you'd have to say we are a fair chance of going a fair way.

To make finals we'd realistically have to win 7 out of 9 games.

Which would mean we would have won 8 from 10 leading into the finals.

Will it happen? I doubt it.

If we had of held on against Carlton (which we should have) and beaten Sydney (which we weren't far away) we'd be in the 8.....
 
Draft picks are soooo overrated,

About 2,000 players nominate for the national draft. Do you really think there is that much of a difference between the top 10?

Even if you get a good player with pick one, it's still only one player. So what? What the hell has Brendan Goddard done? Is Adam Cooney going to win the Bulldogs a flag on his own? Is Travis Johnstone some sort of saviour? And then once you get that first pick, the wooden spooner doesn't get their second pick until pick 17, after which the reigning premeir gets a pick before them at 16. So, it's only really one pick that's an advanatge. And even that one pick carries no guarantees. It's not as if the first pick is guaranteed to be better then the 2nd which is guaranteed to be better than the third etc. It doesn't work that way.

There are so many variables, involved with the draft. So many ways to get good players. The Rookie list has thrown up some great players, that you can legitimately build a team around. Developing the lower draft picks into regular players is more important, I reckon, because that is where you cna get a legitimate advantage over the opposition if you continually develop the 40+ picks.

Early draft picks are one of the most talked about, yet overrated ways to build a good team. West Coast is 12-1 at the moment and they aren't there, because of years of early draft picks. Have a look at their team and where they've come from.
 
Whether we make the finals or not, I love the idea of giving some of the higher ranked sides a run for their money - really make them earn their september footy! Shape the eight, even if we don't make it!
 
sheller891 said:
After the great Stkilda win...people are saying that we still have a chance to make the finals.

But, is it really worth for us to make the finals, becuase lets face it - we're not going to challenge for the premiership; maybe in 2 years time, but defineitely not this year.

?
Click to expand...

give me a break , you guys better get set for a nuclear winter that will give the duration of the cold war a nudge....in reality the bombers have as much hope winning a flag in the next couple of years as Kim Beazley becoming prime minister!
 

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Bojangles17 said:
give me a break , you guys better get set for a nuclear winter that will give the duration of the cold war a nudge....in reality the bombers have as much hope winning a flag in the next couple of years as Kim Beazley becoming prime minister!
Click to expand...
We WILL win a flag before your mob.

I am saying that now.


Bookmark it, if you will.
 
Well, ok..
Just make sure you can dig it up in about 3-5 years time...
However I fear that the sale items in the catalogue might've sold out by then...
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Should we make the finals?

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Back
Top