Roast Soft.Soft.Soft!

[Crumpler83]

Funnily enough I'm not as pissed about this loss as I was with Richmond or even West Coast. Yes, we had a chance to consolidate a finals spot but we all really kind of expected this result didn't we? The form line has been there for all to see this season and our putrid interstate record was the icing on the cake.

I don't know what it is but we just turn into a completely different football side interstate and it is compounded at Subi where we generally serve up pretty average performances. We seriously looked incapable of scoring today and I don't understand it after we blitzed the Saints for 2 and a half quarters last week. Somehow this interstate factor needs to be addressed because you can generally pencil in 3 or 4 losses a year due to having to travel so we're starting from behind the 8 ball already.

Now we are still in it (feels like I've been uttering this to myself for the past month) but I can understand why some people aren't taking the "glass half full" approach after today. If we really wanted to make the finals we surely would have won one if not all of the Richmond, West Coast and Freo games. The fact that we are still alive is just because of the ineptitude of the teams below us so we can consider ourselves lucky right now.

 

[james_omahoney]

Where did I say I expect him to be elite? I said I don't see what he can add to our side - and just because he had a knee reco doesn't mean he's lost his decision making and handball/kicking ability.

Sorry. You said you haven't seen anything that justifies the talk that he could be elite. Given that he's come off a knee reco - yes that will affect his confidence and hence decision-making and kicking.

 

[Sill]

Will we have a good shot at winning the premiership this year? = No
Will we learn a lot from finishing ninth? = No

Will the young players benefit from playing a finals game together? = Yes

Playing finals will be more beneficial for the players and the club, to suggest otherwise is moronic!

So we lost today, very disappointing, but not the end of our season. If we make the finals and play Carlton, we might even win 1 final, wouldn't that bring more satisfaction and drive to a young team over the pre-season?

I understand that people are upset with this game, but look at the bigger picture. If we win next week against the Hawks and put them out of the finals then the week after that we kick the Blues out, wouldn't that be satisfying?

I think it's time to dry our eyes and wait until next week to drop the bundle!

this is true this was the only reason i wanted to make the finals this year to get a taste of finals footy into the kids and a little hunger for it for the next year or 2 to come !!!!

 

[Boucks09]

The fact that Jobe was injured killed us today. Nobody else in the side today was remotely capable of winning a hard ball at the clearances.

McVeigh and Welsh were ****en shit. I don't care about the amount of tackles and possessions, they gave nothing in the hard ball stakes.

Absolutely shattering loss.

We could do worse than look at the way Lovett Murray attacked the ball.

It's going to be a horrible weak thinking about what Buddy could do

 

[Big Blow Hard]

Will we have a good shot at winning the premiership this year? = No
Will we learn a lot from finishing ninth? = No

Will the young players benefit from playing a finals game together? = Yes

Playing finals will be more beneficial for the players and the club, to suggest otherwise is moronic!

So we lost today, very disappointing, but not the end of our season. If we make the finals and play Carlton, we might even win 1 final, wouldn't that bring more satisfaction and drive to a young team over the pre-season?

I understand that people are upset with this game, but look at the bigger picture. If we win next week against the Hawks and put them out of the finals then the week after that we kick the Blues out, wouldn't that be satisfying?

I think it's time to dry our eyes and wait until next week to drop the bundle!

Excellent Post.

 

[GoDons]

Will we have a good shot at winning the premiership this year? = No
Will we learn a lot from finishing ninth? = No

Will the young players benefit from playing a finals game together? = Yes

Playing finals will be more beneficial for the players and the club, to suggest otherwise is moronic!

So we lost today, very disappointing, but not the end of our season. If we make the finals and play Carlton, we might even win 1 final, wouldn't that bring more satisfaction and drive to a young team over the pre-season?

I understand that people are upset with this game, but look at the bigger picture. If we win next week against the Hawks and put them out of the finals then the week after that we kick the Blues out, wouldn't that be satisfying?

I think it's time to dry our eyes and wait until next week to drop the bundle!

Nicely put.

We were weak today, I don't think we can back away from that, but football's a week to week proposition and now we've got another chance this week against Hawthorn who aren't exactly playing crash hot footy either.

Time to move on and get ready for a massive game which could only be beneficial to win.

 

[mugsyman]

I expected to lose, but the fact it was by over 50 points and davey got injured right near the end of the game just pissed me off

 

[spike mcveigh]

Definetly true, i think what it comes down to is the diffenrece between pressure and intensity. When we play games which we are expected to win or like today having a chance to make the finals, we lack intensity and we feel the pressure as seen by our skills. However when we play games like last week against St.Kilda which we aren't expected to win, we show strong intensity and have a real crack. What Essendon have to do for the future is control the two pressure/intensity and fit that into our game on a regular basis.

 

[HULK HOGAN]

The fact that Jobe was injured killed us today. Nobody else in the side today was remotely capable of winning a hard ball at the clearances.

McVeigh and Welsh were ****en shit. I don't care about the amount of tackles and possessions, they gave nothing in the hard ball stakes.

Absolutely shattering loss.

We could do worse than look at the way Lovett Murray attacked the ball.

It's going to be a horrible weak thinking about what Buddy could do

I think maybe one of them has to play permanate forward next week.
Thats if they dont drop one of them.

 

[Catsace]

Where did I say I expect him to be elite? I said I don't see what he can add to our side - and just because he had a knee reco doesn't mean he's lost his decision making and handball/kicking ability.

Can we have him back please??

He is a quality player, and is still less than 12 months out from his knee reco. Few players in modern times have come back in scintillating form so soon after a knee. He'd be very valuable back at the Cattery with our injuries, as an extra midfielder in the rotation.

Must say, i really did want you to win today and keep the Dawks out, maybe you can do the business next week. Must say, this year has been a tipster's nightmare, as Freo, Port and even your Bombers have been all over the shop consistency wise. Probably though because you do have a young side, and you have missed Hille almost all year, as we have with Ottens, respectively our biggest and best ruckmen, takes a toll against Sandilands, the man-mountain that he is.

 

[Sill]

McVeigh and Welsh were ****en shit. I don't care about the amount of tackles and possessions, they gave nothing in the hard ball stakes.



lol i been protecting mcveigh for ages and i finally have given in he is ****en shit house...... :0( *elite my ass*

 

[gPhonque]

They were two of our better players today. Stanton was hard at it and broke a heap of tackles.

You gotta be kidding? Both Lovett and Stanton run around the outside of packs asking for cheap posessions. And to make it worse, Lovett couldn't hit a target all day. If he's not even hitting targets with his cheap posessions, then he's useless.

Maybe I'm being harsh.... maybe it was the fact that the entire team lacked intensity all day (apart from maybe NLM, Dyson, and McPhee.... although McPhee had another typical shocker skill-wise) but I guess I just get annoyed when we're lacking intensity, and then I see Stanton and Lovett softly pull out of contests anad Freo run away with the ball.

Or hey, maybe I just missed the "hard" bits that you saw. (although I don't think Lovett has ever been hard at the ball in his entire life)

Lonergan MUST play next week. He's just about our toughest player. (and in my opinion, one of our best prospects for the future)


And ok, to be fair.... our injury list hurt us today as well. But at the same time, that's no excuse for not going at the ball hard.

Like I said, we made Freo look like St Kilda.

 

[The Donners]

Soft bunch of over hyped down hill skiers.
As soon as sides play us man on man we fall apart an no one is prepared to run hard to make a difference.
I hope we loose next week so we save ourselves the humiliation of being belted out of the finals in week 1.
Piss poor Bombers.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Jetta's chance today, it was basically taken away from him by playing in the backline... and yes I know he's played in the backline in the VFL.

Was Welsh even playing today?

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

You gotta be kidding? Both Lovett and Stanton run around the outside of packs asking for cheap posessions. And to make it worse, Lovett couldn't hit a target all day. If he's not even hitting targets with his cheap posessions, then he's useless.

Maybe I'm being harsh.... maybe it was the fact that the entire team lacked intensity all day (apart from maybe NLM, Dyson, and McPhee.... although McPhee had another typical shocker skill-wise) but I guess I just get annoyed when we're lacking intensity, and then I see Stanton and Lovett softly pull out of contests anad Freo run away with the ball.

Or hey, maybe I just missed the "hard" bits that you saw. (although I don't think Lovett has ever been hard at the ball in his entire life)

Lonergan MUST play next week. He's just about our toughest player. (and in my opinion, one of our best prospects for the future)


And ok, to be fair.... our injury list hurt us today as well. But at the same time, that's no excuse for not going at the ball hard.

Like I said, we made Freo look like St Kilda.

There were at least two occasions where Stanton put his head down and ran through attempted Freo tackles (in the centre of the ground, I think).

 

[toddy104]

Makes me feel a little bit better reading all this.

I just want to see something happen after this piss poor effort. Some finger pointing. I hope they all feel like shit because I know i do.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

On top of that you start on how flags are won on defensive mindeset but you give me a spray when i dare to pick out blokes who can not find a man or when i said we will not make a GF with Stanton, Watson, Prismall and Lovett in the midfield.
!

I agree to an extent on that one. It's why I wasn't fussed about the Prismall trade tbh. I never liked what I saw from him last year and I didnt' think he'd fit into our side well.

I don't have that much of a problem with the cattle. It's the mix that constantly kills us imo. Lonergan out and Jetta in? wtf? I want Jetta in the side but if we are taking out one of our ball winners and hard nuts we need to replace him with like for like especially when guys like Welsh have failed on the big grounds this year.

It's the second string killing us in Welsh and McVeigh. Just not enough from them. It would have been better if Welsh missed the whole season and not tried to get back. We could have picked guys that can run each week.

 

[The Donners]

There were at least two occasions where Stanton put his head down and ran through attempted Freo tackles (in the centre of the ground, I think).

You're kidding yourself if you're trying to pass off Stanton as hard at it.

Last quarter, game is still there to be won, he took light steps because he didn't want to feel impact. Lovett did the same.

Those 2 are the softest players in Essendon's line-up, Lovett is however softer than Stanton... at least Lovett has a decent disposal though.

 

[Daytripper]

You're kidding yourself if you're trying to pass off Stanton as hard at it.

Last quarter, game is still there to be won, he took light steps because he didn't want to feel impact. Lovett did the same.

Those 2 are the softest players in Essendon's line-up, Lovett is however softer than Stanton... at least Lovett has a decent disposal though.

Stanton worked his guts out tonight. Don't have a go at him for his endeavour.

Thought all the players tried hard actually - We were just beaten by a better side who grow another leg in Perth.

 

[Jab]

Excellent Post.

Nicely put.

We were weak today, I don't think we can back away from that, but football's a week to week proposition and now we've got another chance this week against Hawthorn who aren't exactly playing crash hot footy either.

Time to move on and get ready for a massive game which could only be beneficial to win.

Cheers guys.

We know that we are not serious contenders this year and we have some things to work on and that we have had some injury issues this year (injuries are not an excuse, but they are an explanation).

To give our young guys a chance to play under finals pressure will be good for our young group. There were many reasons to be disappointed with today's game but we were beaten away, the week after beating the undefeated top side, which we were reduced to near no bench in the last quarter.

It is a long year for young players, they performed beautifully last week under pressure and we would have had a few very sore boys as a result to the injuries and lack of rotations last week. We lost the plot today and were beaten.

 

[gPhonque]

There were at least two occasions where Stanton put his head down and ran through attempted Freo tackles (in the centre of the ground, I think).

There's a very big difference between trying to run through a tackle when you've already got the ball, and putting your head over the ball and going in hard to get it when it's there to be won.

I saw Stanton shirk at least 2 contests today when the ball was there to be won. Something he does regularly imo.

As for Lovett.... well, he's never won a hard ball in his life.

 

[Macca18]

It was our worst performance of the year (when it counted the most) and we conceded our highest score for the year - simply unacceptable. We clearly cannot play Subiaco properly at all. Lack of key personnel didn't help either but it's no excuse against the likes of Fremantle.

Hawthorn will put us all out of our misery next week because we'd be embarrassed in any final we'd play right at the moment.

 

[ant555]

I agree to an extent on that one. It's why I wasn't fussed about the Prismall trade tbh. I never liked what I saw from him last year and I didnt' think he'd fit into our side well.

I don't have that much of a problem with the cattle. It's the mix that constantly kills us imo. Lonergan out and Jetta in? wtf? I want Jetta in the side but if we are taking out one of our ball winners and hard nuts we need to replace him with like for like especially when guys like Welsh have failed on the big grounds this year.

It's the second string killing us in Welsh and McVeigh. Just not enough from them. It would have been better if Welsh missed the whole season and not tried to get back. We could have picked guys that can run each week.

Lonergan was injured. They gave him all week to come up and took him over to WA but he was not right.

You are right about Welsh and McVeigh. I think the lack of pre season / missed training has caught up with them.

 

[ghostdog]

I'm worried that our biggest problem this year has been our attitude. Over the pre-season we can work on game plan, fitness and skills but working on not taking teams lightly might be a bigger issue. I thought after Richmond and West Coast they might have woken up and realised that they can't take these games lightly but... I was wrong.

I agree. There is something wrong with the mindset of the team. We rise to the occasion against the tougher sides and take for granted those lower on the ladder. Our mentality seems as though its that we believe we are owed the victory, or that someone else in the side will get us home. There is no collective lift against these sides. There needs to be a common belief that we should hand these sides the f****** belting they deserve, and we don't. It's sheer arrogance.

 

[Big Blow Hard]

It was our worst performance of the year (when it counted the most) and we conceded our highest score for the year - simply unacceptable. We clearly cannot play Subiaco properly at all. Lack of key personnel didn't help either but it's no excuse against the likes of Fremantle.

Hawthorn will put us all out of our misery next week because we'd be embarrassed in any final we'd play right at the moment.

And how do you know we would not play like we did against St Kilda. If we met Carlton, you don't think we would find an extra gear.
I would rather lose a final, than not play in one because you are scared of embarrasment. Wouldn't making the finals be more encouraging than not?

 

[ghostdog]

It was our worst performance of the year (when it counted the most) and we conceded our highest score for the year - simply unacceptable. We clearly cannot play Subiaco properly at all. Lack of key personnel didn't help either but it's no excuse against the likes of Fremantle.

Hawthorn will put us all out of our misery next week because we'd be embarrassed in any final we'd play right at the moment.

Yes we can. We played a terrific win against Freo at Subi last year. Welsh locked down the middle and half back that day (which is the kind of role I think it was Ant555 was pointing to a lack of).

Whoever posited that we can't play big grounds? ...that idea doesn't ride either. We smash the G.

I reckon Subiaco is all in the mind. The team should visit Richie Tambling's hypnotist... okay maybe that's a bit rash. Something needs to happen psychologically though.