AFL Autopsy Spanked by Sydney in elimination final

[Lore]

Jokes aside my Essendon mates thought he was cooked because of his corky.

On the coverage they were talking about him having a heat pack strapped to his leg and he had to keep moving in case it seized up (hence the exercise bike on the field at quarter time). He was probably lucky it wasn't his kicking leg too. Wonder how he'll recover for next week, given that that would've made the injury worse.

 

[ezard15]

shut the **** up about COLA jesus christ



(this post is being singled out because it's the most recent one I've seen, but I'm sure there's plenty more like it)

I think this is something of a reverse cop out. It makes it sound like you're being tough and demanding on them by questioning their effort, but the reality is, the effort looked fine from my vintage point in the Victor Trumper stand, the Swans didn't kick 10 goals because we tried a little less, and trying a bit more wouldn't've changed it either. We were dominated in the centre, made some bad decisions and a couple of players perhaps put themselves in the wrong spot (When Buddy kicked his first goal, Goddard was sprinting hard....to the opposite flank), and we got a couple of unlucky bounces and Buddy had his kicking boots on as well. It's something of a perfect storm but it wasn't because we didn't put effort in

Scott Lucas called us statues in the second quarter. Annoying statement, statues won't be thrown out of the way.


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Essendonia]

Made the trip up and was hopeful.

After quarter time, we bent to Sydney's will, as many clubs have done for the past decade. We were too young, too small, too inexperienced and not playing with 'finals pressure' after quarter time. Most of the boys cracked in, but we were caught chasing and lacking on-field leadership to steady the structures.

The Sydney fairytale is BS - they simply underperformed for the first six matches of 2017, and always had the team to finish top-4. Not a ton of shame in going down to the likely premier, but it would've been nice to keep the margin competitive till the end.

Look forward to a re-jigged midfield and more games into the kids, who are promising.

 

[ezard15]

Yeah it should be a high priority for you guys. For the swans it seems like we focus on it too often, but then come finals time I'm happy we do!

I hate to rub it in, but we have 3 or 4 young inside mids in the reserves side knocking down the door to get into the firsts. One of them, Jordan Dawson, would probably get a run in most AFL sides right now.

I think the city of Geelong will sleep badly this week! I've already booked flights and looking for an Airbnb. Should be a lovely night out at the footy

Awesome mate have fun!

You will find it's cheap as chips to pay for accommodation and other things here in Melbourne because we have a really low cost of living compared to Sydney

Lol, I am on fire.




On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[db swannie]

Awesome mate have fun!

You will find it's cheap as chips to pay for accommodation and other things here in Melbourne because we have a really low cost of living compared to Sydney

Lol, I am on fire.




On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

Good, I'm hoping to save around 9.8% on food and accomodation!

 

[KevDawg]

"Off field opportunities that come with bigger clubs" ....they've got the whole of Sydney to themselves, biggest, glitziest city in the country!

I live here in Sydney and have lived in Melbourne. I'd suggest you could walk their entire squad down George street and if Buddy, Heeney, Hannebery, Jack maybe Kennedy weren't with them, most people wouldn't recognise them.

 

[KevDawg]

I'm making a weekend of this Sydney trip and walked past Tippett at Bondi earlier. I think I was the only person to give him a second glance (to be fair there were much nicer things to look at...). The relative anonymity must be great for these blokes.

So, I doubt there are multiple advertising opp's heading Tippetts way. Not for the Sydney market, anyway.

 

[pazza]

Short and sweet summary.

Didn't want it enough and paid dearly for it.

 

[Alfred E Neuman]

Short and sweet summary.

Didn't want it enough and paid dearly for it.

Yeah, it was a lack of desire rather than a gulf in skill and experience.

 

[pazza]

Yeah, it was a lack of desire rather than a gulf in skill and experience.

And there were plenty of pointers to that.

The lack of tackling and pressure when the Swans had that run on. Have a go at least.
The forward entries (when we had them).
The ruck. Easily T-Bell's worst game for the year (whilst Naismith had a field day).

 

[Snake Charmer]

So angry, where was the final siren after Daniher kicked that first goal after his big screamer? Seemed like the game went for an eternity after that.


On iPad using BigFooty.com mobile app

That terrible free kick against Hep for there first goal seemed to suck abit out. Did for me anyway

 

[ghostdog]

- Playing a brand that doesn't stand up to finals football. When was the last time Essendon had a midfield capable of competing in the contest for 4 quarters? Why has it taken so long to realise that contested footy is the way to win in September?

I think this is a tad harsh. Wasn't so long ago (2011-2012 maybe?) I recall we got absolutely rag-dolled by Geelong. Every hit from them that night was hard. By 2013 our mids had hardened up significantly, but that was when Watson was at his best. Myers was really starting to play hard, Hocking had become a bit of a beast and Howlett was also playing very hard at it. Fast forward and that line up is decimated by age. We had realised and we were on our way there, and the saga did what it did. It's hard to get past the idea that had the saga not happened and we'd kept Ryder and Hibbo, and even Melk, we would have pushed deep into a finals campaign by now. And so we start again.

 

[Dave]

db swannie's been a good egg on the board, I dont agree with everything they've posted but I think it's poor form from us to whinge about stuff in the post mortem. Plenty of other avenues to do that. just my 2c worth.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Goodonya Dave.... not the Dons fans fault you guys have been put through the mill. Finally your Club has a decent Prez (I know Tanner and he is a great bloke) and an admin that won't take the short cuts. You guys have some good kids and with solid development will bounce back - hopefully not at our expense.

 

[JayJ20]

I think this is a tad harsh. Wasn't so long ago (2011-2012 maybe?) I recall we got absolutely rag-dolled by Geelong. Every hit from them that night was hard. By 2013 our mids had hardened up significantly, but that was when Watson was at his best. Myers was really starting to play hard, Hocking had become a bit of a beast and Howlett was also playing very hard at it. Fast forward and that line up is decimated by age. We had realised and we were on our way there, and the saga did what it did. It's hard to get past the idea that had the saga not happened and we'd kept Ryder and Hibbo, and even Melk, we would have pushed deep into a finals campaign by now. And so we start again.

We were 9th for contested possessions, 9th for clearances and 12th for tackles in 2013.
Watson (13th), Heppell(38th), Zaharakis (76th) and Goddard (83rd) were the only players to feature in the top 100 contested possession getters.
Howlett (17th), Hocking (24th) and Cory Dell'Olio (71st) were the only players to feature in the top 100 players for tackles.
Watson (24th) and Heppell (45th) were the only players in the top 60 for clearances.

We were definitely harder that year compared to other years, but it is no where near the standard required to compete in finals.

As for this year, I said all year that Richmond play the brand of footy that stands up in finals whilst we don't. Not surprisingly, they won a final and we didn't. We need to look at the changes they made and assess it.

I'll back Woosha to make the necessary changes needed to harden up our midfield.

 

[Milanista28]

Feel sorry for anyone who traveled from Melbourne.

Don't be mate, We had a good weekend footy aside. And we gave it to the Swans fans because we have trams and they don't!!!

 

[WEEVZ]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not but the player ratings on Fox Sports are pretty accurate for mine, much more so than the ones of the AFL site.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/af...s/news-story/fea84b8cf17ad463b26e3e2131754dc9

ESSENDON

1. Andrew McGrath — 7
McGrath was one of Essendon’s best, finishing with 22 disposals and six tackles from halfback. Was a bit sloppy via foot at times but he wasn’t alone.

2. Tom Bellchambers — 2
Just three disposals and gave away a team-high four free-kicks. A night to forget in the ruck.

3. Darcy Parish — 5
Parish amassed 21 disposals and was handy without being influential. Still lightly built, he got pushed aside too easily and will learn from the experience.

4. Jobe Watson — 4
Had four disposals and two tackles in the first four minutes and continued to work relentlessly in the clinches but struggled on the outside with his ball use.

6. Joe Daniher — 7
Daniher took a huge grab in the opening minutes and did a handful of special things. He was ultimately starved of opportunities and finished with three goals and two behinds. Far from Essendon’s worst.

7. Zach Merrett — 4
This was far from Merrett’s finest match. In fact, it was probably one of his quietest for the season. As an inside midfielder he was soundly nullified. And as an outside player he was non-existent.

8. Martin Gleeson — 7
Gleeson was one of Essendon’s better players. The defender had 25 disposals and provided run from halfback all afternoon. Unfortunately he didn’t have much help, but can hold his head up high.

9. Brendon Goddard — 5
Sat loose behind the ball for most of the game and floated in and out of the match. No longer a game breaker, Goddard relies on his teammates to feed him the ball and space to move. On Saturday he had neither.

11. David Zaharakis — 6
Tackled ferociously all game and worked hard on the outside without much reward. One of Essendon’s better players but still well below his usual output.

12. Mark Baguley — 4
Baguley had a reasonable game as a small defender. Defensively, he did his job. But offensively there was limited run from him.

13. Orazio Fantasia — 4
Kicked one goal and was busy in the front half but was also in and out of the game.

16. Josh Begley — 2
Kicked a goal but was non-existent aside from that. Not alone but was soundly beaten.

17. James Stewart — 5
Stewart presented valiantly without much luck. He finished goalless with half-a-dozen marksbut had limited opportunities to assert his presence on the contest.

18. Michael Hurley — 5
Started on Callum Sinclair and was out-marked three times in the first 15 minutes. Found more of the ball as the match went on but couldn’t stem the flow of goals.

21. Dyson Heppell — 6
Pinged holding the ball to allow Josh Kennedy to kick Sydney’s first and worked hard for the rest of the afternoon without having a significant influence. Good on the inside but a touch sloppy on the outside.

23. David Myers — 1
This was not a great way to celebrate David Myers’ 100th game. Hardly went near it.

29. Patrick Ambrose — 2
Started on Lance Franklin and after a strong first term things got ugly pretty quick. Franklin booted four goals in 20 minutes in the second quarter. Ambrose is not the first defender to be beaten by Buddy and he won’t be the last.

32. Travis Colyer — 4
Like many of his teammates, Colyer’s outside running style meant he had a minimal influence on the contest. Missed his two shots on goal.

36. Michael Hartley — 7
Started on Sam Reid at centre half-back and held the Swan goalless. Did his job despite constant forward 50 entries.

43. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti — 2
Essendon’s cult figure struggled to have an impact and fumbled throughout the match. Certainly an afternoon to forget despite a late tackle on Zak Jones that won him a free-kick.

45. Conor McKenna — 3
McKenna’s running game simply didn’t suit the small SCG and the contested nature of this match. Was barely sighted in the first term and not much changed from then on.

47. James Kelly — 6
An early blood rule forced Kelly from the field. He was typically reliable from halfback but didn’t have much help from teammates in his last game.

 

[eth-dog]

Judging from the comments in here Hartley was close to worst on?

 

[pazza]

Judging from the comments in here Hartley was close to worst on?

Didn't notice his efforts on Reid to be fair, but, if he has held him goal-less, that's a fair achievement given how often it was down there.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Judging from the comments in here Hartley was close to worst on?

I swear Harts played on Sinclair early and was killed by him. Could be wrong tho

 

[Lore]

I swear Harts played on Sinclair early and was killed by him. Could be wrong tho

Franklin's first was on Hartley. After that he switched opponents but idk who he switched to. Ambrose was on Franklin after that though.

 

[WEEVZ]

Judging from the comments in here Hartley was close to worst on?

Nope he did his job. Kept Reid quiet.

 

[eth-dog]

I swear Harts played on Sinclair early and was killed by him. Could be wrong tho

Harts was on Reid all day, Sinclair was on Hurley

Franklin's first was on Hartley. After that he switched opponents but idk who he switched to. Ambrose was on Franklin after that though.

Channel 7 made the point several times that Ambrose was on Buddy all first half

 

[Snake Charmer]

Franklin's first was on Hartley. After that he switched opponents but idk who he switched to. Ambrose was on Franklin after that though.

you sure? When Franklin kicked the first point of the game I was directly behind him in the members, I remember Ambrose being there. As for the second quarter when Franklin did kick his first you might be right about Hartley. I have no idea who was on him

 

[Snake Charmer]

Harts was on Reid all day, Sinclair was on Hurley

Channel 7 made the point several times that Ambrose was on Buddy all first half

Yeah pretty sure you're correct.