Toast The Positives

[Red Black and Blue]

Yes.. meaning we didn't have the ruck DEPTH to cover Ryder and TBell going down...

If you don't understand depth, list management and squad development.. then you don't understand modern footy.

It is not simply 22 v 22 anymore.. hence why the strong clubs are at the top and stay there. It is about having enough players to come in and fill roles as injuries occur.

The reality is that there are probably 10 teams that can win 'on any given day' with their best 22.. the key is execution, depth and game plan.

You speak of ruck depth but who do Freo have? Sandilands, Clarke and Hannath, Gumbleton, Bradley, (Ryder, Bellchambers, Carlisle, Daniher, Thurlow) take the first two away and it's Carlisle vs Hannath, I'd have loved that match up. The fact is not many teams in the competition have one, let alone a third ruck who could go with Sandilands.

The biggest problem is lack of mediums who can play tall and small both forward and in defence and the fact we have no pace out of the midfield.

 

[Stopher]

Nice to see a generally measured reaction to a 50+ point loss, to a very good sdie though, it has to be said. A lot of factors worked against the Dons though:

- Heat + 2 days less preparation time.
- More injuries to key players (on top of the ones we already have, including the ruck, crucial against Freo)
- Exceptional kicking for goal by Freo (could have brought some of that to the GF last year, campaigners)

However, it really hits home when you hear Bomber on AFL 360 last night saying that halfway through the 3rd quarter, the coaching panel are trying to work out how to best get players through this game so that they aren't too badly affected for the Saints on Saturday night. Get back on the horse there, get some key players back and all should be fine.

 

[citizen-erased]

I've watched Pav pretty closely (didn't see the Hawthorn game though) and the only thing missing was his kicking boots (and some delivery v GCS in the rain).

silver lining from the hawks game was Pav. He kept going and gave them a target when they got a chance. Chances were just minimal.

He's a star and the team around him is strong.

no one likes a near 10 goal loss (esp on the back of our massive win last week), but we aren't that good yet that we can fly over to Freo and beat them with Ryder & Belly out, and 4 other key players missing.
Also, having to play Ashby in that game was not ideal.

But we will be all the better for it in the coming week.

 

[daffo]

Just hope we aren't cooked from that game. We shouldn't be as we didn't run that hard in the second half.

 

[BrunoV]

silver lining from the hawks game was Pav. He kept going and gave them a target when they got a chance. Chances were just minimal.

He's a star and the team around him is strong.

no one likes a near 10 goal loss (esp on the back of our massive win last week), but we aren't that good yet that we can fly over to Freo and beat them with Ryder & Belly out, and 4 other key players missing.
Also, having to play Ashby in that game was not ideal.

But we will be all the better for it in the coming week.

He back isn't he. Wonder what GF would have looked like last year if Pav was in this form.

 

[Zephyr Effekt]

Good post.

Only negatives for me being Zaka. Has never had clean hands in traffic IMO, but now also seems to be fumbling at the slightest hint of pressure & even in clear space, which is a little worrying.

Also think Howlett has been poor. Probably get flamed for this but Jetta is a better option in the aspect of team balance.

Jetta isn't a mid or fwd pocket, but he can excel between the back & fwd flanks, I think they use to call them wingman.

Dempsey, Pig & Dalgleish giving run through the half back line, Jetta & the Cyborg working between the flanks, that's what I'd like to see.

 

[fishardansin]

To win a premiership you need the right coaching panel, the right gameplan, the right best 22 and at least another 10 players who can come in and play their role to aplomb. It's incredibly tough.

It is extremely difficult to keep those depth players around because they will be looking for opportunities elsewhere. The only way that this can be done consistently is that there are 5 genuine depth players who are mature players but happy to stay around for 10 games a year and there are 5+ kids knocking on the door to be part of the best 22. Essendon now has Gleeson, Z Merrett and potentially Ashby, Kavanagh and O'Brien in the second category. There is perhaps Colyer, Hardingham, Pears, Jetta and Ambrose is in a weird position of being mature but inexperienced.

Thompson has done the right thing getting games into some of the young ones early this year. Lets see if Colyer, Jetta and Pears can string a few together during our easier run and Ashby, Kavanagh and O'Brien similarly.

 

[eth-dog]

Jetta is shit, don't want him near the side

 

[rines]

Jetta is shit, don't want him near the side

I didn't realise you felt that way about Jetta.. why didn't you say something earlier..

 

[Yoda_]

Thought we could review some positives from the first few rounds of the season

I dunno about anyone else, but I'm not interested in engaging in a week of Chicken Little responses to a game between half of our side and half of Freo's side. Yes, it's disappointing, but I'm more interested in what our full side will do against their full side in September.

Firstly, full credit to Freo. Their depth is much better than ours, and their depth players like Simpson, Taberner etc. are clearly more in tune with their structures than our depth players. But I'm not reading much more into the result than a comparison between player 30 on our list and player 30 on their list.

On the other hand, for just shy of an hour in the first half, our structures were just as good as theirs, possibly even better given we were controlling play and only really getting hurt on the counter. There's plenty we can take out of that half, and that's what I think is the most important thing to bring into a run of games where we should be winning all of them. St Kilda, Collingwood, Footscray, Brisbane (H), Sydney (H) - that simply has to be 5 wins heading into the bye, then Richmond, GWS (A), Melbourne, Adelaide (H) should be another 4. Anything less than 8 wins is underselling a side which, for 14 quarters out of 16, has played top 4 standard footy.

- Joe Daniher has a crack! For a bloke with his prodigious talent, he works so hard, commits himself so fully and competes so desperately that I can't see him not succeeding at AFL level. He may not reach the standard this year, but he will, and he will soon.

- Martin Gleeson is a jet. His speed isn't something that was really pumped up post-draft, but he'd be one of our quickest over 5m for sure. His footskills and composure are just so impressive for a veteran of about 12 quarters of senior footy, and I'm certain he's now best 22.

- Michael Hurley is a natural in defence. His man was close to BOG, but despite having zero support, Hurley was in the contest all the time. Many defenders wouldn't have even been on the screen for half of Pavlich's marks, let alone making body contact. I can't wait to see the contest with Riewoldt next week, it should be an absolute cracker.

- Jackson Merrett finds space and finds the footy with absolute ease. Obviously he struggled in the second half, as did all of our outside mids (barring some junk time from Zaharakis), but in the first half, he was the everywhere man.

- Brent Stanton has been somewhere between 5th and 12th best for us in every game so far, so it was pleasing to see him really step up and dominate, especially in Goddard's absence.

- Kyle Hardingham should probably give Joey Daniher a few goalkicking lessons. 9 straight for Hardy now I believe, with every game having at least 2 goals. An absolute revelation up forward.

- Dyson Heppell is going to be a top 10 player in the competition.

All in all, there's plenty to take from this game, and despite the third and start of the fourth being a rout, when the game was competitive, we were right in it, controlling play. We played a very, very good side, and best 22 v best 22 (let us not underestimate who they had missing) I suspect we'll give them a run for their money.

Just want people to re - read this post from Ben the Gooner on page 1.

It isn't all bad. We have copped a fair amount of outs in the first part of the season that hasn't enabled us to establish a best 22 as yet. It has allowed us to inject games into our younger brigade, the disappointing thing is the gap between these kids and the ones who are in already. The disappearance of Kav, O'Brien, Hams, Browne (LTI).

We have seen the emergence of Jackson Merret as someone who is capable of impacting games after his stellar round 3 game against Carlton.

We may not be playing great footy for the whole 4 quarters but showing glimpses suggests we can match it. with anyone!
Against Collingwood yesterday, Hawthorn for half the game, Fremantle for a half. When it 'clicks' with the personnel required, we CAN win. We've shown that last year.

Inject key personnel like TBC, Dempsey, Goddard, Hocking back to full fitness and we WILL show that we are a top 8 quality side.


I understand the loss to St.Kilda was tough, but let's not get to disheartened. We aren't Carlton supporters talking about rebuilding 6 rounds in, or Richmond supporters who jump on the moment they are winning and off when they're losing.

We are Essendon! WE stand by our club! WE #DonTheSash

Go Bombers

 

[Yoda_]

Bump


I know we aren't top 4 material but **** this year has seen so, so so many more positives.

Zach Merret, JAson Ashby, Gleeson, Aylett, Ambrose as youngsters who have shown something at AFL level.
Daniher coming on, Hooker dominating, Goddard fast becoming our most important player in Jobe's absence.
Zaka returning to his old form.


F*** the haters. F*** the campaigners. WE ARE ESSENDON

Lets smash the pies next week and march towards September.

 

[Ashton Agar]

Even if we don't do anything serious in September (which most probably we won't) I want to play finals. We earnt it last year and had it taken off us, **** the AFL let's play finals this year.

 

[Yoda_]

Even if we don't do anything serious in September (which most probably we won't) I want to play finals. We earnt it last year and had it taken off us, **** the AFL let's play finals this year.

It will be better long term for our players to experience finals pressure. Imagine snatching a win against a Norf or Collywobbles! would be unreal

 

[Duckworth]

Bump


I know we aren't top 4 material but **** this year has seen so, so so many more positives.

Zach Merret, JAson Ashby, Gleeson, Aylett, Ambrose as youngsters who have shown something at AFL level.
Daniher coming on, Hooker dominating, Goddard fast becoming our most important player in Jobe's absence.
Zaka returning to his old form.


F*** the haters. F*** the campaigners. WE ARE ESSENDON

Lets smash the pies next week and march towards September.

Since the OP, I have liked how Colyer has come on. He is like a completely different player now that his kicking has improved.

 

[Yoda_]

Since the OP, I have liked how Colyer has come on. He is like a completely different player now that his kicking has improved.

With all the ASADA shitfight that has gone on in the past 12 months, I just want to focus on the positives