To Dutchman and Daniel (and anyone else who wants something to read)

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Dan26

Brownlow Medallist
Jan 23, 2000
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First of all, well played Bulldogs.
*gritted teeth*

I agree 100% with Daniel.

Why does everyone think this is the loss we had to have ? What rubbish. Of course you don't have to lose.

And why do others (Dutchman) persist in thinking that a loss would be good for us (as opposed to a win)

If a loss is good for you, as opposed to a win, then surely teams would be trying to deliberately lose to take advantage of this new phenomenon.

Nothing good (from Essendons point of view) has come from this loss. Nothing.

We had been playing under pressure all year. The pressure will still be there in the finals, especially if you go 21-1. Nothing short of a GF win will be acceptable, whether you are 22-0, or 21-1, so why not strive for 22-0 ? Same diff. Pressue is good anyway. We have been playing under pressure all year, and it has been good. Pressure makes you focussed.

Carlton were under tremendous pressure to win in 1995 after going 20-2, and they won the Grand Final by 10 goals. Pressure is good. Not bad.

All a loss does is make the players lose some confidence and belief (although there is still plenty of both, I can reassure everyone), and shows people that a team is not as good as they would have been if they won the game.

Forget abourt complacency. There has been a bit of a myth lately that Essendon would have been complacent on preliminary final day if they were 23-0 going into the match. Now after losing on Friday, apparently people think we won't be complacent. Apparently people think that loss will make us more focussed. What rubbish. Success breeds success. Why can't a team that has won 20 in a row, win another 5 in a row ? If anything, our motivation is now less, because the motivation to win every game is now gone. We can no longer strive for that.

And I think Essendons home and awaw win loss record during the 1990's of matches decided by 6 points or less (22 wins, 4 losses), indicates that we handle pressure fine.

If Lloyd had taken that mark in the last 30 seconds when it was 5 points the difference (Lloyd had the "sit" and it looked like he was going to take it), then we would all be saying "Look, Essendon stood up when challenged. They won a close game"

Lloyd didn't take the mark, and the Dogs held on. Remember, it took an incredible goal from Grant to win them the game. He wouldn't normally kick a goal like that from the boundary line.

Make no mistake, we are still premiership favourites and deservadly so (gees it's only one loss.....the second best team has lost 5 games ! ), but this loss make it harder for us to win the flag.

A.) We no longer have the motivation to have an undefeated season.

B.) Lack of confidence from losing

C.) Confidence gained from all other opponents

D.) Form drops two weeks before the finals (although form can be a minute to minute thing, really)

Basically, winning can become a habit, and it is a habit I want to continue. If you lose, it breaks that habit, and we don't want that. We want to continue.

Anyay, I'm still extremely confident that we can win it all, because I think Essendon is easily the AFL's most accomplished team (best attack, best defence), but I am just trying to dispell a few myths about football, that people have.

Sure you can learn from a loss, but why does that loss have to be THIS year. Why can't we learn from last years loss, and use that as a spur to win every game. Or learn from losing the first half against Adelaide in Round 10, and use that experience to win games, for example.

You don't have to lose, and losing is ALWAYS worse than winning. I can't believe some Essendon supporters think there are positives to come out of losses. If there are positives, there are always MORE positives to come out of winning than the alternative.
 

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Jod - you wouldn't be a garden variety Western Australian Essendon hater would you?

Sure Carlton CAN beat us. But I think if Essendon can now switch on again - ie: get back to the intensity of most of the season (eg: the game against North) no one can go with us.

Bit of an if I suppose though.

That said, do you honestly believe Carlton are a better side? ie: have you put your bet on them?
 
Dutch - Im not an Essondon hater. I hate Essendon but i also hate Nth Melbourne, Bullies, Geelong and Collingwood. The rest i can put up with.
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But seriously i think Carlton can beat Ess come GF day if they both make it of course, that if you speak of is a big if too. IF we had played like we played against the Crows and Freo earlier in the season im sure we'd be in the finals but its all ifs and buts.

I am thinking about putting some money on Carlton, you have to remember they lost without Bradley and Kouta and we all know Kouta is a match winner.

But with all that said we'll just have to wait and see. Should be an interesting finals even though ill be a spectator for the first time in 10 years
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I think the bombers losing is a big relief, now all the other 15 teams don't go into the game with that extra incentive if being the 1st to knock over the bombers.
 
It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Blues go out in straight sets.

Melbourne will beat the Blues if they play them. Mark my words.

As an Essendon supporter, I'm not worried about the Blues at all. I'm worried about the Dees, and North. While North are not playing well, they have a habit of winning finals. They have won 12 of their last 15 finals games, the Roos. That is better than their home and away record !!

Carlton usually play badly in finasl. They have a habit of losing BIG. Eg 1993,94,96,99 ....... all these years they had big losses at some point during the finals.
 
Yes, that’s another line I hate: “We’ll learn from the loss”, or variations thereof. Sometimes I think players use this line just for something to say after losing. I wish someone would actually ask them “so what DID you learn from it that you didn’t already know beforehand?”. Sometimes losses just happen and you don’t learn a f***ing damn thing.

Dan, I disagree with this part of your post:

“If Lloyd had taken that mark in the last 30 seconds when it was 5 points the difference (Lloyd had the "sit" and it looked like he was going to take it), then we would all be saying "Look, Essendon stood up when challenged. They won a close game"
Lloyd didn't take the mark, and the Dogs held on. Remember, it took an incredible goal from Grant to win them the game. He wouldn't normally kick a goal like that from the boundary line.”

Those incidences, while they certainly would have swayed the outcome, were still only the culmination of what had occurred previously. Somehow, the Bulldogs created momentum for themselves and were storming home in the latter half of the last quarter. They really should have hit the front before Grant’s spectacular goal, as Paul Hudson (!) of all people missed several shots that you would normally expect to be goals from him. Essendon had a couple of misses before that, too, but it definitely wasn’t just a couple of pieces of play that tipped the game in the Bulldogs’s favour as they should have been in front before Grant’s goal.
 

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