Where are we at?

[essendon2008]

Ok im interested in where everyone thinks Essendon is at. It has been an unusual season with the 8 consecutive losses and then the 6 out of 7 wins.

Our young kids in the whole have been pretty good however i worry about our backline and the hole that Lucas leaves.

Providing no injuries (i know unlikely but for the sake of judging the team) next year, where do you think we will finish and more importantly where will we be at with regards to reliance on senior players, etc?

 

[FullFathom5]

Defence next year will be crucial. With Michael moving on, much responsibility will be on Ryder. It will be Fletcher's final year and I suspect he's only just hanging on physically. Should any of those two suffer long injuries, I can't see who else can fill the breach. Pears will be a second year player and we are lacking big-bodied players to play down back.

We have made progress in the midfield and with the way the game has progressed, it won't be our main weakness as in previous years.

The forward line, much like the backline, is made up of either really young players or those that are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. Without Neagle or Lucas in games this year, we have struggled to find efficient scoring.

In all, I think we'll be bottom quarter again, at least until the defensive end is covered.

 

[Jono B]

Defence next year will be crucial. With Michael moving on, much responsibility will be on Ryder. It will be Fletcher's final year and I suspect he's only just hanging on physically. Should any of those two suffer long injuries, I can't see who else can fill the breach. Pears will be a second year player and we are lacking big-bodied players to play down back.

We have made progress in the midfield and with the way the game has progressed, it won't be our main weakness as in previous years.

The forward line, much like the backline, is made up of either really young players or those that are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning. Without Neagle or Lucas in games this year, we have struggled to find efficient scoring.

In all, I think we'll be bottom quarter again, at least until the defensive end is covered.

Backline is the biggest worry. Ryder will get some help from Gumbleton and Pears. We need to get trade/phase out all of the moderate quality, one way runners because we can't allow unpressured ball to come into backline so often with such a young defence.

Really you would not expect that injuries would be as bad. I think we will finish with 12 wins next year.

 

[bOmBeR_BoY1]

Take 15 players off any list due to injury whilst playing a team who has run into a fair period of winning form and any team will struggle. I think that injury list number has actually increased today as well unfortunately.

If we can keep that injury list shorter next year, we'll be more than competetive. Adelaide are just a bit more advanced than us at the moment and have a lot more depth.

 

[BomberAce7]

Top 8 or Bust! We have players in the likes of Stanton, Lovett-Murray, Winderlich, McPhee, Lovett, e.t.c who have been in the system for a while now & 2009 is make or break for those guys. If they cant go the extra level & be consistent in their performance then its time they moved on. We need a hard defender & a decent tap ruckmen to assist Hille.

 

[bOmBeR_BoY1]

Anyone watching "The Fifth Quarter" just then will see WHY we are struggling.

 

[Jono B]

Top 8 or Bust! We have players in the likes of Stanton, Lovett-Murray, Winderlich, McPhee, Lovett, e.t.c who have been in the system for a while now & 2009 is make or break for those guys. If they cant go the extra level & be consistent in their performance then its time they moved on. We need a hard defender & a decent tap ruckmen to assist Hille.

 

[ant555]

In a slightly dangerous spot. there is still a lot of "ifs" about our list.
If the likes of Houli , Reimers , Lonergan and Jetta can continue on to a new level again next year then we are ok. On top of that If we can get Gumby, Neagle and Hocking on the field (i have given up on Dempsey) on a regular basis then it will help as well.
What we really need to do is get some of the softness out of our game. We have a few blokes who have a bad habit of pulling out of contests or are not prepared to do the small team things. While this is still happening we will never go much further than a side that can challenge for the bottom few spots in the eight.

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

With a good injury run next year we can challenge the top 4.

The teams in the top 4 at the moment in Adelaide and Dogs are not that much in front of us. In fact I'd say we are about line ball if we had our best 22 lined up against one another. Cats and Hawks are miles in front but most teams in the 4-12 range are pretty even.

We'll narrow the age and experience gap next year on a lot of those 4-12 sides which will allow us to compete a bit more over 22 rounds.

Our depth is not that good but it's improving with Houli, Reimers, Lonergan, Myers and a few more coming through.

Our major problem right now is we have a group of 22/23 year olds that are not up to AFL standard in Nash, Dyson, Laycock and too many skinny kids that are not ready for a full time AFL role.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Looking towards next season...

All this season we've been without a full side, injury has just been a huge pain in the arse for us and its just so furstrating how every week you will get someone back, but then loose another to injury. I guess once we get to the stage where all players are fit and well that we'll be able to pick our best side.

Where are at the stage now of developing a top four side... Our defence needs a bit of cleaning out and refurbishing and that'll take a bit of time, our midfield has mainly been the focus this year and the club has really nailed that one down as a success, our forward line is fantastic when the likes of Davey, Lucas and Lloyd are in it, but injuries have also given opportunities for more players like Monfries to find new role in this side.

Is see us playing finals next year, of coarse it aint' a guarantee if we have the same injury run as we did this year, but with an injury free side the skys the limit.

I see us finishing 6th with a good run without injuries.

 

[adii_7]

we have one j.laycock

 

[windyhill]

I would like to see the coach get a full list to pick from and then I`ll tell you where we`re at.

 

[Rack Watts]

If we get injuries again next year we can probably expect 9th-10th.
If not 7th-8th depending on our late draw.

 

[warney7]

This season has shown us that Scott Lucas is probably the most important player in our side, and strangely enough, it doesn't even matter if he plays well.

I'm not about to start dwelling on the negatives, because the facts are, it has been a very productive year, despite the massive injury toll.

I think despite winning 2 games less than last season (assuming losses in round 21 and 22) we are much better placed to go forward.

We've found some good kids and found out that the senior guys still have something left to give.

I can't imagine us having a worse injury run next season, and I can't see us going backwards!

It's been a solid start for Knighter, which should have any reasonable Essendon fan content with the development and direction of the club!

 

[Windas_Magic]

With a good run with injuries we should be able to push for finals next year. Most will depend on the improvement of our younger players (Reimers, Lonergan, Jetta etc)

 

[yaco55]

IMO EFC is the most difficult team to assess in 2008.

Our form has waxed and waned during the year and we have suffered some heavy losses.

Most of these heavy losses have occurred when EFC has been injury decimated.

We do another key defender to assist Ryder, particularly a lockdown defender.

The midfield surprisingly is looking more than adequate.

The forward line needs Gumbleton and Neagle to be fit and to stand up.

I am tempted to play Lucas in the backline in the next 2 years ,whilst we groom another key defender.

This will also give Gumbleton and Neagle the chance to develop in the forward line.

I expect that EFC will win about the same number of games in 2009 AND MAKE A rush for the finals in 2010.

The key in 2009 is getting more games into Gumbleton, Jetta, Reimers, Hocking, Dempsey,Myers, etc.

We need to have a group of 6 to 8 players to have reached 40 to 60 games by 2010.

 

[retroparty]

Our team will be good once it gets a quality midfielder.

 

[essendon2008]

Our team will be good once it gets a quality midfielder.

I think a quality backman would be top of the priorities?

 

[Bomber57]

In the same spot as last year at the best, yes we have had lots of injuries again and a bit of bad luck, blooded some new boys also a new game plan and so on, but in the end no real improvement, if next year is anything less than playing finals footy, well the mirror will be a sad place to look at and most likely we will be screwed for years to come.

 

[jetta2davey]

I think a quality backman would be top of the priorities?

We did recruit for backman last year with the drafting of Pears and Daniher, the midfield is still the area of concern.

I think it would be VERY wise to do all we can to get kerr across to the club, but failing that, pick up Zeibell with pick 5.

 

[Smyth94]

I would like to see the coach get a full list to pick from and then I`ll tell you where we`re at.

Exactly.

How can we possibly know where we're at when the players we want to develop can't even get on the park.

 

[Valve Bounce]

Ok im interested in where everyone thinks Essendon is at. It has been an unusual season with the 8 consecutive losses and then the 6 out of 7 wins.

Our young kids in the whole have been pretty good however i worry about our backline and the hole that Lucas leaves.

Providing no injuries (i know unlikely but for the sake of judging the team) next year, where do you think we will finish and more importantly where will we be at with regards to reliance on senior players, etc?

With NO injuries, we'd be in the top 4.

 

[loopy_cam]

We did recruit for backman last year with the drafting of Pears and Daniher, the midfield is still the area of concern.

I think it would be VERY wise to do all we can to get kerr across to the club, but failing that, pick up Zeibell with pick 5.

Daniher is more of a forward than a back.

Which leaves us with just Pears and Ryder. Very Thin.

 

[oddsok]

IMO EFC is the most difficult team to assess in 2008.

Our form has waxed and waned during the year and we have suffered some heavy losses.

Most of these heavy losses have occurred when EFC has been injury decimated.

We do another key defender to assist Ryder, particularly a lockdown defender.

The midfield surprisingly is looking more than adequate.

The forward line needs Gumbleton and Neagle to be fit and to stand up.

I am tempted to play Lucas in the backline in the next 2 years ,whilst we groom another key defender.

This will also give Gumbleton and Neagle the chance to develop in the forward line.

I expect that EFC will win about the same number of games in 2009 AND MAKE A rush for the finals in 2010.

The key in 2009 is getting more games into Gumbleton, Jetta, Reimers, Hocking, Dempsey,Myers, etc.

We need to have a group of 6 to 8 players to have reached 40 to 60 games by 2010.

Agreed. I had hoped that this year we would be able to develop players like Gumby, Dempsey, Daniher and Neagle. We really need to look at our players that are 27+ and most likely overhaul those players because I believe that we will not have a team that will be able to challenge for a premiership in the next 2-3 years. Development is our most important thing because we have players taken high in the draft with VERY little experience. Everyone's outlook on Essendon changes from week to week depending on how we play, but realistically at best we are a 12-8 side.

 

[Jono B]

I think you will find this interesting. This year when Scott Lucas has played we have won 6 games and lost 3. I think this indicates how crucial a CHF is to us and Knight's game plan. If we can get more than the 9 games which we got from Lucas and Gumbleton this year we will go a long way to making finals next year.