Where will Essendon finish in 09

[Kings Army]

13 Brownlow votes in 14 games says McVeigh is a good player - he is on the cusp of becoming an A grader

Hille was ridiculously unlucky not to be in the AA 40 man squad - also on the cusp of becoming an A grader

Stanton is a solid performer, as is Watson (both are B graders)

Welsh showed during the second half of the season he is capable of playing midfield consistently and did some excellent jobs on some of the games better on-ballers.

Lovett despite his attitude problems is a B/C grader and when he wants to, plays like an A grader.

We also have Winderlich who could surprise many but is cursed with injury.

Houli, Reimers, Myers, Lonergan are the future and have shown promising signs in midfield roles

Our midfield isn't as bad as what people make it out to be

McVeigh is not on the cusp - there are at least 18 better on ballers in the league. Be near the top 10 and your on the cusp.

Who should have Hille been in front of? Cox is clearly the premier ruckman. And you love your Brownlow votes so the 11 Petrie got and the 10 Sandilands makes the 5 Hille got show he was not unlucky.

Stanton maybe B grade but Watson is slow and has terrible foot skills. Maybe in the early to mid 90's he could have got away with it like Greg Williams did. Not now.

You shopped Lovett around to every club. The no interest sign went up very early.

Winderlich is the same as Laycock - they can't play and have no impact on a games. Opposition coaches would not sepnd 30 seconds worrying about them. But hey he sure can run fast - it is just a shame most of the time it is away from a contest.

Houli, Reimers, Myers, Lonergan - Reimers maybe the rest will be average at best.

Can you name a team with a worse midfield? Melbourne and that is about it.

 

[Jesse Custer]

Can you name a team with a worse midfield? Melbourne and that is about it.

I deleted the rest of your post because it was rubbish and shows you have NFI.

What i left is interesting, because we have no 'name or hyped stars' in the midfield it automatically becomes the second worst midfield?

This no name midfield plays as a team, it showed the 'star studded' midfield of carlton how to play and smashed your side as well.

Playing with a bit of spirit and passion for the team will defeat any hyped up midfield anyday. And it would help if the players were fit and available, reference season 08.

Too many brainwashed muppets on BF.

 

[Smyth94]

McVeigh is not on the cusp - there are at least 18 better on ballers in the league. Be near the top 10 and your on the cusp.

What a load of garbage...Just because there might be 18 better on ballers in the league doesn't mean McVeigh isn't on the cusp of becoming an A grader.

Who should have Hille been in front of? Cox is clearly the premier ruckman. And you love your Brownlow votes so the 11 Petrie got and the 10 Sandilands makes the 5 Hille got show he was not unlucky.

More garbage - Sandilands was in the AA team because bafoons like Healy and Walls only care about stats and dream team averages . Don't even mention Petrie, he isn't even a ruckman.

Stanton maybe B grade but Watson is slow and has terrible foot skills. Maybe in the early to mid 90's he could have got away with it like Greg Williams did. Not now.

Watson maybe slow but he excels at the clearances, he is comfortably better than Daniel Harris.

You shopped Lovett around to every club. The no interest sign went up very early.

Did it ever occur to you that maybe Lovett was shopped around because his work ethic and committment is questionable and not his talent?

Winderlich is the same as Laycock - they can't play and have no impact on a games. Opposition coaches would not sepnd 30 seconds worrying about them. But hey he sure can run fast - it is just a shame most of the time it is away from a contest.

I'm tipping you've never seen Winderlich play.

Houli, Reimers, Myers, Lonergan - Reimers maybe the rest will be average at best.

What gives you the clairevoyance to claim that none of these players will make it? You probably haven't seen half of them play

Can you name a team with a worse midfield? Melbourne and that is about it.

Essendon's midfield is better than:
Melbourne
Freo
WCE
Collingwood
Brisbane

 

[Kings Army]

I deleted the rest of your post because it was rubbish and shows you have NFI.

What i left is interesting, because we have no 'name or hyped stars' in the midfield it automatically becomes the second worst midfield?

This no name midfield plays as a team, it showed the 'star studded' midfield of carlton how to play and smashed your side as well.

Playing with a bit of spirit and passion for the team will defeat any hyped up midfield anyday. And it would help if the players were fit and available, reference season 08.

Too many brainwashed muppets on BF.

Gee we beat the Hawks this year - we must be the considered the best team in 08.

You have no name players beacuse your midfield is no good. Good players like Ablett and Judd get named beacuse they are guns.

Please name a side that your midfield is better than? Poll it and see if your not bias. But I forgot - too many people are brainwashed and this has nothing to do with you being one eyed.

 

[Kings Army]

Essendon's midfield is better than:
Melbourne
Freo
WCE
Collingwood
Brisbane

Freo - Sandilands, Pavlich, Palmer - no chance
WCE - Cox, Kerr, Priddis - try again
Coll - Fraser, Pendlebury, Thomas - not here
Bris - Charman, Black, Power - kidding yourself - this one was terrible for you to list.

I would prefer any of those 3 over Hille, McVeigh and Watson. So would Matty Knights!!

 

[Smyth94]

Freo - Sandilands, Pavlich, Palmer - no chance
WCE - Cox, Kerr, Priddis - try again
Coll - Fraser, Pendlebury, Thomas - not here
Bris - Charman, Black, Power - kidding yourself - this one was terrible for you to list.

I would prefer any of those 3 over Hille, McVeigh and Watson. So would Matty Knights!!

Gee thats funny!!

I wonder how we beat these teams then?

Just a tip - a midfield in the modern game consists of more than 3 players

Laughable that you also used Pavlich in the Freo midfield

 

[Weiterbot23]

In terms of A grade talent for the future


Essendon's midfield is better than:
Melbourne Yes
Freo No
WCE No
Collingwood Yes
Brisbane[/quote] No

Just becasue you have young players in your team doesn't mean that they are good. You should have tanked like us, a gibbs, murhy or cotchin would fit perfectly into your midfield and GC17 will have the rest of the talent the next few years making it hard to rebuild.

Should have fired Sheeds ages ago, he has killed your club for years to come by pushing for finals to save his job and not looking towards the future.

Essendon 2009 - 2019 = 9-12 place

 

[Kings Army]

Gee thats funny!!

I wonder how we beat these teams then?

Just a tip - a midfield in the modern game consists of more than 3 players

Laughable that you also used Pavlich in the Freo midfield

Just a tip - you had the most points scored against this year. Maybe your midfield is only ok at going one way. Did not see Jobe running down many players as they were streaming towards goal. But hey if 4th last is good for you then enjoy the next few years.

Poll Ess V Bris midfield and see how you go.

 

[Jesse Custer]

Gee we beat the Hawks this year - we must be the considered the best team in 08.

You have no name players beacuse your midfield is no good. Good players like Ablett and Judd get named beacuse they are guns.

Please name a side that your midfield is better than? Poll it and see if your not bias. But I forgot - too many people are brainwashed and this has nothing to do with you being one eyed.

I'm definitely not one eyed mate, but top draft picks don't necessarily mean success.

At the moment we have no name players, but we will soon enough.

 

[Jesse Custer]

Just a tip - you had the most points scored against this year. Maybe your midfield is only ok at going one way. Did not see Jobe running down many players as they were streaming towards goal. But hey if 4th last is good for you then enjoy the next few years.

Poll Ess V Bris midfield and see how you go.

You reckon Knights new coaching style which was well publicised and our injury toll have anything to do with it?

Maybe with adjustments like Knights said to his coaching style and fit players might change that stat.

 

[Artie Bucco]

9-10th

 

[CrippsonBlue]

Perhaps if I saw the results in front of me, I may be proven wrong, but from memory, I was pleasantly surprised with Essendon in 2007. I expected that they would start to bottom out, however, they seemed to match it with the better sides, and top 8 sides, however were let down by losing against easier teams.

This year, they seemed to have the better of these lesser teams, but just had a horrible run with injuries.

I think they could surprise a few people in 09. Will they make the 8?...If they do, I think it will only be as high as 8, however as I already have Carlton and Richmond in there, I don't know if its too much to expect Essendon to make it also...

However, it was pretty even this year, and behind Carlton and Richmond, I'd rate them as equal most likely to slip into the 8 with Brisbane out of teams that didn't make it...

F^ck it, Carlton 5th, Essendon 8th, and a massive one at the MCG first week of finals

 

[Kings Army]

You reckon Knights new coaching style which was well publicised and our injury toll have anything to do with it?

Maybe with adjustments like Knights said to his coaching style and fit players might change that stat.

Injuries just highlight your lack of depth and talent. No way in the world will Essendon play finals next year. You only won 2 games against teams in the top 8. Your 108 point loss in the last round is the true direction your team is heading. I may be wrong if that super star Winderlich can play a full year!!

 

[Jesse Custer]

Injuries just highlight your lack of depth and talent. No way in the world will Essendon play finals next year. You only won 2 games against teams in the top 8. Your 108 point loss in the last round is the true direction your team is heading. I may be wrong if that super star Winderlich can play a full year!!

Lame sarcasm dude, losing 20 plus players would show up any clubs depth. Stupid, stupid comment. I never mentioned playing finals next year, just highlighted your comment about our midfield. But your hatred is shining through and your comments are a joke.

And by the way, you are very wrong fellow Sunbury boy

 

[Smyth94]

Injuries just highlight your lack of depth and talent. No way in the world will Essendon play finals next year. You only won 2 games against teams in the top 8. Your 108 point loss in the last round is the true direction your team is heading. I may be wrong if that super star Winderlich can play a full year!!

Be truthful, how did you think the Doggies were going to travel this season, given that they lost their last 6-7 games in '07 by an average of 10 goals?

 

[Kings Army]

Be truthful, how did you think the Doggies were going to travel this season, given that they lost their last 6-7 games in '07 by an average of 10 goals?

Good - they always had a great running side - added Welsh and Hudson.

Don't compare the Dogs and the Bombers - where is your Cooney, Griffen, Aka, Gia & Cross?? You don't have the players with the same skill level as the dogs! You are now going from 4th last to 3rd? The dogs good players are near to prime yours are well past it. Fletcher, Lloyd and Lucus are on that slippery slide and there is no going back.

But Winderlich if fit may run them into 3rd!

 

[Jesse Custer]

Good - they always had a great running side - added Welsh and Hudson.

Don't compare the Dogs and the Bombers - where is your Cooney, Griffen, Aka, Gia & Cross?? You don't have the players with the same skill level as the dogs! You are now going from 4th last to 3rd? The dogs good players are near to prime yours are well past it. Fletcher, Lloyd and Lucus are on that slippery slide and there is no going back.

But Winderlich if fit may run them into 3rd!

Surely your not this stupid.

 

[Smyth94]

Good - they always had a great running side - added Welsh and Hudson.

Don't compare the Dogs and the Bombers - where is your Cooney, Griffen, Aka, Gia & Cross?? You don't have the players with the same skill level as the dogs! You are now going from 4th last to 3rd? The dogs good players are near to prime yours are well past it. Fletcher, Lloyd and Lucus are on that slippery slide and there is no going back.

But Winderlich if fit may run them into 3rd!

I never said we were going to finish 3rd though did I?

I definitely think with a reasonable run with injury we can improve on our 8 wins this season.

I'm tipping a 3-4 game improvement leaving us on 11-12 wins and sneaking into the finals

 

[unstable punt]

Last

2nd last

 

[Merv]

Injuries just highlight your lack of depth and talent. No way in the world will Essendon play finals next year. You only won 2 games against teams in the top 8. Your 108 point loss in the last round is the true direction your team is heading. I may be wrong if that super star Winderlich can play a full year!!

You are spot on and injuries do expose us.

I don't think anyone is denying we lack depth but us Essendon supporters believe we have the talent but our depth is too young to be able to stand up yet.

I disagree with you though and believe that given a reasonable run with injuries we will play finals next year.

Here are a couple of reasons why.

We still have players that are capable of kicking winning scores in Lloyd and Lucas.
Sure their best football is behind them but they are both capable of kicking multiple goals and Lloyd kicked 62 goals last year and spent a large portion of the season at CHF without much help from Lucas who went down in round 1 with a knee injury.

Knights was a first year coach and would have learned a lot about his players and himself and coaching staff last year.
His all out attacking gameplan was never his intended style for a full year and once it was wound back, we improved and became competitive, even with top sides like Hawthorn, until later in the year when our lack of players saw us fall away again.

Our injuries not only exposed young players who were not ready to play, it also demanded far more from the players that were playing.
Week after week they were asked to do more and more due to losing players with injuries.

The experience gained by players who played before they were ready will hold us in good stead if they are called upon this year.

A couple of our rivals for a spot in the 8 are Richmond and carlton and even Brisbane.

Brisbane we smacked.

Richmond smacked us first game when we were in our losing streak and fell in by a couple of points later in the season after we had multiple chances to win the game and Bowden played it smart.

carlton we beat twice and have beaten them the last 3 games and in the last game we smacked them senseless most of the game, they came back and hit the front, for us to then run away and smash them.

In most of these games fevola kicked bags of 7 and 8, Judd got his 30 odd posessions, yet we still won.

Of course we can't make the 8 by just beating one team but this is a very even competition and nothing is certain but we are not far off our rivals for the eighth spot.

 

[Artie Bucco]

You only won 2 games against teams in the top 8.

Carlton only beat Collingwood and the Bulldogs this year yet we are getting pumped up?

In 2006 Hawthorn won 9 games, the only side they beat from the top 8 was Fremantle (once). IMO Essendon will be right up there for a mix in the finals, but are yet still a year off it.

 

[Jesse Custer]

Carlton only beat Collingwood and the Bulldogs this year yet we are getting pumped up?

In 2006 Hawthorn won 9 games, the only side they beat from the top 8 was Fremantle (once). IMO Essendon will be right up there for a mix in the finals, but are yet still a year off it.

Love your unbiased views Blue boys, a fine poster you are.

 

[Artie Bucco]

Love your unbiased views Blue boys, a fine poster you are.

Cheers, I don't get the whole biased crap (outside of bay 13) doesn't bring anything to the discussion, muppet

 

[Jesse Custer]

Cheers, I don't get the whole biased crap (outside of bay 13) doesn't bring anything to the discussion, muppet

Good to see your catching on...

Seriously, spot on.

 

[Kings Army]

Carlton only beat Collingwood and the Bulldogs this year yet we are getting pumped up?

In 2006 Hawthorn won 9 games, the only side they beat from the top 8 was Fremantle (once). IMO Essendon will be right up there for a mix in the finals, but are yet still a year off it.

The hawks only got a hiding once. The way Ess lost to some teams this year is a massive worry - Saints - 105 Cats - 99 and the low scoring Swans by 91. But who knows maybe Laycock can become the next Dean Cox!