#18 Michael Hurley -- now coaching

A confidence player. When he’s bad he’s so bad. One of the most overrated players in the past 5 years

Honestly it’s getting close to a point where it’s either chuck forward again or bust.

I don’t know how we can hide him in the backline, he’s getting out bodied by all sizes and types.

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From round 8 onwards last year we averaged something like 73 points against which was in the top couple for that period of time.

If his lazy mates up the field can bring themselves to applying a little pressure then maybe our defenders can play the part they are actually training for.

Until that happens I will reserve my judgement.

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Hes been cooked ever since the saga with the occasional good game.

Hes a shadow of the player he was. We literally ruined him. He was a top 3, arguably the best defender in the game before the saga

Now there would probably be 12+ key defenders you would pick before him from other teams

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Since the saga he has been AA and was considered the second best in the league that year.

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once we made him into an attacking Half back flanker, we killed him.

When you get beaten by Lachie okeefe, something is terribly wrong. As a senior player he needs to be doing so much more than he is.

The amount of times he goes to ground or i dare say it take the soft option (wanting the handball in stead of providing a shepherd) is crazy.

He used to be a one on one machine. I would guess he has lost more one on one’s in the last 2 years than in all his career previous to that

Yeah, I thought 2017 was absolutely nowhere near good as 2015. Nowhere. He was absolutely unreal that year

Even of you disregard 17, he was, I would say - average last year. Literally everything he was good at (kicking, 1 on 1s, intercepting) he is not great at now. He’s never going to get back to that level now, and it’s a real Shame. I just hope he can find some consistency

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I honestly think he was very lucky to win AA accolades in 2017.
He was a possession winner, but got beaten many times.

He got the nod on reputation.

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I can’t find the Contract thread.
Can anyone confirm that his Contract runs till the end of the 2022 season ?

It does. Apart from Shiel, Hurley is our longest contracted player.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/michael-hurley-recommits-to-essendon-signs-fiveyear-contract-extension/news-story/6c81c72c121d5fe0244879de5214202a

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Watching Hurley’s post match interview quite depressing. Makes you realise the way this club is heading so many of these players will never experience success as a finals player.

The bloke seemed absolutely shattered. He gave away a couple of sloppy free kicks last night but I reckon he tried his guts out back there. He’ll be praying that Hooker is back next week to lend a hand.

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He responded exactly how a senior player should after a smashing

Threw himself into everything, gave everything he had. He and Francis kept us afloat down back.

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Agree. I had Hurls as our best yesterday. He gave his all, often left high and dry by others further afield.

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Best I’ve seen him play in a while, got angry for once today instead of dejected.

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The defence was the only group that responded after last week.

Hurley was almost back to his bristling best, his kicking is improved on last year but his defense against a favourable matchup is still concerning.

Ambrose won his match up

Francis continues to impress with his maturity as much as anything.

Saad was BOG for both aspects of his game, he is probably our best one-on-one defender pound for pound.

McKenna was below his best but he was the only one hitting targets by foot in the first half and one of the few trying to take the game on.

Guelfi isn’t a defender and shouldn’t be playing there.

Ridley, Redman, Hooker, and Gleeson (not to mention Dea) are all best 22 defenders so fitting them in is going to be a bit of a squeeze.

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After the siren sounded, it was the backline that looked gutted. I really believe they were the ones giving it their all.

Forwards didn’t do much - are our midfield causing that much of an issue?

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Our forward line is certainly struggling due to up-field issues but Fantasia and Tippa are clearly carrying injuries, Baguley is cooked, and McKernan and Brown aren’t 1st string forwards and both would be better if Daniher was playing.

Folks, don’t watch the interview on the website, we have just destroyed him.

poor guy