I sat in the stand on Anzac day with the absolute high of a win against the Hawks still imprinted on my psyche.
Following that, a regulation win against the beleaguered Carlton team; admittedly not a thrashing, but better than the draw 5 matches prior did not cause me to question my faith.
But what I saw on Anzac day was our team looking slow, being beaten on the spread, pressed in the contest, and over-possessing the ball, leading to far too many turnovers. It was quite a close game, but it should not have been. We were close to full strength, with just Myers and Cooney out, basically this was a side that should have steamrolled Collingwood but did not.
Seeing that, I was brought down to earth, and after that, the team just did not get better. I think we peaked in round 2 . But for me that win was such a good feeling. I am so glad we won that, because it gave me some belief in the playing group, even if that belief was to be slowly dissipated over the next 14 rounds when we were cruelled by injury and psychological factors.
It's a hard one to answer. In hindsight I'd say the Anzac Day match, but at the time I thought it probably an aberrant performance we'd bounce back from. We didn't.
What I remember of that game is the infectious doubt that seemed to grip the team. Crippling caution, indecision, and a lack of energy. The issues after that became more extensive, but that was the start of it for mine. It was like they suddenly knew they weren’t up to it, and didn’t know how to respond.
Yep. We built our team of outside players around Jobes ability to win clearances from 2010 onwards. We have not been able to replace his drop off in performance in 2014 and 2015. No one ever mentions this issue. Its not a criticism of him its just a fact.
It’s a hard one to answer. In hindsight I’d say the Anzac Day match, but at the time I thought it probably an aberrant performance we’d bounce back from. We didn’t.
What I remember of that game is the infectious doubt that seemed to grip the team. Crippling caution, indecision, and a lack of energy. The issues after that became more extensive, but that was the start of it for mine. It was like they suddenly knew they weren’t up to it, and didn’t know how to respond.
The first St Kilda game.
Then by the second St Kilda game…
It was A Day for me too.
Just felt sad watching, it was like they just didn’t know what to do, or couldn’t remember.
This ended up being gurged. Not sure why, is it perhaps too close to dealing with reality, or does it offend somebody for some totally unfathomable reason. If a mod does this, they might have the courtesy to explain why.
The Geelong game was when I first questioned whether we were going in the right direction.
There were small signs beforehand, but considering WADA and all the other crap, on that day everything went wrong in a Knights clusterf*ck kind of way.
I was willing to ignore it as long as those performances didn’t get worse.
The Saints, Bulldogs and Adelaide games confirmed that we were going backwards.
If there are 2 and just just 2 consolations they are: Collingwood has fallen off bigtime since Anzac day and Carlton are in all sorts.
Richmond were in a poor state up until about round 6, but they actually got their act together. All the rest of the comp dont count. Hows that for typical Essendon arrogance ?
No poll?
I have no Idea how that blank poll appeared in the thread.
Dreamtime Round 9…if you want an exact date, then May 12th
Geelong game in round 10.
Good thread idea BTW.
home game, full house, 100yr anniversary of the ANZAC, playing against a bunch of kids…was more disappointed in that game than losing the Final against Norf.
Had some concerns after Anzac Day, then after the first Stkilda game i started to get very worried. Then i completely lost my sh#t after the Richmond game. After the Geelong game i realised Hird(along with the other coaches) wasn’t the man to take us forward and was actually taking us backwards.
The worst part was realising the Hawthorn win wasn’t the start of something special but merely another false dawn.
Had some concerns after Anzac Day, then after the first Stkilda game i started to get very worried. Then i completely lost my sh#t after the Richmond game. After the Geelong game i realised Hird(along with the other coaches) wasn't the man to take us forward and was actually taking us backwards.
The worst part was realising the Hawthorn win wasn’t the start of something special but merely another false dawn.
It was like 2 months in the pain amplifier, but probably not worse than 5-6 clubs go through every year on the field.