I think that’s the result of many many years of scar tissue.
Even when we’re up by 20 points with 5 mins to go the fans don’t feel like it’s won.
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That was a weird one. The most obvious 50 there is. It was either play on or 50, and he didn’t call play on.
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Equal team best with Merrett on contested possessions (10) for Hind
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By my count he has missed 4 set shots in the last weeks from about the same distance out, which is not very far. He has missed them all the same way as well, badly to the right. Perhaps he needs to do what others do and line up to kick across his body. There is no good reason for him to be missing those shots in the manner he is.
Similarly Jones has now missed 3 very kickable set shots, from further out. While he is kicking from further out and is going for distance, he misses to the left, today that was across goal. I had a strong feeling he would miss both shots today, after he missed one like them earlier in the season.
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I expect l will be out of likes before l reach the end of this thread (currently 407 posts).
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Did the same to St Kilda too
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What a nice surprise today was.
The 1st quarter felt oh so familiar. We looked like we hadn’t come to play and were making blunders all over the field. When Laverde and Redman(?) took each other out of the same contest leading to a Giants goal, I thought the game was heading in a very ugly direction. The crowd was silent like it so often has been against an interstate side at Marvel when we’ve proceeded to get belted.
2nd quarter was pretty low quality football by both sides but Langford’s snap and checkside from opposite pockets gave us a huge lift and slowly got the crowd involved. GWS, while still having a decent amount of the play, only looked dangerous when we shot ourselves in the foot rather than of their own making. The signs were there that we could make a game of it.
3rd quarter was really good for the majority of it. Greene kicked one early that appeared to silence the stadium, but by the end of it we were all over them. Our disposal finally picked up and the confidence was flowing through the whole side. Unfortunately goalkicking proved to be an issue for Jones in particular which kept GWS right in it on the scoreboard. We were absolutely the better side by this point and simply had to be ready for the Giants to lift…
Which they did not. The 4th quarter started with a quick opportunist goal by Guelfi and, in very un-Essendon fashion, we didn’t look like losing it once we kicked away to a 3 goal lead. The umpiring, which I’ve tried to avoid mentioning, turned our way for the first 15 minutes which unsurprisingly coincided with us creating quite a few chances to sow the game up. Stringer missed possibly his easiest sitter of the past 3 weeks combined which briefly raised some Essington alarm bells in my head. What followed was the best defensive closing out of a game I’ve seen from an Essendon side in a very long time. Every Giants player was immediately beset on by an Essendon player within seconds of taking possession, leading to a sequence of ball-ups and throw-ins to wind down the clock, all while barely conceding any ground. It’s unbelievable that this is mostly the same group of players who have managed to find ways to hand momentum back to the opposition countless times in years gone by. We played almost every play by the percentages. It was smart, hard-working football.
Despite the second half performance, I’m trying to stay as lid-on as possible. The way we tend to finish seasons when we start well has taught me not to believe. If we are playing like this come round 21-24, this might be the year we finally break that awful “how many days” counter.
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Had nothing on the game. Pretty loose journalism imo.
Question from a journo would be and marvel-lous to write about was Guelfis goal celebration. Excellent story, nice warm fuzzy, happy ending and true to the night.
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Brad made his bed when he defended and endorsed Tarryn
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Just got home
We are a very serious football team
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Ya see thats my point. Guelfi electrified the game. Had fox asking questions they didnt know answers to. Makes me think the journo was a small time ■■■■ ■■■■…perhaps the age.
Scott delt with it swiftly.
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Its been happening all year, that along with our players getting held at every contest.
The Port game was the worst for it I have seen in years.
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The crowd was understandably a bit reserved in the first half as we didn’t have much to cheer about. The noise began to rise with each goal in the second half. There is no doubt that the crowd involvement became a factor in the last quarter.
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It looked uncanny. The entire team showed another gear. As soon as they had the 3 goal lead they acted as one unit throttling the opposition with full boar pressure.
Amazing to watch.
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One of those bullet passes went so hard and fast to Langford he couldn’t hang on to it. He is probably nursing bruised pecs tonight as a result.
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Merrett (34), Durham(24) and Caldwell(24) had 82 pressure acts total as a trio
Other key contributors:
Cox with 27
Stringer 22
Parish 20
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To me the fact that expected score doesn’t account for whether a player is right footed or left footed, in space or under pressure is all i need to know about it’s relevance.
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What is this “out of LIKEs” thing you speak of, commoner?
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Most Blitzers know l am not a big wrap for the chumps, but don’t bother to call them out when they mess up, which is every week, so there is no point in beating up on them. Today was very different however, with chump #15 consistently paying marks to GWS forwards after they had pushed a defender in the back and then paying the pushes to the GWS forwards against our defenders. It probably accounted for about 6 free kicks in all. Pathetic.
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He was also contributing at both ends of the ground, he covered a lot of territory in the second half and did so at great pace.
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