so this is coming…
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how do you exactly test that crude rudementary metric, out of curiosity ?
cos on face value, such a large umbrella term like defensive and offensive work rate could be no doubt used and twisted to portray any viewpoint the maker wants it to, just like all stats.
Reckon the Hawks would have been pretty happy with their game. They played pretty well, well enough to win if things went differently. They had a much more even performance than we did.
I think in the end we are just a bit better than they are and had a few standout performances to drag us over the line.
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that, plus his reaction from friday night.
I have a strained epiglottis from gloating so hard.
Almost nothing better than beating the vertical miscellaneous excrement smears; but what the TAS bombers did in terms of crowd noise and representation = priceless.
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Tracker numbers which show clearly how far and fast you run in either defence or attack.
We run further and faster in defence than we do in attack and we run further and faster in defence than our opponents. It’s a consistent shift since the first 6 weeks of the season.
Of course there are a lot of other things that impact on results, but in terms of the so called “blue collar” mantra, nothing echos blue collar like a commitment to work harder than your opponents when you don’t have the ball.
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Clarkson is still one of the best without question. They had exactly the right tactics and they executed extremely well.
In the end its clear that we edged them for talent on the park.
Long may that trend continue.
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Yep we simply had enough class to overcome the very well drilled game plan they’re using. The Hawks this year are epitome of “bring them down to our level” football team. They run multiple numbers behind the ball in open play. They look to possess the ball with uncontested marks, taking very limited risks with ball movement.
If we didn’t give back so often and in such poor spots, we’d have won by 5-6 goals, such was how threatening the forward line looked.
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Kennet is smoke and mirrors. It was and still is all about the money.
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The best comment was that it was like a game at Windy Hill. If that’s the case let’s go back again.
It would be interesting to hear some comments from the players about the crowd.
Being professionals they would aim to ignore crowd noise and focus on their game. No doubt however they would have been pleasantly surprised at the support.
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Watch out, Dees and Cats: Top-four scalp next on Bombers’ to-do list
Essendon’s finals surge continue apace, but the real benchmark will be set in the coming weeks
15 hrs
Essendon’s Dyson Heppell and Sam Draper celebrate the win against Hawthorn in round 14, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos
THE BENCHMARK for an exciting Essendon season could be set over the next fortnight, with coach Ben Rutten challenging his promising and developing young group to show what it is capable of over the next two weeks.
Having beaten Hawthorn on Sunday to continue its unlikely surge towards the top-eight with a fourth win in five matches, the club is set to face the ladder-leading Melbourne and an in-form Geelong in its next pair of fixtures.
The Bombers, tipped for a drop-off this season after the departures of key trio Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia during last year’s Trade Period, improved to 6-7 on the campaign with a grinding 13-point win over the Hawks.
But just one of their six wins so far this year has come against a side currently occupying a position in the AFL’s top-eight, with Rutten suggesting the next fortnight could ultimately define its improvement.
“That’s the journey we’re on as a footy club,” Rutten said.
"It’s to keep striving to find our best footy more often and then start to grow that and stretch it into what our group is capable of.
"There have been periods throughout this season where we’ve shown some really positive signs, but also some other periods where we’ve dropped away for whatever reason and we haven’t been able to get that full four-quarter performance that we’d like.
“We haven’t beaten a top-four team yet this year, so the next couple of weeks and in particular against Melbourne next week, it will be an opportunity for us to be able to do that.”
Essendon’s victory over Hawthorn was inspired by a supreme performance from Jake Stringer, who was pushed into the midfield in the absence of the injured Andrew McGrath and flourished in his new role.
Stringer won 29 disposals and kicked four goals, while he also racked up six clearances, laid seven tackles and had 12 score involvements and 10 inside-50s in what proved to be a career-best display.
“He played a bit of midfield and a little bit forward as well,” Rutten said.
"We’re really pleased with his four-quarter effort. We love the fact he’s hitting the scoreboard, but we’re most pleased with the fact he had seven tackles and he’s pressuring the ball well.
"He’s one of those unique players in the competition, he’s got the ability to do that. What we need to keep supporting Jake to do is understand that it’s a standout performance, but we need him to keep producing his best footy and understanding what that is.
“Tonight was a great look at what he’s capable of doing. He’s been training really hard and he’s committed to producing that type of performance, so it’s fantastic reward for that.”
Hawthorn led the game early in the final quarter and then reduced the deficit to a single kick with just two minutes remaining, but couldn’t overrun Essendon in the contest’s dying stages.
A series of early set-shot misses proved a crucial factor in that, with the Hawks lamenting their inability to make 23-21 scoring shot differential and a 50-47 inside-50 differential count on the scoreboard.
“Some of it comes because of pressure, but some of the set-shot misses that we had in the early parts of the game were misses that we expect our guys at this level to be able to convert,” Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said afterwards.
"We’ll work on that, but the most pleasing part for us was that we gave ourselves the opportunity to score.
"I think Essendon would walk away from this game perhaps a little bit relieved that they won the game. It was a contest from go-to-whoa. We didn’t quite get there in the end, but we sure gave it one hell of a shake.
“We’re pleased with our efforts. We just know that if we hang in there for a bit longer and fix up some of the things forward of the ball, we’ll be OK.”
Scott has gotten so much better with age.
Aged like a fine whisky.
The next two weeks really will tell us a heap on how we’re tracking.
We just cannot start these next two matches flat like we have in the past two games against the Tigers and the Hawks. We need to be on from the outset.
It was good to get a win yesterday without McGrath and lesser impact from Zerrett and Parish in the midfield so hopefully those two will be back to their pre-bye best to really help us give it a shake in the next two weeks.
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Yeh, but unlikely Stringer performs as good next week.
Also will be harder for Draper backing up, plus against the compeition best.
Its a little criminal that he’s only at 50 games in his 6th season.
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That stringer game was a bit like kickett’s 8 goal game against the dogs in 93. They were the difference and the reason we won with the team in a bit of a flat spot
Love the type of game that Heppell is playing lately.
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Channeling you inner Hugh Buggy or Alf Brown?
True. He’s been flying a bit under the radar and been a little bit under rated this year for his form in the general media.