I still think it’s most definitely an advantage on the whole. If you’re a side where your fixture has you drawing teams like Gold Coast, Adelaide, St Kilda, Carlton etc as your “lesser teams” double ups then you’re worse off than having two teams who are completely uncompetitive where you basically can’t lose. I get that the 6/6/6 fixturing thing influences all this.
It’s a nice boost if you are ready as a group to really springboard into being a genuine finals calibre team (especially if you’ve added players in the off season) like an Adelaide. But for us I just reckon all it will do is help us finish in the no man’s land zone rather than bottom 6.
So you’re saying we are a bottom 6 side so then playing Power, Pies and Cats should all be automatic loses too? Yet we have been very competitive against them. So maybe we are not bottom 6?
Maybe need to investigate the double ups that those middle 6 teams have to see if they play top 6 teams twice like we do.
“I think we talk about winning a lot more [since Scott took over],” Mahoney said.
“You can talk about still being a young side and developing our playing list, but players and everyone at the club wants to win – you can do both at the same time, and that’s what we’re trying to create at Essendon.
“We’re going into every game trying to win, and that gives players confidence and the club confidence.”
I know this gonna sound deluded but in terms of list our list I think we are 2 players away from being contenders talent, a premier key defender and a twin tower forward next to 2MP. Once we get those two players, its no longer about talent. We just gotta improve our depth, mentality and hunger to win.
What is more important long term - getting a draft pick ~6 spots lower because we finish mid-table this year? Or bedding down a defensive system and some game strategies with players buying into the structure and roles and creating internal pressure for spots\raising standards.
I know we all love a good early draft pick, but winning games and a team growing in collective confidence implementing a perceptible defensive system is pretty damn sexy too.
Also, we know what Brad Scott can get out of a team with consistency and buy in that doesn’t have a surfeit of talent. A solid bottom of the 8 finish, and admirable performances in the finals, while not at any point looking like a legitimate contender.
Which doesn’t matter if you’re of the opinion our list is already overflowing with talent, I guess.
Not definitive but I reckon the addition of Hunter probably makes the likelihood of James Stewart being paid out and delisted at year’s end even higher than it already was. Unless Hunter suffered a serious injury, it does seem as though we would invest in him for longer than 6 months.
Going to be fascinating to see how they manage all this at year’s end.
For me the only absolute CLEAR delistings are Lord and Stewart (pay out final year).
There’s the Hepp situation. The Tippa situation.
Then a group of guys like Phillips, Hind, Snelling, who are all seasoned AFL fringe players who have to be in the gun when list spots are so tight.
Montgomerie the only rookie who would be under the pump you’d think.
McBride is obviously done but as a Cat B it’s neither here nor there.
