I am normally pretty positive weather we win or lose, but today was pathetic. How often was it the same 4 guys getting off the bottom of a pack, Watson, Hepp, Hocking or Pig. The delivery into the froward line is horrible, no matter how tall and/or good a player is he is not going to win to many contest with 3 or 4 players around him. Look flat, slow and very disinterested. I am sure that the events of this year are finally wearing the players down and I hope that they can re-group and show us what this group is capable of.
To the poster before, about Gumbleton, I think he is of AFL standard, but just think he has no confindence and will blossom when given a opportunity to play games in row, which I think will mean he will need to be traded as he has lost his spot at Essendon.
I didn't see any incident where he clearly did it and I'm pretty sure when he put the red vest on he didn't have any ice or strapping on it.
Could it be that it was just tight so he might be a chance to play again before the season is out?
It was the one where Goddard put it about 20m infront of him leading from the square. Licha was sprinting full pace for it and did it then. As soon as I saw his face, knew he was gone. Shame, cause he was playing well.
At the start of the year the club was a sanctuary, the players could go there and escape everything. Now when they get to club it's action time and the investigation is visible to them, it's become real. It's no surprise we have played similarly to the Brisbane game recently. I think give the boys a few days off. We are in the 8, so lets clear their heads. In some respects next week doesn't really matter. Lets look ahead and reload.
I'm not one to make excuses, but I think it's pretty clear that this whole ASADA saga is really biting now. Playing with very little zest, which is understandable. Stress, mental exhaustion, has a huge effect on energy and stamina, and the results of that are clear to see.
Having said that, the same old structural problems cost us. With so much of the ball and do many foward 50's we should be doing a lot better. That's the challenge to get right for next season.
I'm sorry but I just don't buy into the ASADA/mental stress argument...it's way too convenient an excuse for what has been a trio of incredibly inept performances.
The 22 on the park each week are being paid big dollars to actually turn up and put in an effort....that effort has been sadly lacking in recent times.
Also, how many years running has it now been that we have continued to butcher our inside 50's....that's not a stress issue...it's a skills issue.
Anyway...bugger this crap....a few more weeks and we won't have to worry again until next year.
Never in the history of the afl has a team won so many stats to have twice (9) more free kicks against.
The amount of times the ball was kicked to an essendon player in the forwardline being held was enough to make you want to get on the field and belt an umpire. That and the difference in HTB rules for Eagles players compared to Essendon players was un ******* believable.
I don't blame the boys for giving up, from the first minute there was three extra eagles players with whistles.
SHAME AFL, ******* SHAME.
From those stats, the maggots tried to make the free kick count not look so one-sided. WHen the game was in contest, the free kick count was 3-14. And one of those was out-on-the-full! So from that point they must have paid us a few frees on the back line to even up the stats.
And of course, there are no stats available for the frees that should have been paid but weren't.
The maggots: bringing the game into disrepute. When will they be held accountable by the ACC? After all, what their actions achieve is match-fixing.
lets not all panic and start bagging players / the club .
obviously been a stressfull year off field and it is starting to show itself in the players mind and hence their on field performance.
stick fat.
who knows how this will play out in the end
we might not lose points
we might be "exonerated' yet.
Keep cool
everyone not associated with the efc Can
G A G F !
Why can't we bag them We pay our hard earned for our memberships and the players and coaches earn plenty too. An abysmal performance again after similar efforts in the previous two weeks. Not acceptable.
At the start of the year the club was a sanctuary, the players could go there and escape everything. Now when they get to club it's action time and the investigation is visible to them, it's become real. It's no surprise we have played similarly to the Brisbane game recently. I think give the boys a few days off. We are in the 8, so lets clear their heads. In some respects next week doesn't really matter. Lets look ahead and reload.
They should certainly get out of Essendon for a few days. Take them out into the bush and do a few bonding activities away from the world (c.f. 1999 pre-season video). It's not over until it's over, but they need a refresh - ASADA or no ASADA.
I went to the VFL as well yesterday. If there was one player who I would bring in (that we can) on form it is Steinberg. Colyer was ok, but not many others. Crameri and Joe were both poor.
There are big problems at essendon and it has nothing to do with the asada…how many years have we been a rabble at years end…uncompetitive and embarrassing. This issue has still not been addressed and all we ever here is excuses…injuries, asada, young team…well I and a great deal more are sick of it…tired of watching the crap we see dished out by this group of pretenders…I think they are mentally soft, with coaching staff who are happy to pump up their tyres and give them an out clause for their lack of effort…question is what can we do about it…only the mentally strong teams challenge for flags and I genuinely don’t think this group has it in them…god I hop they do but it could be back to the drawing board and another 10+ years of pain.
I don‘t think this is ‘just like last year‘. Our boys have had to play through the single biggest sh*t-storm in AFL history. And it‘s caught up with them.
The REAL story here is that we‘ve managed to be competitive for the majority of the year DESPITE the media and the AFL actively trying to destroy us.
I‘ve got nothing but encouragement for our club ATM.
There are big problems at essendon and it has nothing to do with the asada.........how many years have we been a rabble at years end...uncompetitive and embarrassing. This issue has still not been addressed and all we ever here is excuses....injuries, asada, young team......well I and a great deal more are sick of it....tired of watching the crap we see dished out by this group of pretenders.......I think they are mentally soft, with coaching staff who are happy to pump up their tyres and give them an out clause for their lack of effort........question is what can we do about it..only the mentally strong teams challenge for flags and I genuinely don't think this group has it in them...god I hop they do but it could be back to the drawing board and another 10+ years of pain.
Give the team the benefit of the doubt this year. 13 wins is good, with 3 games to go, wait and see what happens.
I am still amazed how Grundy comes into the team at the Magpies and he plays like a 100 game player 3 games in a row.
It has to be a belief thing. There is no reason why we can't get more run and posession out of TBell, Howlett, Zaharakis, Hocking etc.
I think our main issue is forward line delivery and conversions. Confidence up forward is an issue.
We outplayed the Eagles in most stats today. But they were far more effective when they won possession.
I felt ill when he went down. The last game he played before this one, he played one of the best all-round games I've seen from a player in many years.
No idea why, but no amount of mental fatigue would stop you being able to run.
I disagree a little bit with this. You hear "experts" suggesting that it takes courage to run when you are buggered. I'm not sure some of our players had that courage towards the end of the game. Why? Could be because many of them are probably thinking it doesn't matter anyway. Also, a lot of players went into self-preservation mode once the Eagles got a run on, and stopped doing the team things like leaving their own man to take someone else's, and unrewarded running to create space.
Having said that, we did look very fordinary up forward. Might be time to bite the bullet and move Gumbleton on at the end of the year. Crameri didn't set the world on fire in the VFL yesterday either, and Hurley is injured every month or so. Daniher has to play the rest of the year, for the benefit of next year.
I think that a forensic examination of the list, it's lack of skills and at times the sheer ■■■■■■ mindedness of the coaching staff is required.
The reality is we right now are playing as badly ability wise as Melbourne.
Today's "performance" has sweet **** all to do with ASADA.
You don't lose the ability to kick, mark, handball or simply man-up.
Not one player is being singled out here...the whole team is guilty of it.
I note some supporters booing the players at the end. Uncalled for? Yes. Justified? Could be.
To those who look at the stats - here's the sobering reality.
Yes - Jobe topped to possession count. How many times did he turn it over however?
With that standard being set, others quickly followed.
Let's now look at tactics.
Seeing as we didn't man-up at any stage, we couldn't even get our zones right. Too many of the Eagles players just waltzed through our zones unmanned and unscathed.
The thing is this happens every year to us no matter who the coach is. Our post-June performance annually is a joke. I'm getting ■■■■■■ tired of it.
Another season, another fadeout and the truth is still out there. I implore our football department and coaching staff, please … please have the cause nailed by the time we start 2014. No excuses, no guesses, no conjectures etc. Only reasons backed up by data and scientific analysis will suffice. Then we can, and only then, be able to set realistic targets to achieve top 4, win flag in such a such timeframe. Of course, we can only control things we can control, but we also need to set targets based on measurable objectives.
Somebody tell me how many genuine forwards we have recruited in the last 6years…no wonder we can’t function in the fwd 50, you need to have a natural talent to be an effective fwd and we re trying to turn a perfectly good backman …Hurley…into a fwd. our coaching staff have lost their way and our recruiting has been ordinary…so many other teams are blooding quality young players and ours struggle to get a kick in the 2nds…I’m ■■■■■■
I haven't watched the game yet but looking at the stats alone I cant see how we could have lost this games by so much.
Midfield stats all looks good: disposals, contested pos, clearances, efficiency, inside 50s and even tackles are good. All the top midfielders have high numbers and midfielders even kicked goals, but that is probably the problem. No one else kicked goals.
