One thing I hate about Essendon in 2024, is that we don’t have the toughness of that 2000 side.
We are the complete opposite of that. We’re far too soft. Even for this decades standards.
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What i love is sheedy told the players they cant sing the song untill they win the flag
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Agree
As i mentioned i think Brad needs to show the current group what made Essendon a great team
The current group could learn alot from that 2000 team imo all they know is the loser culture of the last 15 years.
I remember that being player driven.
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He should have been. There was a stretch in '94 where Cummings was FF, and Salmon played ruck. Best we looked that year imo.
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They were on a misson to atone after the heart break of the 99 prelim
That’s how the current team should have treated the end of last season humilated by 200 points combined against GWS and Pies
Dean Rioli was as good as any of that era, Leigh Matthews even said that Brisbane considered Rioli a bigger threat that Hird, Rioli also didn’t mind the odd shirt front…
Will always be one of my favs.
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Words mean nothing if you can’t back it up.
I like Chapmen saying he’d never lose to Hawthorn again.
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Comparing the Essendon lists of 2000 and 2024 is pretty…pretty dumb.
Edit: or suggesting the only thing separating them is attitude.
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Salmon away said he considered himself a ruckman. Sheedy disagreed.
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Not comparing the lists they could learn from it is what im saying
And I’m saying a MENSA qualification and Harvard degree in competitiveness will not turn Wright into Lloyd, or Langford into Hird, or Martin into Long, or McKay into Fletch.
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Of course not im just saying they could learn the things on what made them a great team.
Long’s 2000 Grand Final is such an under rated performance. He was involved in everything to get us off to a flying start, bumps, taps, shepherds, handballs. Not anything memorable like 93 but equally as important.
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And a bump that would probably get him eight weeks today.
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I can’t remember what year…it was probably 2000, but may not have been…Talking Footy put together a quick compilation of Long’s taps and flicks from the season.
Don’t even count as a stat.
Leading for a ground ball coming towards him, someone hot on his tail, and he never even takes possession.
It just somehow bounced off him and magically into the arms of an Essendon player running the other way.
He was a very special player.
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He had that oval ball on a string like a Harlem globetrotter but with 10 times the difficulty. His vision and unpredictability always had the opposition running away than coming towards him as they knew as soon as it landed in his hands we were a chance for a goal.
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That season genuinely felt like we had four extra men on the field.
One of my favourite silly things to shout that season was, ‘They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere!’
I just didn’t care if the opposition got the ball.
It was only a matter of time before we got it back.
Edit: Was it the WC, Sheedy throat cut, game where their big plan to beat us was to constantly kick it out of bounds?
That’s how good we were.
I knew how spoilt we were going to be for the rest of our football watching lives. It looked so easy and they seemed so skilled. But, I much prefer the 93 season which was AFL football at its best. Modra and Wanganeen providing weekly mark of the year contests, Ablett, Dunstall, Modra and an injured Locket making 10 goals look easy. High scoring games, less of a focus on defence. Beating Collingwood on a Friday night in front of 87,000. Watching the MCG crowd grow with no reserved seating, and the Ponsford stand have to open up the top deck members section. The unexpected premiership. The comeback. 2000 is just a general memory of domination. Moving to the utter shithole of Docklands makes those victories far less memorable too. Playing less blockbuster games at the G was the worst decisiion the club ever made. The 20 goal demolition of North and Lloyd’s 100th for the first time in the Qualifiying final is the real standout moment of the season.
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Is the point of this thread to see if those players could still possibly play those positions for us now?
If so, yes they could.