If there was a gif of what would happen if the NAB mini-legends played a competitive game against their actual AFL counterparts, that’s the gif I would use to grade our season.
It’s a 5/10 for me. Making finals is half the job.
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Zac Clarke getting games over Draper early in the season is all you need to know.
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3/10
and that is being very kind
I would legit trade Fantasia after he said that. The attitude stinks, and if that is coming from a guy in the leadership group- the club is rotten to the core
I heard a Geelong fan talking about “culture” he listed 2 clubs that had poor culture. Essendon was the first he mentioned.
Is there a grade worse than F?
We finished 2018 playing football that looked like it would stack up in finals. Hard at the contest, manic pressure, hunting the opposition.
We never got near that level of football this year.
4 out of 10… Making the finals was great but big losses during the season was a negative. The games we won were mostly not very convincing, even against GC who were being flogged by just about every other team. We limped into the finals and no-one seriously believed we would win… Just making up the numbers.
Injuries to important players didn’t help our season… but really no excuse for the way we played.
With all the ‘learnings’ the team has been getting over the past couple of seasons we really should have graduated by now!
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why the fk is anyone involved at the club even mentioning that making finals is some sort of success?!?!?!
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F f f f fucken ■■■■
I heard a player talking about “culture” and she said EFC were so much better than GFC.
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Considering how we finished last year and then chased a big name recruit, scraping into the 8 with 12 wins and a low percentage is big fat F.
Taking into account injuries I would maybe give it a D.
7/10. We got some pretty good memes out of it.
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Because we did something that wasn’t part of our Strategic Plan. We actually went above and beyond expectations. A+++
2009 - 2019
1 finals loss every 2 years.
5/10 - Standard Essendon Football Club
We are just a let down of a club that accepts mediocrity. We won’t win a flag anytime soon, better you accept it now.
On reflection, I rate this year a success as it saw the birth of the Essington videos. Which are far funnier after losses than wins (in a schadenfreude kinda way).
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Fail. Didn’t win a final. Players went backwards in development.
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Positives:
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The growth of Redman, Francis, McGrath and Parish. They are now well entrenched in our best team and will only get better. We definitely have some good talent to work with.
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Saad establishing himself as a legitimate gun. McKenna also becoming a vital part of our defence.
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Stringer the only one most weeks playing with any kind of heart. He had a bad game yesterday but he has more than enough credits in the bank.
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Snelling has been a very good pick up. One of our best yesterday night.
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Ambrose has become one of the premier defenders in the league. A Dean Solomon type player.
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We actually looked defensively sound up until the GC game. Even with our rubbish midfield, we still strangled teams to 60-70 points. Something to build on next year.
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Putting last week aside, our reserves have become one of the best in the VFL. Good AFL teams usually have a strong reserves side.
Negatives:
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For all the hype, we delivered ■■■■ all as a team. Another year where we play two good games from no where (Norf and BL at the start of the year), and some disgraceful Melbourne 2012 type games (St. Kilda, Sydney #1, WB, Port, GWS #1).
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Our senior players. I’m not going to go further on this as it’s the same ■■■■ that’s happened since 2002.
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Merrett. At one point he was being compared to Cripps, Bontempelli and Josh Kelly. You’d be ■■■■■■■ shot for even mentioning his name along those three now. Has fallen off a cliff badly. He has gone from elite, to prototype Essington in the space of two years FMD. If he puts out yesterday’s effort, or the GWS #1 effort next year then he should be traded. Completely ■■■■■■■ disgraceful.
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Langford. Very good player when he decides to apply himself. However, that rarely happens, and he plays like a soft spud 99% of the time. I’d be tempted to ■■■■ him off, but I want to see if Caracella can get him to pull his head in.
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Heppell, Hooker, Hurley, Fantasia & the selection committee. Seriously, if you are hampered with injury that requires surgery and considerable time off, you shouldn’t be playing. The aforementioned players should have put their hands up and said that they are clearly not match fit. Now, three of them will have an interrupted pre-season FFS.
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Our assistant coaches (bar Kelly, DJordan and Rutten). Incredibly uninspiring and typical Essendon choices. When I say typical Essendon choices, I mean the token favourite son, and some other cheap spuds we recruit from within. Caracella is a good acquisition and I hope we continue bringing in more quality, outside assistants who will have a realistic understanding of where the team is at.
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Whilst I can see where Worsfold is coming from with his player-led mantra, it is clear that he has taken this approach to the extreme with our group. They aren’t a mature team like the Eagles who can coach themselves out on the field. They need assistance, especially when things aren’t going okay. He as senior coach must be the one who provides this assistance.
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Our Fitness and Medical Departments. ■■■■ me where do I start. How the ■■■■ were we so under-prepared this year? WTF were we doing all pre-season? Why are our players so skinny and cannot run out 4 quarters? Are we so ■■■■■■■ scarred from the ASADA ■■■■ that we refuse to build up the strength of our players? FFS. I hope Crowe and Turk aren’t scapegoats, and that the entire HP department is sacked. Dump them to the curb Dean Robinson style.
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Our gameplan. This run and gun ■■■■ was picked apart by Collingwood in 2010 when they realised that it all falls apart with pressure. FFS, this type of gameplan should have been buried when Collingwood annihilated Geelong in the 2010 prelim. It has been outdated for a ■■■■■■■ decade.
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Our skills. ■■■■■■■ LOL. The fact we made the top 8 with these “skills” is a damning indictment on the clubs below us.
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Our match-day preparation. For two ■■■■■■■ weeks, it was plastered all over the media that WCE’s strength is their marking. Why would we come out, and continue to blindly bomb the ball into the 50 straight to McGovern? Were we asleep the last few weeks? Did we not review our last game against the Eagles? Are the players not listening to the coach? If you are going to panic kick, kick it along the ground and make their incredibly slow tall defenders chase the ball, not kick it down their ■■■■■■■ throat.
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Our President, CEO and Board. Classic Essendon right here. More concerned about making money and looking good rather than investing in football. It will get to a point (I’m hoping next season) where our membership will tumble and money stops coming in. Maybe then, will these dumb ■■■■■ realise that our football team is the most important thing at the club.
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Myself (and every other EFC supporter). We’re always hopeful that the club will eventually pull their heads in and realise that the only way up is with hard-work. We always get excited for every season, only to be let down and humiliated. But we always return every year because we love the club. We’ve been treated like utter ■■■■ from these selfish fuckwits since 2002.
2019 Grade: E
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