People saying Joe lost us the game are mad. Sure missing and kicking 0.6 is deflating, but we were not switched on from the start and were playing rubbish football. Alot of his chances came from beating his man, rather than lace out delivery from our midfield. It is very frustrating, but the blame does not lie with him. Everyone would be lauding him if he had kicked straight. Hooker missed a soda early on as well.
Fact is the whole team did not turn up at the start. Its not good enough, and the leaders on the field need to have a look at themselves. When the team is off its meant to be the senior players that rectify things. This is not happening at all. In the third the leaders for Melbourne stood up.
Its time our midfield realised they need to be accountable and actually defend. You can blame speed partially but other teams also possess slow players that still make an effort. What annoys me is that this lack of midfield pressure is rubbing off on the younger players. When they see the senior players cruising around and not gut running back what kind of impression does that leave.
Still a long season but certain senior players should be on notice.
We badly missed Paddy Ambrose in defence, where heās the lynchpin. I was afraid that would happen.
The midfield is too fugging slow; Jobe is cooked; Captain Heppell is having an average season ā I wonder if the captaincy is weighing heavily on him ?
JoeD having an off-day was only to be expected: he played his erse off Anzac Day and won the medal; itās no surprise he had a letdown, physically too tired and mentally too unfocussed. The problem was that no one else covered for him.
Weāll win next week ā if the coaching and selection panels take note of what BakerWasAStar has to say about 20 posts above this. Heās spot-on. Great analysis!
Anger isnāt what is needed, but digging in, and not budging is. It appears that Essendon wants to play pretty football, but lacks a bit of grit. This is where a Hibberd would have been more than handy.
On a serious note, Woosh saying Paddy is out for 3 or 4 weeks is a real pizz off.
We could really do with him against Geelong, hell we need him every game, but the Cats are a real worry fwd. Without him, our chances of beating them are severely diminished.
Hopefully he comes up sooner, but at least with all things being equal, heās back for Dreamtime to bury Riewoldt.
Footballers are supposed to be professionals. I dont know how long or how seriously they practice set shots at goal, but they should be like golfers and rarely miss when playing in an indoor stadium. What did Joe get? 1-6/7 and one out on the full. That isnt just a bad game, thatās a disaster. Killed all hope of getting any chance of winning the game
And then doing that thing playing around with Hibbo like a 10yo. Forgive and forget Joe but thatās a bad look
Get Dr Phil or Tony Robbins down the club.
Putting a positive spin we are 3 and 3, we rested some players,
I too think its time to re think the hooker forward.
It was ok when he was pinch hitting, but teams have worked out how dangerous he is with his marking and are putting a lot more effort into double triple teaming him and locking him down. Heās OK when we get the ball down there quickly and he plays deep preferably one out deep in the forward line
His problem is,he isnt quick and mobile enough to run them around. His best asset is intercept marking and reading the ball through the air. He is just not being allowed to do that, so for me he goes back where he has freedom to play and have the effect we know he can have. Id be happy to give Stewart or Francis an extended go at permanent forward, and get Joe as far away from the goals as we can.
Ethihad Stadium affect. Ball travels further indoors, we didnāt adapt as all our games have been outdoors. Both teams struggled yesterday and just kept kicking over each otherās heads.
Heās not a dumb footballer but heās also not a natural forward. He rarely leads and when he does itās often poorly timed. Not a real surprise when heās played most of his career as a defender.
Not shying away from a contest - thatās why I love seeing McKenna, McGrath, Tippa, Francis, Ambrose, Laverde in the team. Canāt wait also for Begley to earn a game. Ditto Mutch. They also love a contest.
Who shies away from a a contest - Zaharakis, Langford, Brown. They should not play until they learn to run to the fire, not take slow/non steps towards it in the hope someone else deals with the heat.
Who doesnāt shy away from the contest but lacks complete physical presence and cannot impact a contest - Gleeson, Dea. They should not play until they learn to exert themselves physicals.
Until we start loading our team with players who love a contest and win the contested ball, we will not go near a finalsā spot.
Seemed to me yesterday that it was darker inside Etihad than normal. I seem to recall years ago, it was much brighter and easier to see, and it is not old age, as my eyes have been the same for years and stronger glasses actually make it clearer.
Looking over to the Docklands side it was harder to see all the play with shadows and not enough light.
I have never played footy indoors but it must present its own problems in seeing the ball.
For me it wasnāt just the performance that was dull, if you compare the crowds at MCG waving scarves to yesterday, viewing showed a great lack of contrast as well.
Not excusing poor play, but has to have some effect.