north were sublime in the second half. Unfortunately we didnt kick straight tonight nor play a ruckman. Swings and roundabouts i guess, next week we might kick 17:6
McKernan no good
And you got that from him coming off the Rookie list to play as an undersized first ruck (NOT his position) in all of what, 5 games for Essendon, when he his form has ranged thus far from solid to very good, and when he has just been beaten by the best ruckman in the competition who happens to be a contender for the Brownlow this year?
I think McKernan is going to be a better than average player for us once we get a first ruck. He has already been more than serviceable even as the lone ruckman.
stein and ashby seem so nervous when they have he ball
North are Tin Rattlers with no future. We have played kids who will once day play finals.
Really pleasing first half. Laverde showed real composure on the ball which is hugely promising. First good look I’ve had at that. Also, he’s actually a real big guy for his age. Exciting potential.
Glad the lads pushed back at half time, no doubt in relation to a drugz slur. Good on you boys, more reactions like that please.
Left the pub after the first goal in 3q because I knew what was coming and so it did.
Same old issues about inconsistency in front of goal. Clearances obviously a huge problem tonight but gee if we could take the opportunities we do get …
Not gonna lie, I’m fine with not getting the points at this junk stage of the season. Just happy to see us play with some real intent and pride. Looked like a football team out there tonight unlike a few weeks ago.
bad coaching and dumb mistakes cost us.
who knows if giles would have been worse but geez it’d have taken something special to be. they went in stupidly again thinking that a smaller mobile ruckman will have an advantage around the ground, instead goldstein dominates in both tap outs and around the ground.
Stein is just a total liability down back don’t know why they are even bothering in playing him as if he is on the list next year, well questions seriously need to be asked.
Hooker up forward. What purpose does it serve ? he’s not a long term option up there and his kicking in general let alone for goal is worse than either of daniher and carlisle. He gives it his all and at least has carried his marking and reading of the play to the forwarline, but it’s just stupid and pointless having him up there just cos.
dumb mistakes just keep happening. you can cop it if it’s guys learning, ashby’s ■■■■ kick in the last as an example. But the senior guys just make way too many of them to cover. it’s happened the last few years and costs us way to many games.
the gameplan has stacked up well the last couple of weeks with the young guys, so I’m backstep on that being an issue as much as i thought it was, but it can only hold the dam wall up for so long.
gotta start making players play to their strengths more. Hooker is an easy example tonight, none of this cutesy bullshit of trying to pretend you have better disposal than you do.
it should be no longer acceptable for senior players to be making the stupid mistakes that they do, they should be punished for it, no matter how many we have out.
other than that the rest was promising. good signs by the young in’s and showed they can at least match it with other sides.
Not sure if Giles would have made any difference. Besides who goes out for him to come inn? He is so slow and has zero tank atm. Madness if u dropped smack ATM.
Gee, North are impressive aren't they Dennis?Fark Me.
Discuss.
Hooker √
Hurley √
Hibberd √
Laverde √
Edwards √
Baguley √
Howlett √
Stanton √
I thought Edwards was good but didn’t have a massive impact on the game.
I’ve added Hibbo in as well- he and Baggs attacked and ran from the backline all night!
Great game by stants - he is in top form now.
Hurley and Hooker were epic.
Howlett didn’t get heaps of it but was tough tonight.
Zaka improved and is looking more like it now.
Hepps and Zach struggled tonight- I know Zach had a few touches but he had a lot more attention than normal.
Felt sorry for mckernan but there was no smack in his game tonight- he lost the plot after about a quarter.
Great effort by the boys - well done.
Keep playing the kids and I’m looking forward to next week.
Giles wont be here next year. Stop talking about him. Pretty good game by the kids. But ultimately lost the game with two bad errors by Heppell and Hooker at the start of the 3rd. Lost all momentum we had after those two ■■■■■■ it up.Contracted??????
Team selection is killing Essendon. Giles in a coffin would have offered more than what was served up tonite.
Of the younger players:
Langford - not physically ready
Steinberg - please no more, the AFL is a step too far
Ashby - not quick enough, not good enough in the air, not fast enough, disposal mediocre and is built like an anorexic. Doesn’t offer much.
O’Brien - meh - too slow, no better than he was in 2012
Gleeson - has talent, but unless he has a summer on steroids may as well take over from Angus in ACDC
Edwards - talent galore, unpredictable, and will always frustrate. A keeper IMO as he adds flair which is lacking in the vanilla plodders
Ambrose - hands like concrete and I’m still buggered if I know what he actually does.
Jackson Merrett - talented, but too often becomes an invisible spectator
Zach Merrett - not at his best tonite by a long way
Laverde - has the physique of a modern footballer. Will be a permanent best 22 in 2016. Gotta recruit more of his type instead of under-sized runts.
Anyone who thinks that McKernan is a first ruck knows very little about the game. More of an ideal second ruck/forward.
Hooker fits perfectly into Essendon’s forward line - has all the goal kicking attributes.
Kids did well.
Rather watch Laverde and Edwards than Chapman and Cooney.
Add Hocking Jobe Myers and Carlisle into that mix and we go ok.
Steinberg was okay. But his shortcomings are a real concern. He seemed to prefer to handball at every opportunity. Even when he has time to kick. That’s just not good enough. He also seems to give up multiple goals weekly. I don’t think he should be dropped for it (we really don’t have any other options), but I also don’t think he should get a spot on our list next season.
O’Brien was okay. He faded badly, but I liked what I saw in the first half. He didn’t look slow but he got himself into a position to at least halve the contest. His kicking is actually pretty good as well. He should be persevered with for the rest of the season.
McKernan is okay. A decent stop gap ruck, but I just don’t know where he slots into our team over the next five years. All those free kicks against were an embarrassment and is what was his problem when at Adelaide.
Edwards was good, but like many others, he disappeared after half time.
Gleeson showed the glimpses that he was showing a few years ago. Disappeared as well after half time, but there were definitely more positives than negatives.
Langford is very raw and not ready for AFL. But we don’t have many other options.
I like the look of Laverde. He’s a keeper.
Overall, we were pretty good compared to half the games we’ve played this year.
Where is Giles? He would have gone the Miles
The commentary when talking about the number of games played should have included the number of games that the three umpires have accumulated in norf’s tally. We were pretty good definitely, did not buckle. Gave it a pretty fair crack.
I really like Heppel but the more I see Hurly lately the more I think next skipper
McKernan no goodNah, he's OK, but he shouldn't be your fulltime ruckman. Put him in Ambrose's position in the forward half and rotate him with Ryder, Belly, Giles.... well someone anyway.
Steinberg is s joke
He shows plenty,the more he plays next to Hurley the better he will be.hurely will drag the best out of our youngsters,he is a heart and soul type that others will follow,steinberg will be one of those.i see more upside with our team than north,I wouldn’t have said that six weeks ago
I’m content with that performance. They had a crack right until the end and were just not quite good enough. Despite the loss, the ball movement is still way better than it was a month ago with the “experienced” guys were playing.
Hooker is a surprisingly good forward.
LaVerde did some nice things, liked his game.
Stanton, BJ & Hurls were very good again.
Don’t understand the Steinberg hate. He made a couple of mistakes but he’s still only played half a dozen games. Plenty were willing to right off Hooker and Baguley at the same time. Persist at least until the end of the year.
Seriously the calls for Giles are ridiculously stupid.
Happy with the team this week. We have some great kids.
Free kick North