A few knocks on his game last night and rightly so. There were a couple of opportunities that he could have dished off but went with his usual kaos ball.
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Probably significant that they played round 0 and we didnāt
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It looked that way as the game got on
This is a big issue with these three I agree.
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4.1 to 0.2 scores from centre bounce.
2.0 to 0.0 scores from kick in.
We have to be better than that. Their kick in set play was on TV all week and we still got sucked in at least three times.
Itās a frustrating one as we just made a few errors in selection (one too many talls) a few in how we lined up (Redman/perkins/martin/Durham rolls didnāt work in the first half) and then a few in set up and defending CBās and kick ins.
All that could have been covered up if we had an elite forward line but we know we donāt and yet we only lost by 3-4 goals.
Get organised and we can be right in this season.
Not literally but I think their intensity came off after qtr time. Carlton didnāt relax either but their intensity came off against the Tigers. I donāt think the Hawks dropped off markedly but enough to ensure we could match them and stay in the match.
We couldnāt go with the Hawks after about 10 minutes in the first, they smacked us.
I honestly believe he looks for runners and if he canāt find them then he hoofs it.
Heās a big guy and therefore in danger of being run down, so if the option isnāt immediately apparent then heās going to rush.
Iāll concede the Martin play, however I think itās extremely optimistic given Martinās game last night that he would have done any better.
Turned off after their 5th goal and watched the NRL. Checked back intermittently and watched the last quarter. I am encouraged by us outscoring them in the last 3 quarters. But whenever we got close enough to make them nervous, they always had a quick answer. Maybe playing last week was an advantage in them getting the jump on us, who knows. It will be interesting to see how Melbourne and Brisbane go against teams that played last week.
Not gonna lie, Iām looking forward to Edwards.
we were obviously finding our feet in the first qtr of our season, would have been nice to play an opposition doing the same, funny how their intensity " dropped " as our players lifted theirs and got into the groove
How dare he have a good nightās rest before a synopsis we are craving !
I thought the players who I personally donāt rate, didnāt have good games last night.
But I felt that the players I do personally rate, all had decent games.
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Ehā¦I rate Martin and Zerrett.
But I appreciate the funny.
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a hell of a lot of position and player line up changes in that side last night . all looked good in the practice games and it might takes a few weeks to settle . losing Langford and Ridley is a huge blow ,
I didnāt mind the way we fought to hang in . could have been a much worse loss in the end .
I would like to beat hawks more than any other team now , and really rough them up in the process .
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I also donāt mind their hubris, because it will absolutely bite them and gosh it will be funny when it does.
Strongman poses look a bit silly if you lose.
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You can understand based on this microcosm of fan reaction why ultra conservative Essendon has been reluctant to commit fully to an actual rebuild all these years.
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Ditto. I think its a good like for like replacement with Langford. Both highly skilled, crafty forwards that are good at ground level.
Lol, you spent all week saying you would be happy with this exact result. Losing by 20 odd points but showing good effort. That is exactly what happened last night.
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It isnāt just them.
There are a few more on our week in / week out team that arenāt good enough in other spots than their best. They donāt need to be as good as their strongest position, but they have to at least break even.
Caddy is going to be one. But as long as he developed into a dominant key forward, you can take it. I think he is capable of doing what Jones did a few years ago and work his way up to the wings, but I donāt think weāre going to develop him that way yet. Probably see if he can become comfortable playing against the oppositionās best defender first before triying to free him up on the wing.
McKay is another. Heās very limited, but if he dominates that position, then you live with it. Ridley and Reid look more adaptable
I suspect Langford is another in this boat. Forward is clearly his best position, elsewhere, heās suspect. Midfield wasnāt for him, wing wasnāt either and I think he could be ātoo slowā for a backline role given how poor defensively our midfield is.
Parish is the same. For someone who was stuck in the forward line for half his career, he cannot play anywhere but the midfield. Maybe he developed into a high half forward later on. He played a little bit of that in 2023. Once Gresham came, he ceased playing there.
Whilst not in our best 22, Setterfield is the same. Heās a mid only, but whilst you can throw him out on a wing, he gets exposed too easily. I donāt think a forward line is suitable for him.
2MP is in the same boat too. In the ruck, heās exposed around the ground. Heās better as a stay at home lead up forward. Which doesnāt help because that is where Caddy is being developed.
Thought Gresham was good when he came on, sparked us up a notch
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