Season 2015 - Essendon

Football Discussion Dustin Fletcher Hangar
1

Essendon

Coach - James Hird

2014 -
Points for - 12th
Points Against - 4th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Dyson Heppell
  2. Cale Hooker
  3. Brendon Goddard
  4. Michael Hibberd
  5. David Zaharakis

2013/2014 Rising Star Noms

Zachary Merrett
Joe Daniher

Ins
James Gwilt, Adam Cooney, Jonathon Giles, Kyle Landford, Jayden Laverde, Shaun McKernan, Kurt Aylett, Jake Long, Conor McKenna

Outs
Paddy Ryder, Kyle Hardingham, Leroy Jetta, Sean Gregory, Dylan Van Unen, Corey Dell’Olio, Johnny Rayner, Fraser Thurlow

My prediction

Realistically who the hell knows. More variables than any team in the history of football that could change the outcome of the season. I am going to preview as if every player is playing and no one misses a game for that bulls**t going on in the background.

There are some questions over the forward line. It looked towards the end of last season that Carlisle was adapting well to the key forward spot and it is only a matter of time before Daniher rips a couple of games to absolute shreds. There is no question that Hurley is a better back than a forward and would expect that to stay the course for this season.

The midfield is deep and has class. The recruitment of Giles should cover for the “enigmatic” Ryder who none of us really liked anyway. One of Giles or Bellchambers needs to step up and kick some goals to really cover for Ryder who last year found a way to score when we most needed it.

The Bombers will be hoping Kommer can get fit this season as they missed him last year running around the forward line and that lack of defensive effort up front is one of the reasons for the low scoring last year. The ball rebounded out way too easily way too often.

So the Bombers are going to finish somewhere between 3rd and 10th. Most likely position is towards the top of that scale if all goes right. I will say 5th

2

“Ryder who none of us really liked anyway” - great line!

Agree with your prognosis. I have no idea whether the “good” Essendon or the “bad” Essendon is going to turn out week to week. I hope we push for a top 4 spot but I am worried that my inability to rationally assess our chances is inflating our prospects.

I do think our three mature age recruits will add a bit. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Cooney in red and black and I think the size of his contribution will surprise a few people (not expecting brownlow medal year performances but he will be very handy). Lastly, I am excited that Bellchambers is back and, from all reports, very fit. If he fires we will be alright. If instead we get model 2014 Bellchambers it could be a long season.

3

These guys suck.

4

Adding Gwilt is a perfect addition. Gives us so much flexibility (Hurley to go fwd/Carlisle back/ both fwd etc). I personally think our back 6 is the best in the league. With Gwilt and Steinberg rotating in Fletch’s position, and Gleeson, Ashby and Dalgleish: we finally have depth in that department.

I still reckon adding more mids is a must at this stage of our progress and adding Laverde is perfect. Hepp/Zaka/Myers all hitting their peak now is exciting and when you add Jobe/BJ/Stants/Coons it gives us a range of different type of players to have a terrific midfield group. Howlett and Hocking are vital to as they much needed toughness and a good mix with Zerrett and Colyer’s speed. Melksham is still an unknown however.

Daniher and Carlisle need to fire together! Helps they can clunk a few and with the improvement of their goal-kicking (thanks Lloydy!!) they should aim for at LEAST 40 goals each. Ambrose/Langford/Edwards fighting it out for a 3rd tall option is a good problem to have. Still reckon we need more small fwds as Licha and Chappy nearing the end. Doesn’t help when Kommer can’t get on the park.

Rucks are decent despite loss of Judas. I still believe Giles will be our most valuable pick-up because he can play ruck and essentially FF with his big build. Belly in for a big one after a horror 2014.

Bearing no injuries, no suspensions and consistency from J & J (No, not WWE’s version) I think we’ll finally reach the 4. Prediction: 4th.

5

We will miss the 8.
I think the additions to the club are great (both young and old) but we will continually be playing catch up on the competition if this ASADA crap keeps going through NAB and into the season.
Last year was relatively tame, but it will be more intense as soon as Hird is coaching the team again and in front of the media.
It’s not the players fault and not the clubs, just ■■■■ circumstances.

It’s a pity. Without the ASADA crap, we’d have been a top four team the last two years and probably be beating down the door for a top two spot this coming season.

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My in-depth review:

4th.
Swans/Bombers GF

7

On paper, this is a pretty damn good team.

8

Once the asada crap is over we will use the frustration to our advantage,I reckon the end of asada might be our best recruit.

9

Quoted Post

On paper, this is a pretty damn good team.

Unfortunately, that paper has been used to wipe the ■■■ of the AFL.

10

Cant even think about footy till this asada crap is done.

Really good list. But that’s irrelevant if we don’t get a clear run from round 1.

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Quoted Post

Cant even think about footy till this asada crap is done.

Really good list. But that’s irrelevant if we don’t get a clear run from round 1.

Hi Dodga, it might be that “thinking about footy” is the best therapy for a saga damaged fan.

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Quoted Post

Quoted Post
On paper, this is a pretty damn good team.

Unfortunately, that paper has been used to wipe the ■■■ of the AFL.

In that context I think we would all click on 'like" for soft tissue.

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Quoted Post

"Agree with your prognosis. I have no idea whether the "good" Essendon or the "bad" Essendon is going to turn out week to week. I hope we push for a top 4 spot but I am worried that my inability to rationally assess our chances is inflating our prospects..

The fun part being it’ll be another 6 to 8 months before we know which Essendon has turned up and whether anything has changed.

Think our youngsters who get a game are going to have to start playing like seasoned superstars for us to “change” our essington ways.
Otherwise to simply use nothing but our history, i’m not sure how much changes, playing the same old players, who haven’t been able to perform at a high lvl consistently over a year for the majority of our recent to medium history.

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James Gwilt > Dylan Van Unen

Adam Cooney > Leroy Jetta

Jonathon Giles < Paddy Ryder

Shaun McKernan > Fraser Thurlow

Kyle Langford - Kyle Hardingham ?? likely >>

Jayden Laverde - Sean Gregory ?? likely >>

Jake Long - Johnny Rayner ?? likely >>

Conor McKenna - Corey Dell’Olio ??

we have clearly improved the list overall IMO. Are we fitter? we’ll we use the ball better? can we be more consistent (beat cellar dwellers, not give up leads)? can we run out the year? asada?

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Quoted Post

James Gwilt > Dylan Van Unen

Adam Cooney > Leroy Jetta

Jonathon Giles < Paddy Ryder

Shaun McKernan > Fraser Thurlow

Kyle Langford - Kyle Hardingham ?? likely >>

Jayden Laverde - Sean Gregory ?? likely >>

Jake Long - Johnny Rayner ?? likely >>

Conor McKenna - Corey Dell’Olio ??

we have clearly improved the list overall IMO. Are we fitter? we’ll we use the ball better? can we be more consistent (beat cellar dwellers, not give up leads)? can we run out the year? asada?

Wow. When looked at in that light… Also hoping that Jon Giles = Ryder. Different beast obviously but hopefully equal in output. Seems the list is being conditioned finish games stronger which will hopefully address the continued fade out issue. Improved accuracy in front of goals will obviously make a difference but also more maturity from the key forwards will provide more opportunities for them. Forward defense will be the interesting thing to observe. If we get that right it should make a huge difference in combination with the other things mentioned. Our excellent back 6 just got deeper with the addition of Gwilt. Add to all this the long sought after midfield depth and a generally wiser midfield delivering into the forwards and I genuinely think we will blow some sides away this season and probably surprise a few sides that would have thought they’d compete or beat us. Defensive pressure forward is the interesting one for me though. Hird had them doing this pretty well in the first half of 2013.

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Conor McKenna ??

I am hoping to see a bit of how Conor McKenna plays in a real game in the NAB cup, if the coaches let him play. He is a natural sportsman, but he is still a project in the AFL context. Because of the top up problem he should get more NAB game time than he otherwise would. It remains to be seen if they think his body and skill level are ready after 3/4 of a preseason. Otherwise he will have to learn to play football in the VFL.

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Quoted Post

James Gwilt > Dylan Van Unen

Adam Cooney > Leroy Jetta

Jonathon Giles < Paddy Ryder

Shaun McKernan > Fraser Thurlow

Kyle Langford - Kyle Hardingham ?? likely >>

Jayden Laverde - Sean Gregory ?? likely >>

Jake Long - Johnny Rayner ?? likely >>

Conor McKenna - Corey Dell’Olio ??

we have clearly improved the list overall IMO. Are we fitter? we’ll we use the ball better? can we be more consistent (beat cellar dwellers, not give up leads)? can we run out the year? asada?

Fletch 15 < Fletch 14
Watson 15 < Watson 14
Hooker 15 = Hooker 14??
Cooneys Knees 15 < Cooneys knees 14

I mean there is so many variables. McKernan is better than Thurlow but doesnt matter as I hope McKernan sees no playing time at all. Gwilst is better than Van Unen but it isnt realistically his place he is fighting for.

18

sure, the glass is half empty.

but for what it is worth, it’s a good bet fletch’s output will be as steady as it has been for the last couple (barring injury), hopefully watson will not miss two months of football and come back for finals a bit short of a run, cooney’s knees weren’t an issue for him last year or the year before and if you take out 3 games affected by injury/sub he averaged 22 touches more than 3 tackles and close to a goal a game. I don’t know why you have put hooker there frankly.

i’d dare say we’re a good chance to see improvement from hepp, zmerrett, colyer, JD, tbell, ambrose and hopefully carlisle. we can probably also hope to see a better year from melk and improvement from glesson, kav and ashby.

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Cooney’s 2014 season stats highlights

	http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pp-essendon-bombers--adam-cooney

	23 disps (12 kicks 11 hballs), 5 marks and a goal in Rd 21 50-pt loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium (17 Aug 2014)
	25 disps (14 kicks 11 hballs), 5 marks and 3 goals in Rd 20 23-pt win over St Kilda at Etihad Stadium (10 Aug 2014)
	25 disps (15 kicks 10 hballs), 7 marks, 7 tackles and a goal in Rd 12 8-pt loss to Brisbane at Etihad Stadium (7 Jun 2014)
	26 disps (12 kicks 14 hballs) and 5 tackles in Rd 11 38-pt loss to Fremantle at Etihad Stadium (1 Jun 2014)
	25 disps (12 kicks 13 hballs), 3 marks and a goal in Rd 8 16-pt win over Melbourne at the MCG (10 May 2014)
	26 disps (15 kicks 11 hballs), 8 marks, 4 tackles and a goal in Rd 7 8-pt loss to Essendon at Etihad Stadium (3 May 2014)
	23 disps (14 kicks 9 hballs), 6 marks, 8 tackles and a goal in Rd 2 29-pt loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium (30 Mar 2014)
	26 disps (15 kicks 11 hballs) and 5 marks in Rd 1 65-pt loss to West Coast at Patersons Stadium (23 Mar 2014)

i for one i am going to be quite happy to see how he goes floating around the half forward line and wing and i dare say he is going to quite enjoy his footy feeding off hepp and jobe around the stoppages.

20

I would love to see Hooker give us the same output as last year. Not sure he will. I still have question marks over Hooker. I agree it all lines up well generally but there is a few variables that dont make it as vanilla as the original post. I expect Carlisle to rip it up this year. I think Stanton is a wild card this year and expect him to have his best year in a while.

I think Fletch showed signs last year age had finally started to catch up.

We still lack a genuine small forward. A goal kicking annoying pain in the ar$e small forward.

I also still feel we lack that game breaking speedster through the middle. Zerrett gives a bit but he isnt it. We havent had that since Lovett.

Our list isnt ready yet