Somewhere in the bottom 18 I reckon…
4 Likes
No, for me somewhere in the top 18.
4 Likes
We’re going to win the flag and you sad ■■■■■ just need to get your head around it
2 Likes
Bottom 6 with good percentage, ala Brisbane 2018.
2023 won’t be a year to measure in wins and losses, but rather progress in areas like fitness, workrate, tackles, 1% etc and the emergence of a coherent gameplan.
Overachieving into 8th yet again won’t be the worst thing for us, but without clear improvements on the above factors we would yet again be chasing our tails
5 Likes
Cant see us losing a gams all year.
1 Like
Fark this “lets finish bottom four” and “its not about wins” crap
I’m sick and tired of being a loser club and laughing stock of the comp i hope we have a season like the Pies did.
If we do a Collingwood I’ll probably be the only kent on here who would be wrapt others will probably complain how its not good for us and we will miss out on a top 5 pick
2 Likes
Absolute ceiling is scraping into the 8, which will be an overachievement, and that never bodes well for expectations the following year which we can never seem to handle or improve upon. Best case scenario is probably a ‘strong’ bottom six finish, with a healthy percentage and most importantly a visible solid game-plan with a clear path to improvement in the future. By 2025 this group needs to be not just playing finals but competing in them and pushing for top 4. No more making up the numbers.
5 Likes
And I just want milk that tastes like real milk!
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I see us surprising everyone and getting smashed in the quarters, then coming out in 2024 and battling to a bottom 3 finish.
#rinse&repeat
2 Likes
Our list has massively improved this year, with some depth finally in the midfield and forward line. Plus we have an easier draw.
I think that will give us an extra 2/3 wins, giving us a total 9/10 wins, placing us in the 11th to 14th range. Near teams like St Kilda, Gold Coast, Adelaide and GWS.
I can’t see us doing any more damage than that, as I don’t see too many of our recent draftees having breakout years this year. Cox, Reid, Caldwell, Jones and Tsatas have all had interrupted preseasons. Bryan, Perkins and Hobbs don’t appear to be showing rapid improvement this preseason.
Can definitely see us making a rise up the ladder in 2024, as those players enter their third and fourth preseasons. So glad to hear we are treating this year as a breakout year
If things pan out that way, you won’t be the only one who is rapt, but there are others who will probably complain.
2 Likes
collingwood won 1 final and ran both the grand finalists close, think we would be happy wth that, although dissapointed with the close losses.
Everything would be lid off for following year though.
1 Like
Backline is OK but needs some match winners if we’re going to take the next step. Ridley looked like a star in 2021 but went backwards last year for the most part, his intercept marking disappeared. Laverde is a good honest trier and does the job most weeks. Perhaps the best find of last year was Zerk-Thatcher who went from whipping boy to starter, it was good improvement. I don’t really rate Kelly if we’re to be a finals side, Adelaide moved past him and I hope we do too, he tries, but he smacks of average player in a poor side. We need McGrath to take the next step, he’s been mostly average as his stint in the midfield failed. If we can get him up and about as a rebounding defender it would help Redman. In my ideal world Cox takes a De Koning type mantle down back as a marking CHB, Ridley plays interceptor along with McGrath and Redman, Laverde (Reid?) takes the bigger forwards which leaves a spot for Zerk, Hind or someone else.
As for the midfield - I still haven’t seen Merrett, Parish and Shiel work in the same team for four years now. Parish got injured last year and Shiel played the best football of his career. 2021 Shiel was injured for a large stint and Parish finished 6th in the Brownlow. They just don’t work as a threesome and I’ll be pretty disappointed if Scott makes the same mistake. All three can hurt offensively but all three are horrid defensively so they need a better mix. I think what could work is any 2 of the 3 with one of Setterfield, Caldwell, Hobbs or Tsatas. Finding the right mix will be crucial, and it was clear McGrath didn’t work or did Langford.
This is where Setterfield hopefully comes in, as a big inside midfielder I’m hoping he can rotate as the third player with two of the other three along with Perkins who looks set for more midfield time this year. We just can’t have three one way runners at each bounce so it’s vital we get the mix right. Caldwell looked good as a defensively minded mid when he got a chance to help counteract the other two. As for the wings, you’d think Martin and Durham get mostly dibs although I’d like Tastas or Davey to rotate with Durham. I want Hobbs, Perkins and Tastas to get plenty of chances this year, even at the cost of some wins. If those two come on then we have a good little midfield.
Forwardline was atrocious, so the positive is it can’t get any worse. Stringer was barely a non factor with injury and form but perhaps the biggest disappointment for me was Jones. I rated him and we needed a good CHF and secondary target to help Wright and he barely touched it, went backwards massively from the year before. Hence we traded in another key in Weideman as backup. Jones has higher upside so hope we back him in first. Tippa will always be a threat too and a welcome return. I think if you have Wright an Jones as the two key targets, with Stringer and Tippa near their feet and tell Davey to just provide defensive pressure. I’m also hoping Menzie after a good pre-season develops into a good small forward after badly lacking last year. Snelling was very poor last year, again injury and form. Thankfully we have some competition for small forwards, especially if the other injured Davey can play in the second half of the year.
Ruck wise on paper Draper has huge talent and more than we know will hang on this bloke. Personally outside of a gun game every 5-6 he was very, very poor and too many gave him leeway because of the fist pumping and wild runs, I thought he escaped criticism for some very poor games. He got well beaten far too many times and too any times he had 0 disposals at half time, not good enough. I think if he can build some consistent solid form then it’s going to help us big time. I’ll trade the exciting runs for some reliable ruckwork for the year. Some outstanding moments in games is overriden by being beaten badly for the majority of games. Outside of him Bryan is developing OK as backup and Phillips is the break in case of emergency.
I think we’ll finish 11th. Aim should be to get as many games into kids as possible and knock off Carlton, Collingwood and Richmond.
8 Likes
Theyre fkn ■■■■, bottom 8.
2 Likes
2 Likes
Will Essendon win a flag in the next 5 years?
- Yes
- No
0 voters
Essendon is locked in a cycle it cannot break out of. Since 2016 here is the pattern of our seasons, more or less.
Season 1: Do poorly, get a good draft pick and a good draw for the next season.
Season 2: Do quite well, get into the bottom of the 8, get a massive, confidence crushing kick in the head in the one final we play, get an average draft pick and a tough draw for the following year
Rinse and repeat.
We so desperately need to break this cycle. FCS wouldn’t it be better to play the kids, feast on draft picks for an extra year and snap out of it ?
I said yes. Because if it’s a no- what the hell is the point of it all
3 Likes
Our list is already pretty young. I think the younger guys just need games and unfortunately injuries are making that almost impossible for some of them.
Our biggest list issues are key position players at either end. We have two young highly rated KPDs (Reid and Hayes) and one KPF (Jones). I’m not sure we need too many more, if anything, I think we could use a seasoned player to give us insurance at either end until the younger options come good or become busts.
it’s not just a pattern from 2016 onwards, try 09 onwards.
09 finals
10 no finals and sacked coach
11 finals
12 no finals
13 would have been finals so it skips a year
14 finals
15 no finals and sacked coach
16 who knows but obviously didn’t cos of suspension
17 finals
6 Likes