Acknowledgment of pea hearts on EFC
LOSER
5 Likes
I guess making the same remarks three years ago just hasnāt given him or the team enough learnings to turn it around yet
3 Likes
Covid interrupted nothing year. We have been ā ā ā ā since 2004. Itās all unacceptable. But yeah, to move on Truck and go backwards is not ideal. Question is, where would we be if we stuck with Truck? Probably higher up the ladder I fearā¦
Brad Scott is about to experience the pressure of being a coach of a āBig 4ā team and not a tin rattle club that no one cares about.
5 Likes
Improvementā¦ā¦aargh!!
Like others, I enjoyed itā¦ far more than any of the miasma and sludge of mediocrity weāve served up over the past 20 years.
No expectations, no thoughts of wins. Just enjoy tracking the progress of youngsters. Tippa, Daniher (before he became a lazy, entitled sook) etc.
If we had that clearly laid out for us (and assuming competent recruitment and development programā¦ a BIG, BIG assumption when it comes to Essendon) Iād be all for it.
3 Likes
How would Zach feel about a full rebuild? That would probably put him in the Heppell club with 250/300 games maybe without a finals win. And then if still no success all on here clamouring for his head.
Fark, thatās no good, that means the chin is captainā¦
How dare Robo include the Senior Coach in his criticisms! He just wants us to be ā ā ā ā !
Has he not heard the news? Brad Scott has no responsibility over anything and zero accountability over the team he coaches, selects, and helps devise a game plan for.
Get with the times Robo, stick to just mentioning the crappy players!
1 Like
Here is what I think. I think coaches have lost the playing group and I think thatās evidenced by the way the group are playing. If the message is not getting through, itās not the recipient of the message that is the problem, itās the provider of the message. And clearly the coaching messages are not getting through. It seems to me there are far too many mixed messages,
In the last two weeks our back line let 17 goals go through unanswered in two quarters of football. I started thinking where was the Fletcher of today, marshalling the troops?
He would never have let that happen. He certainly would have ensured someone was goal side of the ball after the first two goals.
Who is leading the backline?
You would think it should be the vice captain McGrath but he doesnāt seem as though heās quite capable of doing that. I wonder what extent Ridley and Redman have or would try to do so and to what extent they may be told itās not their business.
I donāt know Iām guessing, but when you have a back line so out of touch and devoid of confidence you have to wonder what the problem is. And I think itās mixed messages.
Ridley seems to have gone backwards,. Redman is a shadow of his former self. Mackay is hand balling to no one. Thatās not lack of skill thatās lack of confidence. Constantly second guessing themselves because they are unsure of what they are supposed to be doing IMO.
The back line should be Ridley Redman Mackay, maybe McGrath, and two there.
Iād like to put LaVerde in there because heās the only one that seems to play with 110% commitment all the time. Given he came to us as a forward I wonder again whose bright idea it was to turn a forward into a back man who would never be tall enough.
Heppell into the cannon
Forward line
Why are we trying to turn a natural forward in Harry Jones into a winger? Jones should be playing in the forward line. And why are we playing Martin in the back line? Lunacy.
Forward line should be Jones Caddy Langford Stringer Martin and another
Wright should be fired into the Canon. Canon also has spaces for Stringer and Langford if they donāt improve.
.
And someone in the coaching department, please teach Jones Caddy and Langford how to all lead in different directions? Itās not rocket science. Itās not even brain surgery.
Ruck
Yes, we should play two rucks. Bryan and Goldstein. Bryan because we need him to learn the ropes. Goldstein because he can mentor Bryan both on and off the field for the rest of the year.
Draper into the Canon.
Wings
Cox and Duursma.
Mids
Merrett, Parish, Durham, Setterfield, Caldwell, Hobbs,
Sheil into the cannon
Perkins back to the reserves to learn to football and gain confidence.
Pick the rest of the team yourselves.
We have too much dead wood.
We have coaches who seemingly are poor communicators given that they canāt seem to get their messages across. We need coaches to understand, that if the message isnāt getting through, itās they who are the problem not the player.
Maybe they need refreshers on communication skills.
Nothing will change until we get rid of the dead wood.
Nothing will change until we change our messaging.
Thatās my opinion of whatās wrong with the team. And itās really just a reflection of something wrong with the club.
6 Likes
Stop being so negative robbo! fark off and follow norf! win lose or draw i support my team ! 
1 Like
Or working for the AFL where you can be a dimwit and get a raise.
2 Likes
Itās not as simple as saying Iāll sign up for the Hawks rebuild versionā¦ I get where youāre coming from but itās not clear as it seems.
A full rebuild only succeeds if the entire club is set up for success. A club has to get most list decisions right over 4-5 years. It then needs to have these players arrive into the right environment and culture. A stable club. The players wonāt progress if development isnāt being successfully supporters, or the VFL program isnāt the nursery to practice what they train. It needs great fitness programs, not programs that see young players get stress related injuries etc.
The Hawks have a better club and system. Its VFL program is award winning and has been among the best programs for many years. This ensures its young players thrive and develop. How can you be confident Essendon is currently positioned for a successful rebuild in this respect?
Look, Iām neither here or there on a full rebuild. Iām just highly guarded about whether Essendon could do it successfully in as short a timeframe as feasible without carnage and chaos in its earlier years which creates further protracted pain.
In principle itās a viable option if the club can stomach it. I do think itās very risky and a club like Essendon, with its impatient and frustrated fans and media wouldnāt give them the time or space to deliver it. Thatās not to say itās not the right approach. It then requires extremely patient Boards who ignore noise and cop dwindling membership, crowds and bank balances. This might be the case whichever way it proceeds.
2 Likes
melbourne attempted a rebuild and failed. attempted another rebuild and succeeded.
https://afltables.com/afl/seas/ladders/ladderstbt.html#11
thereās no guarantees
dogs rebuild from 2011 to 2014 and enjoyed the ultimate success
https://afltables.com/afl/seas/ladders/ladderstbt.html#7
hawks reset and did a rebuild about 03 to 05
https://afltables.com/afl/seas/ladders/ladderstbt.html#10
certainly there are examples of premiers building lists without taking 4 years at the bottom but generally those clubs (cats, swans, pies, WC, hawks to an extent) were starting from list which had enjoyed at least some recent success.
Richmond is a bit of outlier in so far as they suddenly bolted from being stuck in the mid table for ever to dominating the comp off the back of a bit of a tactical revolution, some luck at the draft table (martin) and the father son rile (rance). they did have 4 top 4 picks between 04 and 09 though so that probably does kind of count as a rebuild over a long period even if it took a while to bear fruit. Tigers do not win those flags without cotchin, martin and rance.
essedon has had 2 top 4 picks this millennium. Melbourne have had 10 in that time, the dogs 7 (albeit 2 of which were F/A or academy). collingwood 3 including daicos. west coast 5.
hawks have only had 2 too but that excludes franklin at #5 and croad at #3 in 1997
1 Like
A massive risk, hahahaha. As the Bombers crash out of contention and into irrelevancy once more. To take a massive risk, there needs to be something on the line. What, you donāt want to give up a 12th place finish without any guarantees weāll get to 7th or 8th. The only risk from culling this list is we might get good. We canāt get much worse. Early season wins, meh, I rather know the truth instead of realising mid way through Dreamtime at the G that this team is no good again.
Yep, theyāve won 3 flags recently. This year has been a write off. A wasted year. Irrespective of the depth of their rebuild you can already sense the slight restlessness of the natives before it starts. The way the coach is managing Dusty Vs Club is setting the groundwork for a divisive debate which could come to fruition mid / late next year if they have a poor start in 2025. As I said, the fans wonāt take a long and protracted rebuild with glee. It will probably be painful and heads will roll along the way. Its just the way it often is.
1 Like
I reckon Kelly was injured though?
Big coming from the bloke with the heart the size of a shelled pea
1 Like