Something seriously wrong with the club (Part 3, August 2022)

[BacktoHenryRollins]

Yeah but are other teams really worried about him now.
He can talk, sometimes walk.

[bricky]

There is nothing to support.
It’s time to say goodbye.
It wasn’t the saga, it was leaving windy hill.

[HobbsYourUncle]

@BacktoHenryRollins

Absolutely. We have no figjam players. You might hate em but they want to be the match winner.
Martin may come close, Caddy has strut and will develop into one but who on our team if a free kick was given after the siren would demand the ball to take the responsibility.
Most would run the other way.
This team is seriously devoid of players other teams despise.

We’ll crush the swagger out of Caddy

I recall Parish’s rookie year he was strutting around like a peacock and talking absolute ■■■■ to his opponents.

Now he is meek as hell

[simmo41]

@bricky

It wasn’t the saga, it was leaving windy hill.

it was both happening at once

[barnz]

Mac andrews punches a 2nd gamer in the face, comes out and ices the game.

2mp half-squibs a contest and becomes a shell of his former self. tell me player mentality is not a factor in your recruiting without telling me adrian.

[BacktoHenryRollins]

Your right about Parish, Id forgotten that side of him.
I reckon Perkins, Redman and Hobbs had some too, but alas its long gone.
I really thought Scott would embrace this side of players.
Roberts give me hope.
Let hope he’s a real prick

[Anabelle]

He loves to pressure it seems he takes it all in his stride

[unieeq]

Even Mason thinks we are ■■■■

[somo84]

Maybe Lang is off the hook because he’s not a defender…maybe

But why Lav and McKay aren’t jumping to contest the ball is beyond me. Actually, no it isn’t - they’re shithouse.

[Anabelle]

Guarding grass the lot of them

Uncontested mark deplorable

McKay looks like he is ready to take the mark,

[Bombers2013]

Get some rugby blokes into the club. Teach them how to tackle hard and get some mongrel into them. They are soft and brittle.

[Mendozaaaa]

He and his brother made the right choice in fleeing the country and playing a different sport.

[Anabelle]

Has Lloyd said anything yet…

[centipede2]

Fan favourite journo and inspiring philosopher Barretts article from April earlier this year.

BARRETT: Same old Dons, still mediocre after coup 'carnage'

The final sentence still and will forever into eternity ring true:

“There has been change, but it’s still the same Essendon”

[Fighterbomber]

Primary thing going wrong at the club is the selection committee.

[Bombers2013]

All this talk of other game results is irrelevant when your own team can’t win games. Losses to most of the bottom teams really sums up this year.

[darkknightpheonix]

@HobbsYourUncle

@Glu

@HobbsYourUncle

We were as good or better same time last year

Were we? I know this is isn’t the lid off thread, and is inhabited by people who are mentally scarred from year after year of disappointments, but this is simply a comparison of Essendon in round 8, 2023, and Essendon in round 8 2024:

By round 8 last year, we were 4-4, not 5-1-2, and sitting in 9th position on the ladder after 3 losses in a row. Our 4 wins had come against Hawks at MCG, Gold Coast at Marvel, GWS at Marvel, and Demons in Gather Round.

The game against the Demons was the only impressive win in the first 8 rounds last year. You might be tempted to say the win against GWS at Marvel was also impressive, but the Giants were sitting 13th on the ladder at round 8 last year, not 3rd. Also, we have faced the Giants at Marvel stadium 4 times, and only lost to them there in 2016, with our makeshift team that wasn’t expected to win a game all season.

There are also differences between last year and this in our game plan, the quality of our young talent, and number of injuries. Even the thirst for the contest is different this year. Tonight, again, we faced a big-bodied team with a fit list that like the contest. We finished the night with no noticeable injuries again, and they finished with two or three. Even the top of the ladder Swans are precious about how we ‘bullied’ them.

No. There’s definitely a different feel about our team this year. I’m not foolish enough to predict where we’ll finish by the end of the year. That’s a mug’s game. But I’m not even looking at win/loss ratios. This is a different Essendon than we’ve seen for years. We’re far from the finished product, but we have players who want to work hard to be the best they can be, and are focused on improving every single week. You can see them adding different elements to the game plan as we face different kinds of challenges, week by week.

Yikes

I see you, and i’ll raise you a post that was a few other that one.

@Glu

All true.

The assertion I was responding to was that we were as good or better last year, and that comment was made after round 8.

We were ‘better’ in our earlier rounds last year, if the ladder position is your only guide. After round 1, we were first, and after round 5, we were still second. But at round 8, we certainly weren’t better in any respect.

Last year, Brad Scott took a group of young men, and taught them basic AFL skills, and defensive patterns, then set them loose. He expressed his disappointment about some people’s poor off-season choices, and encouraged them to base their off-field lives around the commitment to professional standards that should be expected from professional athletes.

This year, he started with players who had a more professional off-season, and began to teach them commitment to harder contested ball (his trademark in his time at North), and multiple ways to move the ball forward, while keeping structure behind the ball. He has instilled process over results in the minds of the players, and they seem less focused on wins and losses, and more focused on learning from unique challenges thrown at them game by game, then quickly moving to the next game.

We have a recognisable game plan, based on our players’ strengths. Win the ball from clearance with skill and commitment to the contest, then move it forward carefully enough to move defensive structure up, and play a forward 50 game by locking it in.

Every week, as our opponents challenge our game plan, and try to find weaknesses and turn the game to their own advantage, we respond during the game by trying to halt our opponent’s momentum, and turn it our way. Then once the game is over, we analyse what worked, and what didn’t, and add layers to our basic game plan, patching weaknesses our opponents have pointed out.

This team isn’t riding the highs and lows of a game played with flair. They’re actually holding much of their flair in check, and committing to system and process.

The whole thing seems far more professional than what we have dished up for so long. Regardless of on-field results, we’re building a team that holds themselves to a higher standard of work rate. Unlike us fans, including me shouting at my TV last night, they’re less emotional about ladder positions day to day.

[jonovdp]

The faux positivity last week, after a 1 point win was embarrassing.

[sameold]

Hahahaha that is a fabulous. Oh boy what this club does. We did look sonewhat legitmate at the start of the year

[sameold]

Oh shut it. You can’t tell me you didn’t get sucked in this year aswell