I hope so.
I think it’s a natural progression after what we were able to achieve offensively this year.
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[Still watching old footage, got to an interview of ten-gamer Hird in the rooms after the 1993 game. When he’s asked what his reaction to being sent to Ablett was, his response is “I thought BLEEEEEEP, mostly.” What a vulgar young man. Not worthy of #5, surely.]
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Dogs made it very easy but Jackets played it perfectly.
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I think him trading the pick 11 for Smith was the masterstroke. It effectively took away their anchor point. They weren’t going to budge on that pick so he just removed it from the conversation.
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Absolutely. You suspect he e would have been thinking “if they get too greedy we’ve got the licence to go make a good trade elsewhere first and lower the price.” When they did exactly that the game was on.
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I think his first job was to fix our forward line and scoring now that he’s fixed that he’s going to focus on the defensive part of the game.
I just think it was a matter of necessity. Smith was going to go sooner as at least 2 other clubs were interested and there was little if any interest in Stringer. I’m sure dodo did some enquiring as to other clubs dealings and he needed to act quickly and decisively to secure smith and Saad. We all know the bulldogs farked it up but Stringer was never going anywhere else. They ended up ok anyway with their other deals. Just took longer than we would have liked.
While having a free hit at developing our young players last year.
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Yeah agreed. I understood why we went for Woosha but still had my reservations about his tactics. There was always the catastrophic outcome (and actual outcome) of players getting suspended. We needed a coach that could manage a crisis and he suited that requirement. He’s done exceptionally well and I hope he reaps the rewards in the future. Deserves it after he inherited a ■■■■ sandwich.
I agree that we have 15-20% improvement to come. I think that improvement has to come from our defence. We were shocking this year but that’s obvious. @aboods is right that Woosha said the defence will be a strong focus in off-season which is great to hear. When Woosha arrived, the immediate priority for Essendon was being able to score. We achieved that this year and should 100% improve with Stringer and Smith being able to push forward/play half forward.
Might be dreamy but if you look at Richmond, they have a small forwardline but they apply a ridiculous amount of defensive pressure. We don’t have an issue of a small forward now or defensive pressure in F50 but if we can emulate Richmond’s defensive pressure through our midfield then height shouldn’t be a concern.
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100%. It was such a good move. Completely removed the highest denominator and put it back on the WB. It was a real ‘what are you going to do now’ moment. I also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of offering pick 11 under terms that we knew that the WB were not going to accept.
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We probably still would have got Smith and Saad if we gave pick 11 to the Dogs. would have got pick 26 from the Dogs to use on Saad and then our future 2nd round for Smith.
It would have been tougher, the future second round pick from GWS really changed the game for us. No way would have the Doggies given us that. Stringer declaring us narrowed the clubs that the WB could go to.
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Even with 34 people would ■■■■■ about different number of 5, 6 and 7 day weeks.
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That, and getting Smith for the equivalent of roughly pick #48 in points meant we had a lot of ammunition to get the other two.
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Jumper number? To ensure that it isn’t forgotten, I would like Stringer to have this on his back:
"25+30"
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What about …
2 2nd Rndrs
Lol Bulldogs…
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Great watching those highlights v Geelong in 93. How many dodgy frees did Ablett get? Also forgot how good a commentator Ian Robertson was!!!
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You have to be joking! He’s wearing the number of an Essendon great and double Brownlow medalist. This club has been going longer than the last forty years.
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How would that have been as good though. We gained a future 2nd and this years 2nd in the Smith trade Dogs where not going to give us anything back.
This may have already been mentioned, but why isn’t this now a “Welcome to Essendon” thread?
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