Draper,Duursma,Parish,Hobbs
Only ones missing from our best side
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âWhere we sit on the ladder is not lost to us, but we have a lot more improvement in us.â
Brad Scott
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Weâll have to wait and see. But the first sentence doesnât say about the difference in playing home or away. We were in WA.
Sounds like a real gloomer, why canât he just enjoy the win?
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I hate the showboating little prick but I might warm to him if he played for us
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Every team except Sydney and us have basically had a down period so far (i donât count the port game the effort was there). Ours is coming and looks to be right around the corner, as soon as we lose that first match, it could be the traditional Essendon second half of season fade out. Iâm hoping not though, this team is more big bodied, mature and has a much better coach than those of the last 20 years, so i hope we are prepared this time around.
Sydney lost to RichmondâŚ
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So, our we glass half full or glass half empty?
From a glass half empty perspective:
- we have been the bottom 4 sides by a combined total of 62 points i.e. about a 2.5 goals a game - the stat is inflated by the 40 point win against North . On the surface, that is embarrassing, regardless of playing Eagles interstate, flu going through the club, etc.
- Like last year, our injuries are really beginning to mount.
From a glass half full perspective:
- 11 rounds in we sit 2nd with an excellent 8-2-1 record. We havenât lost a game for 7 roundsâŚyou have to go back to 2000 for win that last happened.
- We are not just 2nd. We are 6 points clear of 4th-8th. such an outcome doesnât happen by chance.
- Regardless how well we play (or not) we continue to keep teams under 75 points week after week.
We have a major problem and this is Goldstein rucking solo - the bigger problem is Scottâs love affair with him playing solo⌠As someone else posted, since Draper has been out our clearance numbers have fallen through the floor. We have been flogged in clearances by the bottom 2 sides who have themselves been belted in this areaâŚ
Ruckmen are simply bullying Goldstein and shoving him out of the way, especially at centre clearances (because Goldsteinâs first instinct is to make body contact with the other ruckman and not go for the ball). In turn, these ruckmen are racking up big clearance numbers in turn:
- Nankervis was the #1 clearance player on the ground last night with 8, 3 better than anyone else. Goldstein had only 3. So, half of the difference in clearances is directly attributable to Goldsteinâs direct opponent.
- Against North, Xerri had 7 clearances and Goldstein again had only 3.
- Against the Giants, Griggs had a massive 10 clearances (clearly most on the ground). Goldstein again only had 3. We managed to lose clearances by only 1, which remarkable given the massive +7 advantage that Griggs gave his side.
Over the last 3 weeks, this, to me has been our #1 issue. Draper cannot come back quickly enough - and Bryan must be brought in, in the meantime (either to support Goldstein or replace him).
How do we keep winning?
This answer to that question is why I think the glass is half full. Itâs because we have been able to quickly adjust to stoppages being our #1 scoring source to turnovers, week after week. Only good sides can adjust their game to pivot to a different style and keep winning whilst doing that pivot and losing players to injury.
Last night we played well enough for a semi-comfortable win., built off of scoring from turnovers.
Stringer hit the scoreboard early and Langford then stepped in after half time. Ridleyâs return was out standing and he and Redman intercept marked at will, especially in Q2. But our best player was Laverde - his defensive efforts all night were outstanding, especially in the last 10 minutes on Dustin Martin.
The less said about our Martin and his horrendous disposal off half back, the better.
On our younger players:
- Caddy: promising debut but he needs to take his chances in front of goal. But to come in and play CHF on a slippery mark, take a couple of contested marks and have 7 of his 10 disposals contested was highly encouraging. But we really missed Jones last night and his ability to push up to the wing and beyond and provide a marking target. Caddy simply doesnât have the tank to do this. On TV, it seemed to me Langford got sent to CHF in Q4 as he started presenting to the wing/HB and took a couple of string marks.
- Tsatas: looked lost in Q2 after being subbed on in place of Cox onto the wing. But he was excellent after half time and his hands were elite in close. But he is being played out of position. For the second week running I canât understand why Scott wonât give him genuine inside mid time as stoppage work is his main game
- Davey: for the second week running managed to hit the scoreboard and is starting to get involved more in games. However, he still disappears completely for long patches from time to time.
We have a real problem with both our wings with our two first choice wingman - Cox and Duursma - out injured. We rotated multiple players through there including Davey and Kelly. It will be interesting to see what Scott does. They have been playing Archie Roberts on a wing in the VFL and I would love to see him debut on the wing as he is a natrual fit.
Next week we go to the Gold Coast - where no visiting team has won this year. We get a chance to turn that stat on its head in conditions that wonât be too different than last night.
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In the opening few rounds we were winning clearances and our turnover stats werenât good.
Weâve dropped off in the clearances and improved our turnover game.
Perhaps we are trying to pressure their first possession more than winning it ourselves. It keeps games close and you need to hold your nerve to win them.
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Vlaustin is such a flog. I swear every contest he goes to he is looking for a free kick
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Jones and Cox?
Itâs odd when both sides are happy with the outcome.
The difference is, Richmond fans actually seem to have respect for the way weâre playing, whereas our fans were talking us down more.
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Essendon did not lose a quarter against Richmond, so it might not have been pretty but we got the job done bit by bit despite their being plenty of passengers.
The change at Essendon this year is that when players have down days, there is actually enough quality in the side for other players to step up so we can still grind out the win.
I suspect Goldy and Durham are carrying injuries so that might explain the output, and if itâs true a few players were sick during the week no doubt that would explain the lethargic look to others.
I might not have the confidence that we can win the premiership this year but what I do see is improvement and some genuine pressure on selection. I think that is why Hind and Laverde are playing their best footy, because they know if they donât put in 100% effort they will lose their position in the team. We need all players to play on edge. Just look what a difference it makes to Jake Stringer in a contract year. Letâs use the Edge to out advantage.
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Not too different conditons?
Its warmer up here.
The ground is smaller.
Theres a big gapping hole where the wind can blow plenty.
I dont think they water the grass but its Sunday 4pm so anyone can guess.
19 in the arvo, chance of rain after the game. If we are ahead and it rains, all good.
Just watched the replayâŚadmittedly with some fast forwarding. We looked a bit better than I thoughtâŚthey really came at us and were not the team thatâs been flogged the last few weeks. Dusty, Bolton and Baker turned it on at times, very good players (one of them has claims to best ever). Lav was huge. Love the guy. We didnât hit forward targets very well. 2MP missed a couple of marks he ought to have taken, but the delivery overall didnât help him. He was handy around the ground. Take it and move on. Perhaps the last couple of weeks were the âloss we were due forâ type games. We could have put it to bed much earlier
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Wholeheartedly agree, itâs fine to ask him to take the game on and take risky kicks but doing that in the back half of the ground and turning it over is disastrous. At least in our forward half we have a chance to lock the ball in if he fluffs a kick.
Nice post
I am developing a different theory about Hind and Laverde. Hind was good last week, and he was better last night. Like many others l thought he had limited skills and had reached his ceiling as a fringe best 23 player. It now looks as if Scott has challenged both of them to get more out of themselves to the betterment of the team. Hind has always had pace to burn and in the last 2 weeks has gotten himself into many dangerous positions in the F50, and getting back to help out deep in defence by providing an outlet to relieve pressure. Laverde backed himself and l believe gained confidence from having The Talented Mr Ridley back in the team to help out in the air. If Laverde keeps playing like he did yesterday, l donât know if he is the one to make way for Reid coming in. If Laverdeâs recent form continues it would allow Martin to make the much desired move into the forward half of the ground, where he would become an even more potent weapon. That is one reason why it was so good to see Ridley hitting targets from the back half, as if he had not missed a single minute of the season.
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Setterfield is probably debatable best 23 but heâs certainly in a side already missing those 4.
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