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Essendon - Supporter Support

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Good win by the mighty Hawks although we made hard work of it in the end.

Duckman#72 said:
If Geelong continue to play in this vein and are able to make some slight improvements they will soon be able to compare themselves with the Essendon team of 2000.
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You can't be serious Duckman. While Essendon had 1 great season in 2000 the fact they never really followed it up(even though they did make the GF in 2001) imo makes Geelong the far superior team. Geelong are the best team I've ever seen, even better then Brisbane 2001-04 and the Hawks in the 80's.
 

I'm surprised that it took someone so long to bite Nomores. I agree - across the paddock Geelong are the strongest side I've seen - no doubt.

Hard to believe that after watching tonight's game, that these are the same two teams that played in Round 22 last year. Fantastic last quarter, and unfortunately for us we don't have the seasoned "go-to" guys like Buddy, Hodge and Osborne. I'll be honest - I didn't think we'd have much chance tonight. Your guys have rediscovered the passion Nomores.

Some of the form Essendon has shown in their past three games has been impressive and progressive, so I'm pretty pleased. Still not a consistent effort from all players. Hooker needed the run tonight. Jetta and Davey are almost unrecognisable from the players we saw 12 months ago.

Looking back at the season, the losses to West Coast and Port Adelaide will end up being so costly.

Duckman
 
Maybe the Bombers made a mistake in not taking Hardwick when they had the chance?

The more I see of Knights the less I rate him and while it's still early in Hardwick's career the job he has done with Richmond in such a short period of time is amazing really, they have gone from being totally uncompetitive to winning 4 out of the last five and getting off the bottom. And they are only 1 win behind Essendon, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melb & Port, which after the first 6 rounds you would thought that would have been nearly impossible.

As for the bombers I'm really unsure of where they are at now, shown some good signs at times but also shown some very poor signs, will be interesting to see who they turn over at seasons end.
 

Didn't see the game 4's but it was a pretty bleak outcome, I still reckon it was James Hird giving them a stir up after ANZAC day when Collingwood belted them that got them going earlier, would love to see him have a go at coaching the Dons, I doubt he could be any worse, one of the things I saw on the highlights was the messing around in the backline again, frustrating to say the least, are the players that bad at decision making or are the structures just wrong again and not being modified effectively as the game progresses to counter opposition tactics, anyway think you are right they need a shake up, playing 3 or 4 good games a year doesn't cut it at top level.
 

Nomores, these are the comments I made back in 2007 about Damien Hardwick. I thought he showed the makings of a good senior coach back then.

Nomores said:
As for the bombers I'm really unsure of where they are at now, shown some good signs at times but also shown some very poor signs, will be interesting to see who they turn over at seasons end.
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Welcome to our world Nomores!!! Where the only consistency is the inconsistent. At times we look like we are "getting there" only to find the oasis was a mirage. We have been wandering around in the desert for years now - never actually drawing a line in the sand and making some progress. Even last years return to finals was by success by default considering Hawthorn's horrible form and we only won 10 games.

I continue to believe that our biggest problem is not Knights or coaching staff but rather years of poor recruiting. We have more unskilled, unathletic, marginal players than most other sides. We have players that at times can do the magnificent, but mostly just struggle to do the ordinary.

Our last premiership was a decade ago. It is a sad reflection that arguably our best player (or first picked) is still playing from that side. I think Essendon supporters would justifiably be more than slightly peeved when reflecting on how the list has been managed (or mismanaged) over the past 10 years.

How much does a coach have a say in that? Who knows - only Sheeds, Knights and those around the club I guess?

Duckman
 

I agree Putty but we need to treat the problem and not the symptoms. I'll give you some examples:

Problem: "We are messing around with it in the backline/midfield"
Reason: There is no confidence in moving the ball forward. The targets up the ground on Saturday night were non-existent (even if they could hit them). So you get ring-a-ring-a-rosie, ahtishu, ahtishu, we all fall down. Leaving........another Adelaide goal.

Problem: "Backline looked hopeless and out of position".
Reason: The domination of the midfield for Adelaide. They brought the ball in laces out at will. The pressure wasn't nearly good enough to help the backline.

Duckman
 
Frustrating to say the least Duckman and agree. I think the coaches have a fair say in the recruitment process, would Sheeds have let Barlow slip through his fingers to end up with Harvs (don't tell me those old essendon boys dont keep in touch, I think it was Matty Lloyds old man who gave him the big wrap to Harvs when he was over looked lol), who knows but we have progressed nowhere under Knights, from week to week we have no idea if they are turning up to play or not, reminds me of Richmond during Knights days lol anyway lets hope things improve and if not lets hope the axe falls on the right heads at the end of the season.
 

Essendon have had some brilliant selections of players in the past. There are 16 flags to attest to that. But Sheeds did overlook Podsiadly. He has played one bad game this year. A total gun in Supercoach league. Only topped by Barlow. Freo have some damn good recruiters and mold breaking ones at that. Who needs to select high schoolers anymore? Just check out the list of mature-age rookies. It's a sight to see.

And who's going to tank this season when the Gold Coast get 9 out of the first 16 picks next season anyway?
 

Gday Gumby, yes Freo have done well and Harvs learnt from one of the best, as did Bomber thompson and Damien Hardwick, both spent years playing under Sheeds, would love to see Hird throw his hat in the ring if the job comes up. Hopefully Sheeds wont be poaching his old club as there is little there to poach at the moment. As for the draft I can see your point, what is there going to be left after the cream is taken from the top.
 

Love that post. Especially the part where Podsiadly was on your list. But Sheeds didn't like him.
 
GumbyLearner said:
Freo have some damn good recruiters and mold breaking ones at that. Who needs to select high schoolers anymore? Just check out the list of mature-age rookies. It's a sight to see.
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Let's not get carried away Gumby. For years Freo's recruiting has been the joke of the competition. They gave away players that they shouldn't have and recycled players that should've left alone.

Croad, Solomon, Johnson, Waterhouse and even McPhee are just some names that were questionable acquisitions.

As for players they could have had - Matthew Lloyd might have been a good full forward.

I'm not going to let you get away with the comment "Freo have got some damn good recruiters" on the basis of one player (Barlow). But I am willing to admit that they are getting their act together - with pickups like Silvagni, Roberton etc.

I am also willing to admit that Barlow would have been excellent in a Bombers jumper - but there is no doubt Freo was a better fit for him. He wouldn't have been the player we know him to be if he joined the Bombers.

Duckman
 
Every club has recruiting mistakes and also "lucky" recruiting as well.

A lot of clubs overlooked Pods & Barlow. Barlow actually trained with St Kilda before the Saints took Eljay Connors instead, so I wouldn't be giving Sheeds **** about not taking Pods.

It comes down to luck in the end, Hawthorn could have taken Jack Riewoldt but instead took Mitch Thorp who was one of the biggest duds to play AFL even though he had huge raps on him, imagine a forward line with Buddy, Roughead & Jack - hell Roughie would probably be playing in the back line.

Plenty of top players come from outside the top 20, it is normally only the top 2 or 3 picks that are real standouts and then it is luck of the draw really.
 
nomore4s said:
Every club has recruiting mistakes and also "lucky" recruiting as well.

Plenty of top players come from outside the top 20, it is normally only the top 2 or 3 picks that are real standouts and then it is luck of the draw really.
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Exactly.

Every club has their hard luck stories. Obviously the ones you hear about more are the ones historically involving poor performing clubs (Richmond and Freo primarily).

Every other team could have grabbed a bloke called James Hird who went Pick 79 in the 1990 draft.

On the other hand Essendon picked up Mark Bolton with pick number 4 in 1997. Players picked after Bolton included Simon Black, Luke Power, Chad Cornes, Shane O'Bree, Adam Goodes, Matthew Scarlett and Chris Tarrant. Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!!!

Duckman
 
Would it be a fair call to say we are trying to play a fast and skilled midfield style game with a slow and under skilled midfield Duckman.
 
Putty7 said:
Would it be a fair call to say we are trying to play a fast and skilled midfield style game with a slow and under skilled midfield Duckman.
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I think that's a very fair call Putty.

I have often spoken about the need for workhorses and thoroughbreds within a team environment.

At present Stanton, Prismall, Watson, McVeigh, Lonergan, Myers and Hocking can all be put into the "workhorse" category. Having said that, only Hocking and Watson consistently work hard particularly in contested possession. The common element with all these players is lack of speed.

Unfortunately we have the worst of both world - slow and unskilled. We have "workhorses" that I don't believe are working hard enough, nor are they skilled enough to damage opponents when they get the ball.

Now let's look at our "thoroughbreds". We have players Jetta, Dyson, Winderlich and Davey. These players disappear out of games for large stretches at a time, they rarely impose themselves on the game and wouldn't scare many opposition coaches.

Of all the players I've mentioned on this page - none of them is a class act. Watson is a valiant trier but he's not in the upper elite of the competition just yet.

The jury is still out on Melksham. We need to give him time to develop. It's not fair to criticise him in his first season.

To be fair to Knights - what game plan is a good game plan for a team that is slow and underskilled? May as well pretend that you have a good team and hope no one notices any different.

Duckman
 
I thought it could not get worse but obviously I was mistaken. Neagle gets a recall after kicking an absolute bag of three goals in the vfl! Surely this
must must mean the demotion of gumby to bendigo. I gave up on neagle last year. After laycock (and Williams) I consider him the laziest player at the club. This will just not cut it at this grade!!

On melksham, I have been most impressed this year and he has shown all the right attributes to signal a savvy draft choice by essendon.
 
Lachlan6 said:
I thought it could not get worse but obviously I was mistaken.
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I think it just got worse. The mighty Demons turned on a brilliant 4 quarters of football to dominate and vanquish a lack lustre Essendon.
How sweet it is.

Go Melbourne!!!!
 
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