Basing your views on "Essendon supporting mates" ?

Hahaha

heh. I've always found "my mate said" comments funny too. Spend 5 minutes on Demonland and you'll see a huge variation of views and heaps of people who talk nonsense, yet people assume their mates who support other clubs are oracles. Funny.

 

heh. I've always found "my mate said" comments funny too. Spend 5 minutes on Demonland and you'll see a huge variation of views and heaps of people who talk nonsense, yet people assume their mates who support other clubs are oracles. Funny.

Yes, old mate Nash.  And if they follow the line of many supporters when a player leaves the critique will be even less flattering.

Essendon last 3 B&F's

2013: Hibberd 4th behind Goddard, Watson and Heppell (Played finals)

2014: Hibberd 4th behind Heppell, Hooker and Goddard (Played finals)

2015: Hibberd 8th 

So in two of his last 3 years he finished top 4 in the B&F and they were both years Essendon played finals.

He dropped away in 2015, but still finished top 10.  And who knows the toll this drugs saga was finally having on the players.

And even in that year (2015) he still averaged 22.2 disposals per game running off half-back and averaged 5.4 marks.  His average disposals in a downish year would still have ranked 5th at Melbourne this year.

In comparison, in Jetta's best year (this year) he averaged 16 disposals and 3.7 marks.  Now, I know Jetta is more of a lockdown defender, but the point remains Hibberd plays tight and still wins plenty of the footy.  Jetta doesn't provide enough rebound for my liking, which is why I see him as vulnerable over the next year or two.

Hunt, who I have a slight crush on, was fantastic in his first year and averaged 15.6 disposals and took 3.1 marks.  His numbers will continue to rise if not go through the roof.

Not only does Hibberd rack up possessions off half-back, he's as tough and brave as they come.  He thrives on the contest and has a very good left foot.

Hibberd is a very very good player. notwithstanding mo's "mates'.  

 

I grew up in Essendon and have plenty of Bomber mates. Whilst most would have liked to have kept him, he was the most expendable of the returning drug cheats. Hibberd was ordinary in 2015, and even Tim Watson said that opposition clubs finally worked out that he had no right side.

And your argument about the club giving up pick 29 blah,blah,blah suggests that they never get things wrong. Is that the same FD that gave Garland a 3yr extension, and gave away pick 23 for Melksham?

Hibberd will be a handy acquisition, but he aint no top shelf defender.

Doesn't seem to hurt Birchell, Gibson, Smith.....

 

 

 

heh. I've always found "my mate said" comments funny too. Spend 5 minutes on Demonland and you'll see a huge variation of views and heaps of people who talk nonsense, yet people assume their mates who support other clubs are oracles. Funny.

All hail Pro Dee the oracle? They'd see Hibberd play live at least 10 times a year. I rate their opinion of an Essendon player higher than anyone on Demonland.

 

 

I know we are not in a position to gloat (given we are just starting to recover from the abomination that was Barry Prendergast), but SOS is really starting to challenge him in terms of recruiting ineptitude.

Who knows, maybe SOS will get more out of them the second time around.

Kristian Jaksch, Mark Wiley, Jed Lamb, Lachie Plowman, Liam Sumner, Andrew Phillips, Jarod Pickett, Caleb Marchbank, Rhys Palmer.

I'm gonna suggest that SOS may be chasing his losses a bit, still trying to prove he got it right the first time.

 

 

All hail Pro Dee the oracle? They'd see Hibberd play live at least 10 times a year. I rate their opinion of an Essendon player higher than anyone on Demonland.

 

I rate Goodwin's and McCartney's opinion over yours and your "mates".

But you would know that...

 

All hail Pro Dee the oracle? They'd see Hibberd play live at least 10 times a year. I rate their opinion of an Essendon player higher than anyone on Demonland.

 

Sounds like your mates have no idea. Watching them live at least 10 times a year won't change that either.

 

Yes, old mate Nash.  And if they follow the line of many supporters when a player leaves the critique will be even less flattering.

Essendon last 3 B&F's

2013: Hibberd 4th behind Goddard, Watson and Heppell (Played finals)

2014: Hibberd 4th behind Heppell, Hooker and Goddard (Played finals)

2015: Hibberd 8th 

So in two of his last 3 years he finished top 4 in the B&F and they were both years Essendon played finals.

He dropped away in 2015, but still finished top 10.  And who knows the toll this drugs saga was finally having on the players.

And even in that year (2015) he still averaged 22.2 disposals per game running off half-back and averaged 5.4 marks.  His average disposals in a downish year would still have ranked 5th at Melbourne this year.

In comparison, in Jetta's best year (this year) he averaged 16 disposals and 3.7 marks.  Now, I know Jetta is more of a lockdown defender, but the point remains Hibberd plays tight and still wins plenty of the footy. Jetta doesn't provide enough rebound for my liking, which is why I see him as vulnerable over the next year or two.

Hunt, who I have a slight crush on, was fantastic in his first year and averaged 15.6 disposals and took 3.1 marks.  His numbers will continue to rise if not go through the roof.

Not only does Hibberd rack up possessions off half-back, he's as tough and brave as they come.  He thrives on the contest and has a very good left foot.

Hibberd is a very very good player. notwithstanding mo's "mates'.  

I remember listening to an interview with Jetta where he said the FD were trying to get him to attack more and that in order to play in our defence, you had to have that instinctive trait to move the ball on and get it moving our way on the counter. Hence Grimes, Dunn and Garland all struggling on the fringes this season.

There's no doubt Jets certainly improved this area of his game in 2016, but I'm sure he and the FD are well aware that he needs to continue to improve in this area if he's to keep getting games in 2017 and beyond. 

 

Doesn't seem to hurt Birchell, Gibson, Smith.....

This is a good extension of my point above. The reason the likes of Birchell, Gibson and Smith aren't hurt by being left sided players with no right foot, is the speed of ball movement and attack. If you're playing on straight away and taking the attacking option and backing your team mates in, there's no time for the opposition to corral you onto your right side. When ball movement is slower, there is this time. 

For this reason, I think Hibberd is going to be a dominant player for us. There won't be time to shut him down, because our first instinct down back is to play on and get the ball moving. His long-kicking will also help this.

And just on this form of turning defence into attack, this is why I see Frost as a definite best 22. His pace and height allow him to get back and cover. He played the anchor role quite a bit this year, as did Hunt on occasion. Our speedier players will always play the anchor if we continue this high defence. Upon reflection, maybe this is a role that Smith could grow into as well.

Just on Hibberd. I've had the 'pleasure' of seeing a lot of Essendon games with Essendon supporters over the last 5 years and the main thing we need to know about him can be conveyed in the following, almost ritualised sequence of exclamations;

"Aaargh, someone kick the bloody thing. Nnnaaargh, stop just handballing in circles until you get caught! Somebody take responsibility, someone, please, kick the bloody thing!"

"Ah, Hibberd, finally, thank you!"

After the wunderkind Heppell, Hibberd was probably their most effective player for getting them out of those awful 'ever-decreasing-spiral' plays on half-back.

And you can never have too much of that.

 

Who knows, maybe SOS will get more out of them the second time around.

Kristian Jaksch, Mark Wiley, Jed Lamb, Lachie Plowman, Liam Sumner, Andrew Phillips, Jarod Pickett, Caleb Marchbank, Rhys Palmer.

I'm gonna suggest that SOS may be chasing his losses a bit, still trying to prove he got it right the first time.

 

Carlton are basically the GWS seconds

bunch of rejects and they keep giving gws high picks!

 

I remember listening to an interview with Jetta where he said the FD were trying to get him to attack more and that in order to play in our defence, you had to have that instinctive trait to move the ball on and get it moving our way on the counter. Hence Grimes, Dunn and Garland all struggling on the fringes this season.

There's no doubt Jets certainly improved this area of his game in 2016, but I'm sure he and the FD are well aware that he needs to continue to improve in this area if he's to keep getting games in 2017 and beyond. 

This is a good extension of my point above. The reason the likes of Birchell, Gibson and Smith aren't hurt by being left sided players with no right foot, is the speed of ball movement and attack. If you're playing on straight away and taking the attacking option and backing your team mates in, there's no time for the opposition to corral you onto your right side. When ball movement is slower, there is this time. 

For this reason, I think Hibberd is going to be a dominant player for us. There won't be time to shut him down, because our first instinct down back is to play on and get the ball moving. His long-kicking will also help this.

And just on this form of turning defence into attack, this is why I see Frost as a definite best 22. His pace and height allow him to get back and cover. He played the anchor role quite a bit this year, as did Hunt on occasion. Our speedier players will always play the anchor if we continue this high defence. Upon reflection, maybe this is a role that Smith could grow into as well.

The current Football department has a good recent track for targeting the type of player we needed next, enter Hibberd.

Love the fact we scored 4 & 6 out of the top ten 'Ultimate footy Players'

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/ultimate-footy-news/top-10-afl-trades-for-ultimate-footy-players-20161021-gs7n6v.ht

 

 

As for Brown, @stevethemanjordan was high on him for most of this year as the man to solve our defensive problems.  He must be rocking in a corner somewhere after he signed for free with the Saints.

Slightly bending the truth there Wise.

I never stated any of that. I said that I thought we needed a mature body and a player who had runs on the board who could sit at Full Back for a couple of years  whilst O Mac could continue to develop his body and form at VFL level. Brown was one of a few I mentioned who I thought could fill that gap.

As others have suggested, maybe we have a mature-aged player in mind to target at the draft. I hope so.

We will be short on quality KP backmen going into next year if we only have both McDonald's and Frost. Especially considering one is physically still way underdeveloped and the other is still learning how to perform the fundementals consistently.

Hibberd helps, but I'd be really happy if we pick up an Adams/McGovern etc to help with depth and immediate relief for a young guy like Oscar who imo, shouldn't be playing AFL footy based on his form last year.

 

 

 

Not sure how Hibberd is considered a top 10 calibre pick when he hasn't played good football for 2 years. And you have to consider that the Bombers weren't prepared to match our contract offer, and basically considered him expendable. I'd rate him in our 10-15 category. 

Gawn, Jones, Viney, Tyson, Vince, T.Mac, Hogan, Watts, Jetta, and Garlett all have better exposed form than Hibberd, and I'd imagine that young players like Oliver, Petracca, Stretch, Hunt and Brayshaw would be pushing to surpass Hibberd in importance to the team.

Hibberd addresses a need in our backline, but let's not kid ourselves about his capabilities or achievements to date. At his best, he was borderline AA, but so was Lyndan Dunn. 

I'm happy to get him, but see him as a role player rather than someone who'll be the difference between winning or losing games. Lewis is a different kettle of fish.

He missed 2016. Played a good season in 2015 so not sure where you are getting your info from.

Every Bomber supporter I have spoken to was not fussed with Melksham but upset about Hibberd. He is a very good player in an age group where we are sadly lacking.

The list management team we have now have done a fantastic job.  By picking Weideman (by trading our pick last year) and getting a good tall forward (Not much available this draft), then getting 12 months development into him, we are miles ahead.  So going into the draft we were never going to be able to get good players ready to play from the start of 2017, even if we had kept 26.  So the club had to rely on trading and what it can pick up in the rookie draft.  In the trade we got 3 ready to go players and delisted those that rarely got a game last season and never would next year.   Even if only 1 or 2 of the three fire up, we are well in front. As others have said Melkshan is also relatively a new recruit. Then we have got 2 category B rookies that cost us bugger all, and at least Smith looks like he might make it.  We still have 2 spots (probably) for some young lower picks which might develop 2018 and beyond.  We also have plenty of space for mature aged rookies which can bring great success (many of the successful clubs now have multiple ex rookies).  Big thumbs up to the recruiting team.

5 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Slightly bending the truth there Wise.

I never stated any of that. I said that I thought we needed a mature body and a player who had runs on the board who could sit at Full Back for a couple of years  whilst O Mac could continue to develop his body and form at VFL level. Brown was one of a few I mentioned who I thought could fill that gap.

As others have suggested, maybe we have a mature-aged player in mind to target at the draft. I hope so.

We will be short on quality KP backmen going into next year if we only have both McDonald's and Frost. Especially considering one is physically still way underdeveloped and the other is still learning how to perform the fundementals consistently.

Hibberd helps, but I'd be really happy if we pick up an Adams/McGovern etc to help with depth and immediate relief for a young guy like Oscar who imo, shouldn't be playing AFL footy based on his form last year.

 

 

A slight bend?  I've never bended the truth further than I did for that post, mate.  All in good fun.

6 hours ago, stevethemanjordan said:

Slightly bending the truth there Wise.

I never stated any of that. I said that I thought we needed a mature body and a player who had runs on the board who could sit at Full Back for a couple of years  whilst O Mac could continue to develop his body and form at VFL level. Brown was one of a few I mentioned who I thought could fill that gap.

As others have suggested, maybe we have a mature-aged player in mind to target at the draft. I hope so.

We will be short on quality KP backmen going into next year if we only have both McDonald's and Frost. Especially considering one is physically still way underdeveloped and the other is still learning how to perform the fundementals consistently.

Hibberd helps, but I'd be really happy if we pick up an Adams/McGovern etc to help with depth and immediate relief for a young guy like Oscar who imo, shouldn't be playing AFL footy based on his form last year.

 

 

A full four month pre season will do Oscar the world of good.........as for the second bit, Roos and possibly Goodwin don't agree with you