POSTGAME: Rd 03 vs Essendon

[dazzledavey36 52,775]

1 minute ago, Jaded said:

There is a special place in hell for dirty cheating scum bags like Stringer. What he did to his partner is despicable, and no injury would be punishment enough for him. I sincerely hope he never experiences success again. Professionally or personally. Horrible piece of human filth. 

 

Now now, we gave up pick 6 for an unfit FB and KK. Don’t dismiss this move! 

KK reminds me of a smaller version of a 2012 jack watts

[titan_uranus 24,626]

Brayshaw's comments in an interview post-game are interesting. Talking about how we don't have enough "buy in" on defence.

We have individual problems in the back six (Oscar, Frost and an out of form Hibberd mean we're really in trouble back there) but the reality is our opponents are able to transition from their backline through to their forward line too easily.

[BAMF 4,115]

5 minutes ago, The Swimming Dee said:

You have KK in your best 22? WOW! His first two games for us have been nothing short of disgraceful 

He is in mine too. I was a fan of his at the Suns when he first started and have kept an eye on him over the years. Even when he was playing badly he would average about 18 possessions a game. 

He is averaging 8 with us at the moment. He is underdone but will come good with some game time. I thought he was much better tonight than last week. 

He really should be building up at Casey. Thats how bad we are travelling at the moment. The cupboard is bare and we are forced to play players when we shouldn't.

[My name is legion 158]

This year so far reminds me of the Neeld and Bailey era. Especially reminiscent of when Brad Green was captain.

[waynewussell 4,872]

Keyboard cowards announcing No 2's retirement... Was far from our worst tonight... 4 Qtr effort... Lets save the retirement talk for those that are seriously short of what we require right now... Frost, T Mc, Weids, O Mc, & ANB

[Jaded No More 67,659]

Just now, titan_uranus said:

Brayshaw's comments in an interview post-game are interesting. Talking about how we don't have enough "buy in" on defence.

If that’s the case I blame Goodwin. 

All Roos did was instill defence in this team. What the [censored] happened???

[Forest Demon 4,681]

I’m not sure where to begin but here we go...

BAD

Kolodjashnij has been awful

Omac and Frost completely laughable

Hibberd and Jetta two good players who haven’t fired a shot

ANB has been straight up [censored] this year

TMac and Weideman have given us nothing

Gawn slow out of the blocks

That 3rd quarter was diabolical after working our way back into the game. Seriously, if you get the chance, listen to Brayshaw’s half time interview.

GOOD

A few fringe players held their own in Wagner x 2 and Lockhart

Petracca was dangerous most of the game, that should be the standard

That is all

[Jaded No More 67,659]

1 minute ago, Forest Demon said:

Seriously, if you get the chance, listen to Brayshaw’s half time 

I was sadly at the game. Can you repeat what he said?

[waynewussell 4,872]

20 minutes ago, Dusty_Hill said:

We were putrid tonight but the afl and their umpires have completely ruined the game. The umpiring was so so bad on both sides. Worst I can remember. Unfortunately for us it was usually at crucial times which made it feel like a fix up. The Jetta one the worst. Closely followed by the Melksham hit in the head in front of the goal, yes he should have marked it but that didn’t mean the umpire doesn’t have to pay a free. And the one against frost where frosts jumper is halfway up his chest whilst his arms are in the air, but then free is paid against him. Good trick! Should become magician. When Oscar was bending down to pick up the ball in the wing and was kneed in the head and they went on to score a goal. The 50 against Harmes but no 50 to us when “the package” drops the knee into our player after a mark right in front of the ump. The couple of protected area infringements on our forward flank that were ignored which would have resulted in shots in goal. The list goes on, there were more on both sides but honestly it ruins the game. Let it go or get em all. This nonsense where they seem to have a new rule of the week and ignore all other rules is ridiculous. When you have the commentators critiquing them the whole time you know it’s gotten bad.

Really struggling to watch AFL these days with the the absolute pitiful standard of umpiring. I still tune in to Melbourne as I love the Dees for some strange reason. But honestly don’t watch many other games any more. In the past would watch 3-4+ a week. 

 

How to fix this? Put some money in it and make them full time for a start. Can’t make them any worse. It’s not possible. 

You are spot on... but don't apologise for laying out for all to see... I will do an analysis of the decisions (and non-decisions) in this game to highlight how the umpires enabled the Bombers to win

[Forest Demon 4,681]

We actually looked a lot better going forward tonight. Lowered our eyes and strung some good passages together.

The issue was a) how much space we afforded them when they attacked and b) that third quarter where we just got hammered around the ball and it translated to the scoreboard pretty quickly. 

[waynewussell 4,872]

There were several moments in this game where I sensed we were getting on top. Look what happened next... Dubious umpire decision... Max "blocked", Parish was held, Ooops, missed those two infringements when Bombers ran through the protected area! But we didn't miss them last week against the Cats!

[titan_uranus 24,626]

7 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

Keyboard cowards announcing No 2's retirement... Was far from our worst tonight... 4 Qtr effort... Lets save the retirement talk for those that are seriously short of what we require right now... Frost, T Mc, Weids, O Mc, & ANB

Unfortunately that's just not correct.

[DeeZee 7,296]

Frost is a complete Goose

[At the break of Gawn 4,419]

Our attack was ok tonight. Tmac hindered it at times, just can’t take a grab anymore and looks as slow as Ben Holland.

Worst defence in the league right now. It’s just a numbers game for the opposition. Just get it in 50 times and you’ll have about 30 shots on goal. Pretty much will always win a game of footy.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

4 minutes ago, Jaded said:

I was sadly at the game. Can you repeat what he said?

He basically just said how we had been building towards a performance like that, and how we can match it with the best. It’s hard to convey in this forum, but very much came across like he was pretty complacent about how we were travelling based on 15 minutes of footy. And I noticed on the radio and tv, it was picked up by a few commentators as well.

[waynewussell 4,872]

Just now, titan_uranus said:

Unfortunately that's just not correct.

Ok... ANB was better? Oscar was better? Frost was better? T Mac Was better... I could go on, but if you are going to correct me, make it a considered correction rather than blind support for the lynch mob!

[Jaded No More 67,659]

Just now, Forest Demon said:

He basically just said how we had been building towards a performance like that, and how we can match it with the best. It’s hard to convey in this forum, but very much came across like he was pretty complacent about how we were travelling based on 15 minutes of footy. And I noticed on the radio and tv, it was picked up by a few commentators as well.

Players should always be supremely confident. So I have no issue with that. 

I have an issue with coming out after half time flat and devoid of any urgency. 

[olisik 4,060]

12 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

Keyboard cowards announcing No 2's retirement... Was far from our worst tonight... 4 Qtr effort... Lets save the retirement talk for those that are seriously short of what we require right now... Frost, T Mc, Weids, O Mc, & ANB

He has had 4 tackles for the year and doesn’t defend. In case you forgotten his our captain. Did you see how Heppell played when the game was on the line? Jones never has or never will do that. His done.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,012]

12 minutes ago, My name is legion said:

This year so far reminds me of the Neeld and Bailey era. Especially reminiscent of when Brad Green was captain.

Reminds ME of the Daniher era.  Up one year, down the next... 

[olisik 4,060]

12 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

Keyboard cowards announcing No 2's retirement... Was far from our worst tonight... 4 Qtr effort... Lets save the retirement talk for those that are seriously short of what we require right now... Frost, T Mc, Weids, O Mc, & ANB

He has had 4 tackles for the year and doesn’t defend. In case you forgotten his our captain. Did you see how Heppell played when the game was on the line? Jones never has or never will do that. His done.

[titan_uranus 24,626]

1 minute ago, waynewussell said:

Ok... ANB was better? Oscar was better? Frost was better? T Mac Was better... I could go on, but if you are going to correct me, make it a considered correction rather than blind support for the lynch mob!

ANB, Oscar and Jones were our worst three players.

Your comment was he was far from our worst, and I think that's incorrect. If he wasn't our worst player he was very close to it.

He's having no impact on the wing. As the captain of a side which knew during the week that our disposal going inside 50 was a focus point, he took our opening clearance and mindlessly bombed it 50m to an Essendon player. He doesn't get involved in scoring chains, he guards no-man's land without taking a player, opposition players are running around him, he's fumbling the ball, he's turning it over. 

I don't think I'm "blindly supporting the lynch mob". Indeed, I think you've got your Jones-coloured glasses on. As I said before, I've loved Jones and everything he's given to this club, but right now he's a bottom 4 player for us and he's holding us back.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Just now, Jaded said:

Players should always be supremely confident. So I have no issue with that. 

I have an issue with coming out after half time flat and devoid of any urgency. 

I know it’s easy to say in retrospect, but I listened to that interview at the time and actually laughed. There was so much more work to be done, but it didn’t come across that way. And the third quarter speaks for itself.

[Graeme Yeats' Mullet 6,721]

4 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

Ok... ANB was better? Oscar was better? Frost was better? T Mac Was better... I could go on, but if you are going to correct me, make it a considered correction rather than blind support for the lynch mob!

In short no

They were all pathetic

But Jones's 1 tackle is indicative of his ability to impact the game

I love Jonesy, but he's cooked!

[Jaded No More 67,659]

It really saddens me to say, but unless Jones can reinvent himself as a half back flanker, as Lewis did, I think he is done. 

Which is heartbreaking because nobody deserves to be around for our success* more than he does. 

 

 

*success unlikely 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Jaded

[Adam The God 29,381]

2 hours ago, Ungarie boy said:

We were bad

Bombers actually worse 

Umpires absolutely atrocious

 

That's not true at all. We were worse for longer. Hardly played in the first quarter, particularly in the second part of the quarter and then were completely absent and insipid everywhere in the third. They played a poor second quarter, but otherwise were patchy but played the better football for longer.

It is finals over now, so in effect, season over. 

I think we did a lot right at times. We finally used the ball better from back to front and even from some centre stoppages, we used the ball backwards and then went sideways in order not to bomb it to an outnumber. 

Our biggest issue is we don't do any of it for long enough. We're playing in patches. It really is hopeless and I still think fitness related. What is so embarrassing and frustrating is that many media pundits tipped us for the flag. We'll finish in the bottom 6 at this stage.

The inability to win 1v1s early on and then the inability to win clearances in the third sealed the game. Frost and Oscar look like conceding goals every time the ball is kicked in there, and they usually do. Even when our system and press was working a bit, every time it went forward, Frost would drop a mark or Oscar would get outmuscled or either of them would be pushed under the ball.

The goal that Frost conceded on the much smaller man in Baguley was unforgivable. Baguley for the record is a scrubber, bog ordinary player. Particularly playing forward. We also made McKernan, who is a VFL standard forward, look A grade. Typical Melbourne.  

There was another crucial play at the end of the second. Frost marked the ball on the wing and banged it in centrally to about the 45 metre mark to Max (in a 4 on 1), instead of going to the boundary side of our forward fifty. Essendon brought it to ground, ran it out and scored a goal. Their first for the entire term. 

In the second term, our midfielders and Max looked really angry and they seemed to channel that really well into winning ferocious clearances. But for the majority of the third quarter, we let simple transition happen and failed to defend clearances.

Our defence in the second term started to resemble our defence of 2018 (in a good way), but I think generally Oscar and Frost (given their finals experience now) haven't improved their games. In some ways, they've become worse - at least they won some 1v1s in 2018!

Fritsch was playing the interceptor off the wing, but constantly turns it over or chews off more than he should, but more worryingly, like last year, looks completely lost in defence. The goal that Parish kicked from the right forward pocket is a perfect example of Fritsch's inabilities. Firstly, he left his man to try and impact on the contest where we already had a 2v1, so 3 Melbourne players go to the single Essendon player, who chips it over the top to a free player. Fritsch then has time to get back and block up space after not impacting on the contest at all, but he leaves it to Wagner, who is completely out of position, trying to cover 2 other Essendon players. Can we take Fritsch down off the banner yet? I have no idea why he's up there in the first place. Turn over merchant. 

Statistically, ANB laid some tackles tonight, but he is cusp AFL when playing at his absolute best. Right now, he's playing incredibly poorly and he too is clearly low on confidence, but his basic errors just kill us. 

Petracca showed some more tonight. He made some seriously bad errors too, but he stayed involved and set up a lot of scoring chains. I think he'll get there this season. We just need to keep backing him.

I'm glad KK got some more metres into the legs. He's silk and I think if he can stay on the park, his outside run will be really good for our transition. Love his goal kicking action too. So relaxed.

Lockhart did enough to keep his spot as did Hunt, despite rarely (if ever) laying a tackle. In fact, Hunt's tackle attempts routinely slipped, but he, like Petracca, stayed involved and in the game. His pressure on Merrett(?) to bring the ball to ground and then spot up Gus, was a great example of his doggedness tonight.

Tommy Mac doesn't look fit and looked sore after a corky or two. Can barely put his arms up either. We wondered whether he was carrying a shoulder injury. He's close to useless at the moment. I wonder if it's worth playing a more mobile forwardline and giving Tom a week off? 

I was impressed with the majority of Weideman's game. Particularly, after quarter time. I thought he was arguably our best forward, along with Petracca and Melksham. He laid tackles, took at least one good contested mark and brought the ball to ground importantly a couple of times. He went at one contest in the first really softly and with the one hand, but after that moment he really lifted his game. He's another one with a beautiful, relaxed kicking action. 

Overall though, I don't think these set of defenders can play the zone defence. They get caught out of position far too easily (McKernan marking on Hibberd early on; Frost being outmarked by Baguley - just a few examples) and they almost always all go up together to defend. This has been happening, literally, for years. Why has it not been corrected? I sense Chaplain may well be out of his depth. It'll be interesting to see what they do with him at the end of this year.

I've just read a quote from Goody that says 'we're too easy to score against' and this pretty much sums it up. We dominate possession against most teams and then they get a few inside 50s and basically, almost every time they score a goal.

This is no longer merely about 'getting the ball out the back' against us. This is failing to win 1v1s, failing to rush the ball through when we have the numbers, failing to defend dangerous areas inside forward 50. There are holes everywhere in our defence. Wagner, Frost and McDonald are constantly out of position in the zone and Hibberd has been bog ordinary since 2017 now. Even Jetta at times goes up in those big pack situations when he should be staying down.

It seems to me as though the directive is just get the ball to the front of the contest in those pack situations and ensure it doesn't get out the back (although it almost always does), and in our haste and anxiety to ensure the ball doesn't get out the back, we all go up, leaving opposition crumbers to waltz off with the ball.

I'm at a loss as to what defensive system the coaches can implement though, given we can't go man-on-man if we rarely win 1v1s and the zone doesn't work because the majority of the defence constantly get lost in it. However, without another obvious system, I would say that going 1v1 more often would help us. It lessens the complexity to a group of players that either aren't gelling or are rarely positioned where they should be due to a lack of game awareness. 

It's all well and good to say we need May and Lever in there, because that's true, but it fails to take into account the inability of the rest of the defence. One of Frost or McDonald will still play, even when May and Lever are fit, so if it's broken, we may need to rebuild it. And already, start planning for 2020 with a new system. Hard to implement mid-season, I know.

I dread to think about Franklin next week. You watch. He'll kick a minimum of 4, probably 5 or 6.

And I think we have to play Jeff Garlett, because we desperately lack crumbers.

A thoroughly disappointing night and the only supporter base more smug than the Essendon supporter base is Hawthorn's. Painful sitting through it.

Edited April 5, 2019 by A F