On 03/12/2019 at 06:49, Dingo said:

I spoke to an Essendon supporter on Sunday.She rates this bloke and is not happy that he was delisted.And a lot of other Dons supporters feel the same way.

Correct, I know 3 who said the same

  On 03/12/2019 at 05:21, poita said:

The first tall forward we've brought in over the past three years, whilst delisting or trading about six others, so this is long overdue. Brown is not a star, but will do his job most weeks.

Hopefully this will give Weideman a nudge that he is not a guaranteed round 1 starter unless he pulls his finger out. At this stage I'd have Brown and Petty well ahead of Weideman.

I'd also love to know why we've signed him now after passing on all pre season and rookie draft picks four days ago. He must have trained the house down on Monday.

Bit harsh on Weid seeing Petty is still in the rehab group as far as I know.

Ahh, he didn't start until today, although I do take your point re what changed

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:04, Satyriconhome said:

Correct, I know 3 who said the same

My Essendon mate is happy we picked him up. Said he never deserved to be delisted to begin with. 

Wife is a bombers supporter and I went to numerous games with her last season and watched most others when free of Demons. She is livid they did not offer him another year. Works up and back hard and is clean in hands and by foot. At worst good insurance, at best will have a point to prove and offer a potential quality third foil or push the kids to earn their spot. 

Edited December 3, 20195 yr by big_red_fire_engine

  On 03/12/2019 at 05:21, poita said:

The first tall forward we've brought in over the past three years, whilst delisting or trading about six others, so this is long overdue. Brown is not a star, but will do his job most weeks.

Hopefully this will give Weideman a nudge that he is not a guaranteed round 1 starter unless he pulls his finger out. At this stage I'd have Brown and Petty well ahead of Weideman.

I'd also love to know why we've signed him now after passing on all pre season and rookie draft picks four days ago. He must have trained the house down on Monday.

Well if he trained it was against the rules!!!

Some good points Poita but I believe the following is closer to the way our forwards will pan out in 2020.

1. Weid has stacked on muscle and IMO this will be the catalyst fir a real bump in his performance and goals.

2. The third tall in the forward line may be Brown (not Pruess at this stage) and/or be shared between Fritsch and Milkshake both alternating in the forward pocket or even one on one at times. Jackson could at  some stage force his way into the team in a third tall roll with very limited ruck work.

3. Our smaller forwards will be any of Trac certain of playing and in the middle also, Vsndenberg and/or  Hannan if fit plus if they develop Chandler Bedford and probably the small role may go to Kossie who looks to have so many tricks.

Other mids that may "rest" in the forward area and provide diversity will be Clarry Gus Jonesy could play a HF flank role and Harmes plus Salem and Lockhart.

Big  Maxy will also Rest some limited time forward when Tmac  and Weed share ruck duties.

So Brown  could be the stop gap or curcuitbraker in his role when selected or even act as depth in defence for May Lever and Oscar who has bulked up and set for a breakout season I believe.

Smart pick up and think Cam Pedersen all you Pedo lovers.

  On 03/12/2019 at 03:55, DeeSpencer said:

Langdon - nice winger, not skilled.

Tomlinson - depth type, not a long term fix, neither quick nor skilled.

Rivers - good half back until he builds his tank

Baker - currently walking laps

JJ - slow, an ok inside midfield option

Nietschke - slow with the ball in hand and I kick better than he does. Half back depth. 

Langdon’s the only genuine linebreaker and there’s not a player you really want kicking the ball inside 50 from any of our mids.

Key forward depth would be nice but we already have a stack of options. We used pick 3 on a guy who can do something forward if needed. We didn’t use a single pick or trade for immediate midfield skill. 

Ok, we are screwed as none of the players mentioned will be of any use. I bow to your superior assessment. Have you considered running for local council or perhaps parliament you seem like the ideal polie. Long on what's wrong and how useless everyone is but never a plan to fix it. Sorry, other than throw a new draftee like Young in there and everything will be ok.

I'll give you a chance to talk me around though, I will be at training 18 and 20 December hope to see you there and you can help me understand all the players individual flaws and why we won't be any good until we do as you suggest.

 

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:22, Jaded said:

My Essendon mate is happy we picked him up. Said he never deserved to be delisted to begin with. 

Mine too. He's not happy about Hartley either.

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:38, 58er said:

Well if he trained it was against the rules!!!

Some good points Poita but I believe the following is closer to the way our forwards will pan out in 2020.

1. Weid has stacked on muscle and IMO this will be the catalyst fir a real bump in his performance and goals.

2. The third tall in the forward line may be Brown (not Pruess at this stage) and/or be shared between Fritsch and Milkshake both alternating in the forward pocket or even one on one at times. Jackson could at  some stage force his way into the team in a third tall roll with very limited ruck work.

3. Our smaller forwards will be any of Trac certain of playing and in the middle also, Vsndenberg and/or  Hannan if fit plus if they develop Chandler Bedford and probably the small role may go to Kossie who looks to have so many tricks.

Other mids that may "rest" in the forward area and provide diversity will be Clarry Gus Jonesy could play a HF flank role and Harmes plus Salem and Lockhart.

Big  Maxy will also Rest some limited time forward when Tmac  and Weed share ruck duties.

So Brown  could be the stop gap or curcuitbraker in his role when selected or even act as depth in defence for May Lever and Oscar who has bulked up and set for a breakout season I believe.

Smart pick up and think Cam Pedersen all you Pedo lovers.

Apologies to Harry Petty who will have a role in CHF FF or ChB or FB discussions. Is another who has  built up to a bigger key position frame and should elevate his game to play most games this  season in attack hopefully but if not needed in defence.

This does alter the mix up forward potentially with marking but less pace.

But at least Browny is there as depth and no doubt will get a chance and most importantly keep our KP and FP players honest and in good form.

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:41, dworship said:

Ok, we are screwed as none of the players mentioned will be of any use. I bow to your superior assessment. Have you considered running for local council or perhaps parliament you seem like the ideal polie. Long on what's wrong and how useless everyone is but never a plan to fix it. Sorry, other than throw a new draftee like Young in there and everything will be ok.

I'll give you a chance to talk me around though, I will be at training 18 and 20 December hope to see you there and you can help me understand all the players individual flaws and why we won't be any good until we do as you suggest.

 

I have nothing against all those players. Langdon is a good pick up who will play a lot of games, he's just not a very good kick. Rivers is a really good draft pick, maybe he'll surprise me and be ready early but the coaches are clearly thinking they'll ease him in down back. Not a huge Tomlinson fan but at least he's fit (or was until he got us ) and reliable. I'm a big Baker fan but he needs 1-2 full preseasons to build the tank required to play AFL midfield, instead he has a mystery injury or illness. JJ could be something in a year or two and Nietschke is the kind of hard worker and ball winner every list needs.

A plan to fix it?

I'd cut Josh Wagner, doesn't have the speed or skills to play half back, no idea why he's still on the list. I'd cut Corey Wagner, we've got ANB, Spargo and Jones in the high half forward role, we don't need 4 players with limited skills or forward craft. I'd think long and hard about cutting Jones as well, either way, at least one or the other. I'd have traded Brayshaw for another top 30 draft pick and used that to trade or draft a skilled and fit mid. And I'd pay Kade Kolo to retire too. That's 4 list spots freed up. Then if we use a spot for Brown we've still got the spot for a depth key defender and 3 spots for skilled runners.

But it was too late for that because we locked in a whole bunch of depth players in positions we don't need them. So I'd have waited on signing Brown until March and had the 2 best skilled midfield runners that missed in the draft down to train with us until then too. 

 

  On 03/12/2019 at 06:49, Dingo said:

I spoke to an Essendon supporter on Sunday.She rates this bloke and is not happy that he was delisted.And a lot of other Dons supporters feel the same way.

That seemed to be the consensus on twitter when he was delisted. I wasn't exactly searching the feedback out as we weren't in the picture at the time but I didn't hear a negative word about him and many were [censored] that he was delisted.

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:59, DeeSpencer said:

I have nothing against all those players. Langdon is a good pick up who will play a lot of games, he's just not a very good kick. Rivers is a really good draft pick, maybe he'll surprise me and be ready early but the coaches are clearly thinking they'll ease him in down back. Not a huge Tomlinson fan but at least he's fit (or was until he got us ) and reliable. I'm a big Baker fan but he needs 1-2 full preseasons to build the tank required to play AFL midfield, instead he has a mystery injury or illness. JJ could be something in a year or two and Nietschke is the kind of hard worker and ball winner every list needs.

A plan to fix it?

I'd cut Josh Wagner, doesn't have the speed or skills to play half back, no idea why he's still on the list. I'd cut Corey Wagner, we've got ANB, Spargo and Jones in the high half forward role, we don't need 4 players with limited skills or forward craft. I'd think long and hard about cutting Jones as well, either way, at least one or the other. I'd have traded Brayshaw for another top 30 draft pick and used that to trade or draft a skilled and fit mid. And I'd pay Kade Kolo to retire too. That's 4 list spots freed up. Then if we use a spot for Brown we've still got the spot for a depth key defender and 3 spots for skilled runners.

But it was too late for that because we locked in a whole bunch of depth players in positions we don't need them. So I'd have waited on signing Brown until March and had the 2 best skilled midfield runners that missed in the draft down to train with us until then too. 

 

Fair enough and I would say you will probably be right about all that next year, with the exception of Gus.

I hope you are pleasantly surprised by the improvement in the team this year and hope a number of players mentioned are not required in the Snr's during the season

Don't mind this. At the very least we've upgraded our KPF depth. On exposed form he's better than both T.Smith or Keilty (sorry Drunkn). He's good insurance. I like his attitude too - not satisfied with being depth but wanting to push up into the senior team.

He fills a need, even if it's a "break glass in case of emergency" need - I'd much prefer him to a speculative Isaac Weetra, Rhys Healy or Daniel Hayes type

  On 03/12/2019 at 05:21, poita said:

The first tall forward we've brought in over the past three years, whilst delisting or trading about six others, so this is long overdue. Brown is not a star, but will do his job most weeks.

Hopefully this will give Weideman a nudge that he is not a guaranteed round 1 starter unless he pulls his finger out. At this stage I'd have Brown and Petty well ahead of Weideman.

I'd also love to know why we've signed him now after passing on all pre season and rookie draft picks four days ago. He must have trained the house down on Monday.

Its now time for expectations to rise on Weide's career,  he's now 22+ years into his body.  

It's time for him to show some ability, and some aggression for the ball and contest.

Having young Jackson and Brown will keep our young tall forwards honest trying to keep their places in the side.  I think this is a good thing, to keep them all on their toes.

 

  On 03/12/2019 at 05:32, Stretch Johnson said:

"Brown’s ability to push up the ground and provide an option for his teammates coming out of defence is often undersold, and it was a key part of Essendon’s victory."

I would think that it is the absence of anyone on the list other than Tmac with the ability to play this role that gets Brown a spot on the list.

This was a also a key deficiency in 2019 and one that was filled by Hogan (when fit) @DeeSpencer

I think there is a real chance he plays round one.

 

I hope he does gets a guernsey for Rnd 1,  just to shake up the ball-game a bit,  amongst our young players.   Make the kids nervous early on,  to wake them up from any undeserved over confidence of their place in our team.

 

We missed McDonalds run and marking, into the midfield last season,  and Gawn as well could take more marks between centre and half-forward.

This is where Pedo was really handy for us, with his run, aggressive marking, and smart play,  getting back to the goal line & catching defenders out on many occasions.

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:48, 58er said:

Apologies to Harry Petty who will have a role in CHF FF or ChB or FB discussions. Is another who has  built up to a bigger key position frame and should elevate his game to play most games this  season in attack hopefully but if not needed in defence.

This does alter the mix up forward potentially with marking but less pace.

But at least Browny is there as depth and no doubt will get a chance and most importantly keep our KP and FP players honest and in good form.

Also, with his running endurance, he will most likely show our younger talls,  how to train harder to match him.

One of our biggest problems last year- and earlier than that- was the lack of contested marking ability around the ground.  His ability to push up and back, as well as Tomlinson’s, might give us so much more that we lacked previously.  To both compete on the way out, or to link up on the way in, were critical gaps.  This may be an inspired pick up in ways people are not considering.  He could play high hff, roll down to make contests and give us link up options that don’t involve 100% chaos ball.  
 

i have no evidence that this was the club’s thinking, but I don’t see him as a TMac or Weid replacement., or even competition.

  On 03/12/2019 at 07:59, DeeSpencer said:

I have nothing against all those players. Langdon is a good pick up who will play a lot of games, he's just not a very good kick. Rivers is a really good draft pick, maybe he'll surprise me and be ready early but the coaches are clearly thinking they'll ease him in down back. Not a huge Tomlinson fan but at least he's fit (or was until he got us ) and reliable. I'm a big Baker fan but he needs 1-2 full preseasons to build the tank required to play AFL midfield, instead he has a mystery injury or illness. JJ could be something in a year or two and Nietschke is the kind of hard worker and ball winner every list needs.

A plan to fix it?

I'd cut Josh Wagner, doesn't have the speed or skills to play half back, no idea why he's still on the list. I'd cut Corey Wagner, we've got ANB, Spargo and Jones in the high half forward role, we don't need 4 players with limited skills or forward craft. I'd think long and hard about cutting Jones as well, either way, at least one or the other. I'd have traded Brayshaw for another top 30 draft pick and used that to trade or draft a skilled and fit mid. And I'd pay Kade Kolo to retire too. That's 4 list spots freed up. Then if we use a spot for Brown we've still got the spot for a depth key defender and 3 spots for skilled runners.

But it was too late for that because we locked in a whole bunch of depth players in positions we don't need them. So I'd have waited on signing Brown until March and had the 2 best skilled midfield runners that missed in the draft down to train with us until then too. 

 

 

So you reckon we are a good chance for top 4 this year.

 

  On 03/12/2019 at 08:20, MyFavouriteMartian said:

Its now time for expectations to rise on Weide's career,  he's now 22+ years into his body.  

It's time for him to show some ability, and some aggression for the ball and contest.

Having young Jackson and Brown will keep our young tall forwards honest trying to keep their places in the side.  I think this is a good thing, to keep them all on their toes.

 

I hope he does gets a guernsey for Rnd 1,  just to shake up the ball-game a bit,  amongst our young players.   Make the kids nervous early on,  to wake them up from any undeserved over confidence of their place in our team.

 

We missed McDonalds run and marking, into the midfield last season,  and Gawn as well could take more marks between centre and half-forward.

This is where Pedo was really handy for us, with his run, aggressive marking, and smart play,  getting back to the goal line & catching defenders out on many occasions.

A smart move by the club. Exactly what we need if we want to push for top 4 this year

  On 03/12/2019 at 10:13, Dante said:

 

So you reckon we are a good chance for top 4 this year.

 

I'm not trying to be negative, I think we'll be a lot better and have done some nice work to get better. We'll be fitter, we've made sure we at least have decent options on the wing, we've freed up some run from the backline and made an aggressive move for a small forward.

But I'm still not sure we've got the mix right between ball winners and quick ball users in the midfield mix and I think that's far more important than a 29 year old 5th string key forward.

 

  On 03/12/2019 at 04:55, Deevolution said:

Good luck to him, I hope he makes Essendon look like fools.

They don't need his help for that...

  On 03/12/2019 at 03:21, A F said:

Personally, I think they've got it wrong. Petty should play back and Smith should play forward, but what would I know?

About as much as I know, but I agree 100%

  On 03/12/2019 at 02:59, demonstone said:

Clint Buzzkill throwing down the gauntlet to old dee for biggest misery guts on Demonland.

 

  On 03/12/2019 at 03:04, Clint Buzzkill said:

How is saying he will be our second-best key forward a buzzkill?

I'm happy we signed him, it would be a buzzkill if I said he was our worst.

You’re both right!

  On 03/12/2019 at 10:25, DeeSpencer said:

I'm not trying to be negative, I think we'll be a lot better and have done some nice work to get better. We'll be fitter, we've made sure we at least have decent options on the wing, we've freed up some run from the backline and made an aggressive move for a small forward.

But I'm still not sure we've got the mix right between ball winners and quick ball users in the midfield mix and I think that's far more important than a 29 year old 5th string key forward.

 

Really? That's important to know.

I was very concerned about the side, before the first game this year and I believed we had too many VFL players on the squad, we've eliminated quite a few of them and replaced them with AFL players. I think we've had a good draft/trade person and I'm now quite bullish about the upcoming season.

We made the finals in 2006 and at the start of 2007 we were expected to play finals again, I looked at the side and just couldn't see it and by quarter time in the first game our season was over. That was the same feeling I had at the start of this years season.

This time I think we've done a very good job of replacing those VFL players and we have a year in to the recruits we picked up last year, they will be the better for it. Weideman cops heaps on here but I have faith in him, he's only 22 and most big forwards take a while to hit their straps, I know he can play and it's now a matter of him putting it together consistently. He had problems with injuries and confidence, his contract and the [censored] he copped on social media, that plays a big part in young players of today. 

I'm rapt in the recruits we have and we've finally added some excitement to the team, Jackson be a revelation as will Kossie, Rivers will do a good job of replacing Young and will surprise a few. The view we have of some of the players is not shared by the club, players like Spargo are highly regarded by the club but some posters on here want them sold off to the lowest bidder.

Hopefully after we win a few some of the negative posters on here, we know who they are, will change their mind, although there are some who would still complain about someone playing a bad game in a winning grand final.

 

 

#brownymyths

Anyone who can apply genuine pressure for spots is a good get. Welcome aboard Browny.

I don't mind this selection. I think of him as a Cam Pederson type - just a footballer. 

No hyped athleticism or size but can kick, mark and tackle.

A handy player to have on the list.

 

I didn't speak to any Essendon supporters this week and i'd appreciate a few Likes for my efforts.

Edited December 3, 20195 yr by John Demonic