One thing I did notice on the weekend is that we seemed very congested across the HF line and particularly at CHF. I’ve no idea why but that made the bomb it long appear even more necessary 

1 hour ago, Redleg_Knowledge said:

Well your memory doesn't serve you correctly. We've lost countless games even if our pressure has matched or bettered the oppo and if our contested numbers and clearance numbers were better over the course of a game. 

When we're pressured, we crumble even further due to our poor skills across the board. Some teams can withstand that pressure and still execute. 

Jrmac has made a great post in regards to the problems we face in another thread, I suggest you read it. 

And I don't know who Steve is. 

Again, my post said the modern game, ie what wins games right now. Not what wins games and flags in 2021.

And if your pressure and contest is off in 2024-2025 you get beaten...

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

One thing I did notice on the weekend is that we seemed very congested across the HF line and particularly at CHF. I’ve no idea why but that made the bomb it long appear even more necessary 

Narrower ground doesn't help...

2 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Again, my post said the modern game, ie what wins games right now. Not what wins games and flags in 2021.

And if your pressure and contest is off in 2024-2025 you get beaten...

Pressure and contest have always been important. It doesn't win you any more games now than it ever has so I don't know why you're going on about the modern game thing. 

Edited March 24, 2025Mar 24 by Redleg_Knowledge

3 hours ago, Redleg_Knowledge said:

And I don't know who Steve is. 

13 hours ago, Redleg_Knowledge said:

The fact remains, Goodwin hasn't done enough with our list since 21' to be able to stay ahead of the curve. 

Not for want of trying?

One of the advantages of lingering around the bottom reaches of the ladder for a few years is you get to load up on kids with very good skills - who you then mould into the players you need. Good luck with turning the likes of Trac, Viney, Clarrie, even Rivers, Sparrow etc., into skilled exponents of the modern move the ball quickly/turnover game.

You only have to look at the kind of kids we've drafted of late to see that the club recognises the issue and is at least trying to do something about it.

Similar discussion around some of the positional moves, e.g. Ed Langdon onto the ball to give us more run, or Fritsch further up the ground to give us more skill delivering the ball forward, or Windsor to HB to give us more speed off half-back etc. etc. Not saying  these moves are working either, but once again, not for want of trying.

14 minutes ago, bing181 said:

Not for want of trying?

 

14 minutes ago, bing181 said:

.... but once again, not for want of trying.

To paraphrase Kennedy

Don't try..... Do 

It's about results... always.

1 hour ago, beelzebub said:

It's about results... always.

How's that working out for (e.g.) Adam Yze? Or even Clarkson - into his third season at North and only now starting to see results, yesterday's was only his 7th win across all that time, and they actually went backwards last year on 2023. Similar story with Brad Scott - he's an OK/competent coach, yet here we are into his 3rd season - but has anything really improved at Essendon across that time?

You can only work with what you have - and there's a recognition of that even on Demonland. e.g., the criticisms of moving Fritsch away from goals. Fair enough. But in that criticism is an inherent recognition that players are suited to certain roles and unsuited to others -  to the extent that there are roles they can fill and others they can't.

There's only one way to go from the contested, high-pressure game style that won us a premiership to one built around fast and skilled ball movement: change the list.

I wouldn't rule out seeing an improvement in disposal efficiency* (from the stoppages and in general play) from Oliver, Petracca, Viney, Rivers**, Sparrow & Langdon**

All 6 have talent so why can't they learn how to dispose of the ball in a more efficient manner?

Mindset?

Change!!!

We know that Salem, Kozzie & McVee can hit up targets at pace whilst Windsor, Tholstrup, Langford, & Lindsay all have the potential to do so as well (not bomb it long) 

But when embarking on a different game plan, the coaching staff need to be prepared to let go of how we previously played (as do the players) 

Locking the ball into our forward line enabled us to win a lot of games from 2021 to 2024 and to a degree, that can still happen but in my view, doing that (locking the ball into our forward line) can no longer be a priority

*Bombing it long into the forward has to be a thing of the past ... except to 1 on 1's (when applicable)

**And Rivers needs to go back to the HBF and Langdon is a wingman 

Just typing all those names (above) in this post highlights that we've still got loads of talent.  It's not 2012/13 all over again

I've changed my mind, we can play finals if we've got most of our good players available for the majority of the rest of the season) Not top 4, that's a stretch, but we can make the 8

Gold Coast are flakey and it's a must-win for us.  I'm tipping a 5 goal victory

And once we get Kozzie, May, Windsor, Melk, McVee, Tholstrup, Langford & AJ back, we'll be much more competitive by default (most of the 8 players listed above will be back in a couple/few weeks)

Edited March 24, 2025Mar 24 by Macca