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Vince is a booming kick and instinctive footballer. He's not a technician. And clearly not the best with ball in hand and time to think. Playing him down back has been an absolute blunder. For the team and for him. He was in career best form ffs. Put him in the heat of the guts, let him slam it forward, run around for dish off shots at goal from 50 and rough up some timid mids. It's his bread and butter. Saw it the second he went into the middle. Stamp him never to play down back again.

He did.

The Coaches Votes should put to bed some of the debate around Tom Mc and Tyson: 6 Hurley 6 Oliver 6 Watts 4 T McDona'd 4 Petracca 2 Tyson 2 Viney Bit surprised by Hurley, great first half then was taken out of the game. Good to see Watts get some recognition from the coaches. The real news - Oliver is second on the leader board. 42 Rory Sloane (Adel) 31 Clayton Oliver (Melb) 31 Joel Selwood (Geel) 29 Ollie Wines (PA) 29 Elliot Yeo (WC) 26 Gary Ablett (GCS) 25 Dustin Martin (Rich) 23 Zach Merrett (Ess) 22 Marcus Bontempelli (WB) 22 Luke Shuey (WC) What else can one say about our little champ. He is in elite company. What is most impressive is his consistency.

Gratuitous sledge. Watts fumbled a couple of times but was generally excellent and led an undersized forward line. He kicked 4.1. He rucked without relief for 3 quarters in the wet just 5.5 days ago. It's some sort of miracle he got up for the game at all.

Apologies in advance to posters who already know this... Jack plays smart! Time stands still when he is in traffic, baulking, feinting, backing out and swinging on left or right foot to deliver. You rarely see him tackled. He is elusive and deceptive! He is the best set shot at the football club! He finds ridiculous targets that others have no right to attempt. He runs both ways, helping out in defence, streaming forward from the wing and making multiple leads from the goal square! He is now an extra midfielder disguised as a ruckman... watch his second and third efforts out of the center circle. All of this has been apparent for some time... catch up detractors, Jack attackers... for the cheque books will be flapping violently when his contract renewal or free agency beckon. Then you will count your lucky stars that Jack is loyal!

Jon Ralph in the little right wing rag gave Tom MacDonald the 3 votes, Dom Tyson had 29 possessions as you state, but also had a booming 637 metres gained (the most for either team, and yes, not all of them hit their target; 69% disposal efficiency). Jayden Hunt was next for us with 465, nobody else even in the 400's. Yeah yeah yeah, neither are perfect players, their foibles are frustrating, but that's football. Neither are anywhere near being de-selected, because as Simon Goodwin, the rest of the coaching staff and the players keep telling us, whether we understand it or not (many on here don't), they play their roles to a high team standard. Congrats on the life commitment AF, for better or worse, and all that good stuff.

Anyone mentioned Lewis' goal? How the [censored]? The old ball wedged between the goalposts, what a kick.

Thats nowhere near as bad as the calls for Weideman to come back in on the back of two weeks out, a sore calf and horrible form preceding it. I see Patrick McCartin kicked 7 goals in the VFL on the weekend. When Weid is having games like that he should be considered for a recall, and not a minute before.

Neeld has the runs on the board as an assistant, and from what I've heard from a couple of Essendon-supporting mates, he's appreciated at the Dons, as he was at Collingwood. OK, he was a out of his depth as a senior coach, but no shame in that. You could make the same argument re Brendan McCartney.

How much better is Jeffy from set shots this year? Good to see that both he and Trac have really improved their goal-kicking. Garlett has 15.4 so far (after kicking 40.31 in 2015 and 29.14 last year) while Trac, who kicked 12.11 last season, has 11.2 to his name. Jeffy is on track to kick 40+ again and I wouldn't write off CP5's chances of doing the same.

My Essendon neighbour who is always glad to talk footy artfully avoided me this morning when I saw him out on the street. Ducked inside real quick. Said Daniher will kick another six against us.

Agreed. Some people are never satisfied. Yes he made a few blunders, but gees he's had a big month rucking so much more than he ever should have, and backed it up by kicking 4 goals yesterday. His kicking is superb, him and Salem are pretty much the only players I want kicking around the ground or delivering the ball inside 50. He's having a great season!

I just hope Hogan plays. Might be a nice distraction for him. Watts was thoughtful in calling Hogan his brother in the boundary interview on Poxtel. Watts is now becoming a real leader of the club. Suck it up haters.

Watts vs Natanui is a case in point. This debate was all over years ago, according to a media with a collective IQ of 20 and supporters who refused to look past Natanui's highlights reel. This comparison is far from over. Natunui is a great ruckman when he is fit and firing, but a bit inconsistent. Watts has become a very reliable forward who can pinch hit in the ruck and his disposal, decision making and awareness are elite. Watts wins at this point, though you'll be hard pressed to get anyone outside the MFC and its supporters to agree. Time will tell with Petracca and McCartin but at the moment Petracca is obviously miles ahead. Love the kid.

Has the best attitude of anyone on the field. He knows he's an average skilled player, but he plays within his limitations and leaves nothing on the field. I thought he was fantastic in the ruck, I think at one point he had more hitouts to advantage than his opponent. But regardless, he gave us a contest, he competed and ran hard around the ground, he is a pretty clever player and a good mark. Most importantly he came in and played a role perfectly, and allowed us to keep our structures. First time since Round 1 Watts didn't need to do much rucking and he kicks a bag. No coincidence!

Clayton Oliver R1-6 Leads AFL in handballs 6th in disposals 5th in contested possessions 7th in tackles 81% efficiency Not bad

Richmond though lol. Running around thinking they'd won a grand final against us last week after we were two players down for an entire half of AFL football. They are truly a joke.

Clarry needs to stop throwing it. Oh wait...

Pretty pathetic from Essendon fans to boo any of the players who left after being injected with god knows what. But then again, what more would you expect from a club that is labelling this season a "comeback" as if they are some hero soldiers returning from war, and not a bunch of drug cheaters returning from a suspension!

Anyone else notice that when Hibberd kicks the football, he generally hits the target? What is this madness?

Angus received a light concussion last week. He is physically fine, however, he has some mental issues getting his head over the ball and going hard following his multiple concussions. The club has told him he is in the best 22 but will not play him seniors until he defeats this.

If Joel Smith comes on like we hope, we are going to have 3 very special athletic defenders in Frost, Hunt and Smith. They will be perfect for aggressive setups and zones with their unbelievable closing speed and leaps.

Some take seasons to win me over. Hibberd took 5 minutes. Gun.

Give the reserves a run and rest up the stars. Its only Hawthorn.

I thought this might be the game after which Demonland gave rightful praise to Tom McDonald. I now realise that's never going to happen. Those people who continually (zzzzzzzzzzz........) criticise him for his imperfections are clearly unaware that the football world at large sees him as one of our most important players, our most important backmen, and one of the league's best. He got media votes today, but still gets shamelessly and pathetically pilloried on Demonland.

Haven't seen this posted anywhere else but Jack Watts was on radio this morning about Oliver: "He can do it all. I was with (ruckman Max) Gawny last night and he was sitting in the (coaches) box (on Sunday) and he was saying the coaches were having a little fight because Troy Chaplin our forwards coach wanted him (Oliver) to stay up forward and Ben Matthews (midfield coach) wanted him back in the midfield. He is a super player and I think the coach probably put it on him a little bit last year to really become that full-time professional footballer and he's really taken to that and taken his game to a whole new level." Nice.

We must have been watching a different game. Jacks' intensity was terrific. There was one contest in the middle of the ground that he perhaps could have got low and b lined a rather than try and flick the ball out basketball style (which by the way he is great at) but apart from that i he did not squib one contest and his intensity was terrific.. He tackled well (which he has donee all year - compare his tackling stats to say Kent, went when it was his turn, banged bodies in the ruck (something some don't seem to give him much credit for on DL) and flew for marks really aggressively, something Goody was clear they wanted him to improve. There was no better example than the somewhat lucky free kick in front of goal he got in the third. He earned that free because he put his body on the line. Many commentators had Watts as our best. And that's because he was good in all aspects of the game not just silky outside skills. Oh and reading back through this thread i just saw he got 6 coaches vote. There is no way Goody gives a fella vote who doesn't show the required intensity. No way.

I didn't see the game, but it seems pretty clear to me from reading the reviews that the following statements can be made: We are a better side with Pedersen in. It is not just his possessions or his willingness to make a contest, it is his ability to put himself in the right positions, including creating space for teammates. We are a better side with Oscar McDonald in. He frees up his brother and Frost to be more adventurous. He is doing enough things right to be persisted with, even if he makes a few errors. We are a better side with Vince in the middle. He is not, and never has been, a defender. Give him a job in the middle, he thrives and those around him look better too. Hibberd is a class act, a pity Melksham can't step up to the plate as well. Getting the right team balance is more important than the names on the team sheet. You can replace a ruckman with another ruckman, but you can't replace him with a small forward. Hawthorn at their peak would replace like for like, regardless of the player, and trust them to fill a role. We need to do the same. Our effort and workrate are far more important than our skills. It is why guys like Kent are not in the side. Of course, it causes problems when we lose players early in games, but hopefully we will avoid games like the Geelong debacle last year where we just don't turn up at all. Etihad is still a giant hole.

I don't agree with that at all, I thought Essendon tried to switch into the corridor from HB a lot and mostly it came off. Goddard particularly did this well. It was their next play that let them down with turnovers. From our point of view, I thought the coaching panel did a great job with the ruck coverage having Pedersen take the majority with only short relief from Watts who played well forward, bringing in Oscar so that TMac could take the back 50 contests was a great plan. Pedersen and our midfield did a great job at the stoppages but this is not the greatest threat not having a ruckman. The kick down the line is the greatest threat and Essendon failed to exploit that - Bellchambers and Daniher towered over us in this area and they couldn't use it. This is where we are vulnerable in future. When we have it in defence we don't have the down the line get out if their ruckman can mark well, so we HAVE to find the spot up or the switch. When they have it they always have the down the line get out if their ruckman is competitive in the air. In future we really need to get TMac up to those contests to at least nullify their ruckman.

You've gotta love Bomberblitz. Great light entertainment especially after a loss to the dees. My favourite quote from yesterday......... "Zaharakis is like a one trick pony who's forgotten the trick."

Can't believe those who kept shouting down the idea of getting him in the side, even as a second ruck. Hopefully they saw today exactly what he can bring to the side. He's no superstar but he is a good role player who frees up others to be more dangerous too.

Well, well. Finally got to our villa in Ubud after a reasonably stressful 10 hours with 2 x 2 yo's on their first plane ride. After checking in, our friendly housekeeper gave us the wifi password. I put it off for an hour for fear of revealing a result that would almost certainly have put the kibosh on any gregarious holiday mood. As I gave a little yelp after seeing the result, I could sense the relief from my ever patient partner. BEST START TO A HOLIDAY EVER now, I'm gleaning Ill just watch the 2nd half replay?! Whatever- 4 ugly points in the bag, bring on the Poos & Wees!

First ever post here, love this site. Some great opinions and thought I'd get amongst the action For me I thought Kent was unlucky to be out. I think he replaces JKH

Anyone else notice how good Frost is at smothering?

i don't know if we're carrying him.... He just finished off today with 29 disposals, 9 marks and 9 inside 50's I think Jones has been making some average passes as well as the rest of the team. I do agree his disposal needs some work as do many others on this team. Like i said in a previous post his ability to run the outside and receive the ball from an inside mid (Viney/Oliver) and release it into fwd 50 is really valuable. Not sure why Tyson is the current whipping boy as much as he is at the moment.

My dislike for Ess knows no bounds. So of all games this year this is the one I desperately wanted us to win. And we did - without 2 of our best players. A real four quarter effort. So proud we rose above all the setbacks. A win that will be a huge confidence boost for the team. Demons take a bow.

In your dees jumper

In the Match Preview thread I suggested a creative ruck solution might be to have different ruckman for the 3 parts of the ground (front, middle, back) to share the load and to wear out Bellchambers as he hadn't played for 18 months. It seems that is how it came to panned out: Pedersen: "We planned really well for it. We kind of threw three ruckmen at him knowing he hadn't played for 700 days or something," http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-05-01/hungry-pedersen-fills-dees-ruck-void The 62-gamer paid tribute to the support he received from Tom McDonald and Jack Watts in restricting Bellchambers' influence. On a different note, there is an interesting insight into our game plan to rove to Bellchambers. "My focus was just to try and jump into him and limit his hits and try and ensure he could only hit inside a certain triangle that we could defend," (Hope Pedersen isn't giving too much info away there...) Very clever stoppage planning by the coaches carried out to perfection by our guys.

Harmes had 22 touches and 11 tackles for Casey. Given the importance seeming to be placed on that, and the fact he was backing up after 4 days of the Richmond game, I would be very surprised if he isn't recalled. I still think he was stiff to be dropped in the first place.

Not sure it was Goodwin. Possibly hangover "group think" in the Wake of the Roos era. Alternatively Macca, who had huge crush on Weids from last year. Speculation but might have gone in to bat a little too hard too early on the " Weids is gonna be a gun", lets play him now (over Pedders) argument with the coaching crew. A huge mistake if so. I agree with OD here, the decision to keep playing Weids (in blind faith even when not performing) and overlook Pedders may have cost us one or more games this year and might even cost us a place in the finals.

On that note, Salem has been excellent this year. "Get more of the ball please" was my request last year, so far he's only had one sub-20 possession game. He's very trustworthy with ball in hand. Coming along very nicely now.

He makes our team 10% better instantly, not only because he is a good player but because he takes pressure off other players around him which allows them to play better. I love that Essendon fans were booing him, yet they will lay down the red carpet for Jame Hird to return to their club.

Arrh Stuie baiting. Yet another of life's simple pleasures now denied me.

Kent has had 2 games back at Casey, been average in both yet people are calling for him to be back in the team. Looking at today's game I would think his competition is Hannan, JKH & ANB... Then you can add Stretch, Harmes & Wagner (would release someone forward) If Hogan comes back, I would think JKH or ANB miss. JKH for me. Hannan has more tricks than Kent, is as quick and a much better mark. ANB has been pretty consistent so Kent will need to pull his finger to get back in.

That handball to set up Tom Mc''s goal. Just mesmerising ?

Sam Frost plays like a man possessed. Absolute beast.

Jack Watts said in his after match interview that Pedo always performs like that and gets the job done for the team every time he is brought in. Seemed to me that Jack firmly believes Pedo belongs in the team. Was a glowing endorsement, and nice to hear.

So where is Pro Dee? Pretty clear that Pedo best 22 in the absence of Gawn and Hogan yet there are still knockers based on his mobility . I thought he "was everywhere" today and gave Watts a better run up toward. Most of us knew this prior to the event. Goodwin made selection errors and may have cost us 2 games. Looking to the future is great but leaving it so late to select him idiotic.

Interestingly, we currently have the 5th best attack in the comp. Not bad for a forward line that has been borderline dysfunctional at times.

fixed