BW511

I think those numbers flatter Fritsch a little, he has definitely had a few not register a score or go out of bounds on the full

Absolutely, just thought he was better than our others

I thought Merrett was clearly 2nd best on ground

I had a few goes at writing something similar, it was hard to articulate without seeming overly critical of Fritta. I feel his position is the one that worries me in September (Or whenever finals land). He isn't physical and in tight finals games, he will not create opportunities in the same way Spargo or Kossie could. He's clearly very smart and a good mark, but in a final he won't have space that he requires and we can't afford to carry that. Using our own example, I would be very comfortable with Hibbo or Riv lining up on Fritta in a final, even if May or Lever had BBB I'd always be nervous of him plucking a few and kicking goals and our defence is the best in the comp. Understand he is our leading goal kicker, so people will disagree, but I would rather Sparrow in the lead up to and including finals

Agree - I thought Stringer was probably the only reason Essendon stayed in the game. Would not have said he was quiet. His decision making at times could have been what cost them

I tend to agree that Weid and Mitch are better suited to our game style, but there’s no denying that Ben Brown commands the attention of a proper tall back. The bombers talls had it very easy in defence at times, lots of uncontested marks. There is little chance a forward line of T-Mac and Fritta stands up against Geelong or WC in a GF. Jacko is creating a bit of an issue in my opinion, he’s too good a player to leave out but also doesn’t do enough in the forward arc to be considered a permanent forward. I do not want to lose Jacko, but think his position creates a little lack of balance. I also think Max played a lot better when he was going it alone

I guess picking us apart is a bit lazy on my behalf, but there’s definitely been a shift in how teams play against us. There are avenues to goal through our defence and come the last 5-6 weeks of the year when the good teams will be hitting our straps, we will need a decent improvement. At the moment I’d say we are going at 80-85% and we desperately need to start finding more consistent goal scoring power. Weid wasn’t playing very well at all, but Essendons tall backs had a relatively easy day out with out that extra big body. Kossie and Fritta are being shut down effectively now and it’s going to be interesting to see how we work our way out of that

Will take the win, but we are a long way from the side that was 8-0. Teams are starting to find ways to pick us apart and you just hope we can start managing more than a grinding win leading into September. Lots of blokes a long way off their best and we keep winning so there is from to improve

Big risk carrying him as medical sub, but can appreciate the sentiment

If I was a punter, the dons at $4 seems quite long! The business end begins on Saturday night, hope we can start working up to full steam

I'm still of the opinion they should have bought Weid in over Ben Brown for that first opportunity after he kicked a bag (Even if it was weak opponents) He is clearly a confidence player and kicking a bag and still not getting picked seems to have completely killed his confidence before he even got into the senior side

Everyone dismisses Mitch Brown, but I've never seen a game where he didn't give it his all. He may not get on the end of it each week but he works bloody hard trying to, I think there is a role for him in the latter half of the season in lieu of BB and Weid. If Joel Smith or Majak are playing off no games, we are in real strife

After seeing a few of the young boys in action this year, I can see why he has signed on. Essendon have done very well at the draft in recent times.

Absolutely, that was a real jolt back to the old ways - which also highlighted our general improvement in this area. Keeping things glass half full, we have managed to keep the egos in check for most of the season and that's pleasing. If we are to believe that everyone has bought in to the idea, Monday's game will be the slap everyone needed and away we go.

Very happy with the change in attitude over the past 6 months from individual to a team based approach. I have been big on that for a while now. Richmond have not won flags because of their stars, they have a full squad of people playing their role. The big thing for me is finding the best forward setup and getting it working consistently. As mentioned above, the start has put us in a great position to make a real charge towards finals. Let's hope we can hit the finals cherry ripe and Burgo has everyone fit and healthy

I guess there will always be examples where things don't go that way, but I certainly didn't feel like we were going to win at any point on the weekend, which was the same as how I felt 10 minutes in. At half time against the Lions & Dogs, I was confident, as the effort and intent was there - it just took a few tweaks

Think yesterday's game will be pivotal to our second half of the season. As @Dr.D & @jnrmac noted, you can tell from the first 5-10 mins what the result will likely be and that's an indictment on the club. I am not sure that we are quite ready to get the job done week after week and that could be a real issue come finals time, when you have to do it for 3-4 weeks in a row, at an intensity well above the H&A season. How do we learn (shudder) from it and figure out ways to stem the tide if an opposition team comes to play? Can we find ways to get 3-4 (or 15) players into a game on an off day (T-Mac, Fritta and Kossie all failed to give a yelp) What do we do when teams use low, flat entries into our forward line to remove the ability of May and Lever? We now know how teams will play us moving forward, so we need to adjust and make sure we treat every game with the respect it deserves. On another note, I found it fascinating how Geelong have employed different game styles for different opponents. This seems to be something new and thought provoking in the industry.

Will be a very interesting match sim to watch, there will be some players with a point to prove. Unfortunately, the list of Jones, Vandenberg, Melksham and Jetta does not provide a noticeable and immediate improvement over the group from the weekend.

Yesterday was a significant dent in any faith/trust we had been building with the playing group. The way Collingwood pulled us apart made a lot of our blokes look very ordinary

Having heard the Maynard whispers, it was fitting that he came up holding the ball after that huge pack grab in the dying minutes. He is a warrior and thrives when the stakes are highest. Anyone who thinks he is not worth pursuing should probably have a look at the job he did on Fritta, while still being the catalyst for plenty of Collingwood's forward movement. Can play

I reckon the selection of BB over Weid after their injury spell was the final straw. Sam is the most extreme case of a confidence player I have ever seen He is not alone at the moment though, we had many players down last night and there’s been quite a few just going for a number of weeks now

I feel the opposite about Lockhart, it seems like the coaches wrote him off early last year when there was some media focus on his laughing in game. He hasn't been sighted since. Regarding Hibbo, I would say his form this year is unexpected. In the same way T-Mac has completely turned his game around. Doubt anyone expected either of them to be performing the way they are this year.

If the commentary suggesting Clarko was not the man for a rebuild at the Hawks, why would he take on that role at the Pies? Would be great for the Pies, but not sure it is that clear cut for Clarko?

From everything that has been mentioned prior to this, I don't think the players will care one bit that Buckley is standing down. That is the whole problem

I have a lot of admiration for him, he has been at the helm of arguably the biggest club in the land, with a new controversy every year it seems. He has weathered the storm with Racism, Ed, Board takeovers etc. Would happily take him on in a part time role should Yze walk With Carlton and Collingwood both looking to be coachless for 2022, you have to think either of Clarko or Sam Mitchell fills one of the roles and Ross Lyon probably takes the other