OhMyDees

Fullarton gets a free ticket to Perth to watch the game. I suspect he’s there keep the Dockers guessing. I’d prefer to go in unchanged but I trust Goody after his selection master class against the Bombers.

In 2022, I was at a wet Optus Oval watching us dismantle the Dockers. We did this by keeping a strong zoned defence, and forcing them to the wing instead of the corridor. They just couldn’t move the ball quickly in the wet, couldn’t switch it and this played into our strengths. Our game plan if executed with vigour should stack up well against Fremantle. The conditions will be wet which again suits us given how well we adapted last week. Dees by 12 points

Who plays on Luke Jackson when he’s forward of centre? How much will Freo’s fortunes rest on his performance? Luke had 20 disposals and a goal against the Hawks in a losing game and I worry he could be very damaging if he gets going on Sunday.

Collection of misery on the Essendon Big Footy Message Boards: ”Too many spuds in the team. Poor team selection for a game in the wet” “Brad can't pick a team to save his life” “Well, that sucked” ”Shut up Ling” ”[censored] poor” ”That wasn’t annoying at all” “Just another pathetic display like the last 10+ years” ”I could have been watching Interstellar!” “McKay and Ridley passes. The rest can get in the bin” ”that was so awful - i’m actually looking forward to a 12 year old kick boxer kicking my [censored] next week” ”Let's face it, this was inevitable as soon as Carlton lost and we could've been second if we won” “What makes this team so ****ing unbearable is the hope they give us” - Could also be a Demon poster here “What an absolutely soulless performance. Everything set up for us perfectly and that's the type of footy we dish up. Nothing has changed.”

Darcy frothing over junk time goals.

Would have won by more if we had Fullarton or Ferrell out there…. Goody won this at the Selection Table.

Ducked his head = Free Kick Essendon.

Melbourne playing good wet weather football. Not on my 2024 Bingo Card lol!

Turner gets pushed into a dangerous contests = no free. Essendon player gets pushed by McVee = Free Kick Essendon!

I hope we get some Geelong level umpiring tonight.

Big Footy Essendon forum: - “I don’t like when Ess go in as favs.”

Turner is taller than JvR - could he get a run as ruck? I don’t think I could watch Mr Glass go in the ruck on Saturday.

I still can’t get over my hatred of Essendon. The thuggery of Wallis, Hardwick and Long on Green and Simmonds in the 2000 Grand Final still really burns. I hope we play like demons on Saturday!

Kozz is our future and at his best is the most damaging small forward in the comp. I love the way he attacks the ball. Here’s to 100 more Kozz ❤️

Petty is made of glass and has had multiple foot issues. No way he comes in as ruck.

If not Fullerton then TMac as Ruck and bring in Tommo? Protect JvR at all cost.

Grundy in

Doomed now

50m!

1. Collingwood 2. Essendon 3. Carlton 4. West Coast 5. Geelong

We owe them a belting.

Not going on Sunday…. Not because I’m an armchair critic waiting for the next 9 games to be a Optus but I’m still recovering from foot surgery. God I hope we get some percentage. I feel like if we’re going to make the 8 we’ll need it in a big way.

A few random thoughts: Why is Langdon playing forward? Is he injured, playing as a defensive forward or is he doing a block of loading? It makes zero sense to have our best wingman playing forward of centre. I think we showed more of what we are capable of in a game we lost on Friday than in any of the games we’ve won this season. When we take the game on, when our contest and pressure rate is up and when our defence holds (and boy how much better does it look with Lever in there). As Goodwin said in his presser he thought we went into our shells and played it safe in the last quarter. I almost felt like we almost didn’t take the game on at the end until a minute or so left and TMac was ducking and weaving around multiple players to bring the ball forward with any sense of desperation to attack. I was furious all night how dirty the Lions played. A few notable examples were Raynor’s elbow into Woewodin (a cheap shot) but what upset me more was Harris Andrews punching Fritta after Andrews out marked him. How does the AFL allow players to punch an opposition player to their body like that? It’s a disgrace. I think if anything the dirty play lifted the boys but I just don’t think that’s good for the game. Crushed after this loss naturally but honestly I feel better about how we’re tracking from this loss than after the North game.

Most of us probably expected a 10 goal loss at the first bounce. We lost by 5 points to a good side interstate. We have so much to be proud of despite being equally devastated that the result didn’t go our way (thank you umpires). We’re a way off our consistent best but we played better in that second quarter than we have for a long time. We deserved to win this game. So many players stepped up big time for us. I think we’re all feeling a bit like the North supporters after their last fortnight.