DeeSpencer

Have you seen Langdon’s heat maps? That’s where wingers get the ball. Teams aren’t going to let wing men just rack it up in the forward half

Looked like a lot of Bowey on Hill early to me, but they certainly mixed and matched. Without any drive from half back and with no space to work with across half forward Hill was never going to find the space he needs. I thought the Saints did a good job sending a half forward high in the second half, combining with Hill's run from behind and caught Brayshaw in no mans land. Even overlapped Langdon as well with precise kicking too. I'm not sure King getting up outside 50 really is the answer. He isn't great on the lead and that relies on space to lead in to anyway. With no bounce from half back there's nothing to lead in to. He came up the ground only to face more defenders and/or pressure on the Saints creating awful kicks that May read earlier and marked. King is a great high mark and otherwise an ordinary forward. He still plays like the kid in juniors who was a foot taller than everyone. I'm not sure a coach is going to fix that through role. He needs strength in the gym, hours of body work and then to watch a lot of CHF film to work on leading patterns. They aren't risking him in the ruck either. The Saints weren't great in the first half but it wasn't anything close to Neeld like. The first quarter we ground out 4 goals that we worked pretty hard for with broken pieces of play. Meanwhile they butchered their few chances. We certainly didn't have a lot of flow and it could've been a 3 goals to 2 kind of quarter. Kossie took 2 of his chances, Membrey kicked in to the man on the mark. Second quarter we had that patch where everything clicked. They'd be pretty annoyed about the big guys snapping goals but every side has a patch in a game where things go for or against. They rallied late in the second. I thought their adjustments after half time were excellent. Hill went back. Half forwards pressed super high and they ran the ball and used it short, took what they could get and they created chances. Teams are going to flood the midfield, run off Lever and Brayshaw, stretch us with width and it's certainly the best plan. Maybe they could've done it more earlier but it's hard to engineer extra numbers in the middle of the ground and use the ball well when the game is hot early. They got the game on their terms for most of the second half. It's just the terms were they were going to switch it, share it around a lot and rely on either precision kicks or little dumps going to 40 out to get scoring chances. And it wasn't going to be direct or fast. But they still did what they had to do to at least get back in it. We did what we had to do to keep our margin which was to retain possession and not be worried about their numbers switching and flooding around the middle and do what we needed to do to stop them getting out the back or up the middle.

6. May. King kicked 2 goals on Petty, 1 from a created free. Almost didn’t touch it on May. 5. Oliver 4. Langdon 3. Hunt. Shutout Higgins 2. Gus. A little inconsistent with some defending and ball use but his intercepting and getting in to the contest was excellent 1. Pickett. A couple early and a late goal, plenty of pressure, won the ball and used it solidly

Any tune in who can provide an opinion on AMW’s game? From the stats and from watching the Richmond game it looks like the Niz is starting to find his feet at the level.

I think Ward is very good. Not Oliver, Petracca great obviously but A grade potential, Jack Macrae level. They were desperate to trade up for Finn Callaghan but couldn’t get it done. How low do you have to finish to get a superstar? Tracc 2, Bont, Oliver 4, Buddy 5, Selwood 7, Danger 10. We traded up for Clarry too, it can be done. I’d say that’s right but he’s giving the kids a lot more responsibility than Clarko did. Plus the attacking game style is perfect for a young team as well as long as the defending doesn’t get away from them which I haven’t seen yet.

President’s seem keen to take the credit when it’s going well then step back when the heat is on. CEO’s despite getting big bikkies like to plead ignorance. Head of football’s should be on level footing with coaches and just as visible. Particularly when it’s list issues undermining a team not coaching. We’ve seen the benefit at Melbourne when the people in these roles work together and support each other. I’m surprised Essendon haven’t put someone like Mahoney out to take the heat, but it might be they don’t want to legitimise the pressure. It’s too early for Rutten to be getting true heat. A huge issue is the level of analysis is so bad it’s hard to evaluate anyone. The only thing the media seems to be able to do is whinge about poor performance or pick out clips that show poor effort. It’s a big part of why I think the down the ground cameras and stats should be given more public profile. Better quality analysis will keep the focus actually on the game.

If I were moving him anywhere it would be on ball. He could start at half forward and come up the ground as Trac goes forward but predominantly play as a midfielder. But really that’s if there’s a vacancy in our midfield group. If nothing changes Gus goes back to the wing. He’s been good at half back but covering Lever as much as Salem. His intercept work is good but he’s very loose defensively. Shakes hands with his opponent and doesn’t see him for 120 minutes. Salem’s nearly as strong in the air and tighter on the ground. When we’ve got 3 big talls in to control the air plus mid sized options we need that pressure on the ground.

Breust, Gunston and for the 15 minutes he turns up each week Wingard - yes. The others, no. He’s staggering Mitchell and O’Meara’s on ball minutes whilst investing in Newcombe and Ward (rested v us). Even using Nash as his tagger over Shiels. No longer just handing games to Shiels, Howe, Phillips and even Worpel. Only injuries are stopping Reeves solidifying the number 1 ruck role. There’s a clear shift from the way Clarko went all in on his imported/stale midfield. Sicily, Scrimshaw, Day and when he’s back from injury CJ have been the mainstays of the backline. They’re one more younger tall away from a complete rebuild down back. Up forward he has to bank on the veterans because there’s no substitute for class. But I’d imagine within 12-24 months it will be the Lewis and Moore forward line plus draft picks. The way he’s getting games in to kids, staying competitive and kept the veterans buying in despite changing their roles is really excellent coaching.

- big contract - 30 next year - relies on pace - defensive running needs a retooling - has other interests outside football that may mean he lacks motivation

He’s an awful kick, it’s the biggest deficiency in his game. His defensive running is his second biggest issue but that’s an easier fix.

Fritsch, Pickett, Ben Brown, Petracca all consistently burn team mates. Not to mention Harmes is the king of trying to do it all himself. Im not sure you can mark Tom down too much on taking that mark or some of his other ball use. That’s Tom. If he made good decisions he’d probably still be playing at CHB. The entire forward line needs a good kick up the backside in terms of blocking and creating space for each other. And the team needs work on inside 50 options.

Gave up an early goal by punching the ball indiscriminately down back and had his usual number of half hearted attempts to defend or contest. Had some better moments too and I like they way they used him. But not enough to really be convincing.

Weid v T Mc remains a ??? Hard to judge today because Sam rucked a fair bit and Tom went down back late. Still think if Tom can play just ok footy he’s the right choice because we’re just so top heavy with Weid and Brown.

Missed our 3 best defensive runners and played like it. Well done to the senior players who stood up. Some others showed they aren’t the most switched on defensively or weren’t really hitting the contest.

He's doing very well but his kicking is ordinary and he doesn't provide the aerial contest that Gus does on the wing. In some ways he's steadier than Gus was last year but he doesn't have the same upside. Plus once Salem is back he should take the highest half back role which Gus is currently playing. Gus is doing very well in that role racking the ball up with freedom but I don't love him down back in a more defensive role. And for the balance of the backline I still think Rivers is such an important 7th defender given he can move in to a lot of roles. I'm also not really of the belief Riv has been poor. A little quiet, a few mistakes here or there which was pretty normal for him last year, but delivering exactly what's needed when the heat is on. Anyway, it's hypothetical and it's looking unlikely that we'll get through most of this year without guys in and our regularly, but I'm yet to see anything this year to really change my mind on the pecking order and roles from last year down back and on the wing apart from Hunt for Hibbo.

JJ

To be fair it’s also the way we defend and a result of our cautious ball use up field. We pick our moments for fast play forward and rarely switch to the open side. Apart from better midfield kicking I think we aren’t blocking for each other well as a forward group, and we don’t crumb very well. I’d like to see one if Spargs and Koz get deeper rather than 2 or 3 talls together. And Weid, Brown, Fritsch work on a blocking routine

Expected score was 102-49. Not exactly a 100 point margin. There were a few bad misses - Gawn, Spargo, Fritsch and ANB go 0 from 4 set shots, Pickett not passing then missing. But over it was 4-5 goals we left out there. A very good Richmond backline which had the right match ups for us forced us in to a lot of bad shots. We need to work out how to score when we don’t have a clear match up advantage

Mitch White - easily our best player, sadly body didn’t hold up to afl work loads. T Mc - found space a few times but couldn’t clunk any when defended, his decision making with the pill is still odd and he keeps barreling umpires. Rosman - loves a kick out and handball receive. Stronger in the air than expected. Still very suspect with ground ball contests. Something to work with though. Baker - a class above racking them up at half back, some ok defensive moments but mostly sweeping. Not exactly afl footy. Chandler - has his good moments but his handballs are fumbly and he can’t escape traffic. Melksham - lots of lazy high contact free kicks and iffy decision making. Otherwise good. Daw and Brown - fine. Deak Smith - some very strong defensive efforts and good aerially but a few mistakes, still one to watch. Put the clamps on Stack JVR - are we Sauntner-ing him by playing 2 mature talls and 2 rucks? He relegated to flank duty. Ellison - solid as a rock, has he got room to develop? Tugboat Tomlinson - commentators raved about his first half racking stats but he wasn’t that good. Not sure he has full confidence in the knee Laurie - he’s classy. But he struggles to win it in tight and he’s just slow. Sadly doesn’t look like an AFL level athlete at this stage AMW - does a bit of everything. Worth watching. The Shep mates kid - has talent and competes. Got to see more.

Harmes clearly wasn’t right in the second half. Maysy is nursing something. I get the feeling if Petty and Lever get settled they’ll very much consider giving May a week off. A couple to watch. If Harmes needs a week off it could be Gus back to a wing, Lever down back. Or Dunstan stays in and Sparrow does more wing and less on ball.

Goal umpires should be able to pay push in the back free kicks and other marking infringements. Boundary umpires should be able to pay throws. Start with that, work your way towards more decisions. I can’t see boundary, goal and field umpires being interchangeable. They are different skills. But using the existing pairs of eyes should help when they are caught out of position. It’s nearly impossible with the speed of ball movement as it is now to triangulate the play as designed. As for pay: the question is whether the money will be worth making it a career. I think that requires not just a greater top end wage but also long term contracts and a decent semi pro back up leagues. Personally I still suspect it’s still better as a lucrative second gig.

Every club gets it. There’s very few secrets in modern footy. Allowing the fans (via the media initially) more access promotes understanding and let’s fans know what to look for. If nothing else it might stop idiots in the crowd constantly calling for players to ‘kick it’.

I doubt they’ll play together either because it’s a bad defensive combination, but I do think both Weid and Brown have the ability to play higher up the ground in terms of offensive role. They’ve done that in partnership at Casey. Brown has a big tank and has been reasonably trusty at halving pack contests. Weid isn’t exactly flying around the field but does seem to be moving a little smoother than last year too. Might not matter if they can’t pressure and cover ground defensively as Tom does but there’s some reason to try it.

No, it shouldn’t. The NFL release the ‘all 22’ footage which is the side and end cameras and allows media and I believe fans to study each plan. That then allows the media to study the game at a much higher level and create far more interesting content. Instead of this weeks ‘Essendon don’t defend’ or ‘aren’t working hard enough’ we might actually get some understanding of just where and why they are breaking down defensively.

They know it and have tried to address it, they took a number of talls early in their first go at building a side and even now are pretty well stocked down back with Taylor, Haynes, Buckley (underrated player coming back from an ACL) and a big body veteran in Keefe or Davis. I don't think they expect to loose Corr either. They deliberately used an early pick on Leek Aller who I think will prove a good talent but needs time. Their forwards are more troubling. Lost Sunshine McCarthy. Lost Jeremy Cameron. Lost Finlayson as anything like a competent player. They've tried to fill the void with Hogan, Brander and Riccardi. Hoges got pretty close to playing good footy last year, just had a heap of injury interruptions. I really hope he can make something of it up there.