Jaded No More

Weids is struggling. Although it doesn't seem like conditions are made for talls today.

Salem out cold. Stretcher out. Kid can't take a break!

Is Dawes helping with coaching?

Neal Bullen with some questionable decision making.

Salem's kicking is orgasmic. If he just gets his body right, he will be hugely important for us next year!

Casey doing well but overusing the footy. Oliver tho!

I'm honestly so over this saga. I feel for the whole Hogan family if the illness stories are true, but I'm done investing in players who burn us. Scully, Frawely, Hogan... We will survive regardless. Make a decision and let us all move on already!

Doggies! Thank [censored] Hawthron are done and that there is still a reason to watch finals. Bont is a star!

So so happy for the Dogs. At least there is one team in the finals that don't make me sick to my stomach. They were fantastic tonight, and credit to them for not giving up despite their mounting injury list. Here's hoping they knock out Whorethon next week!

How good is Hunt's speech. God I LOVE him! And just goes to show how valuable Grimes is, he might be not a world beater, but he is a great leader off the field.

Dean Kent is not a dumb operator. Picked the winner and the top 5. Only one who said Viney will win it. Clearly listens in post match reviews.

Brilliant well done Viney, well deserved. And just how good is Jones, 1st three years in a row, now 2nd.

Quality on and off the field. Well done Nev!

Great decision to leave Oliver out last week so he can play finals for Casey. Obviously proving very important!

Pre injury he was an absolute gun. We forget how good he was for us before everything went to [censored]. Another one in a long list of epic list failures for us.

No home game at Etihad against a team who's home ground is Etihad. For the love of God!

He gives us the sort of structure we want Dawes to give us except he can actually play football and ruck.

He deserves success because he has battled so many illnesses and injuries and is still on an AFL list battling away. Plenty far less deserving than him going around... Think Frawley.

Really? Why? Whats he done wrong to us? We delisted him after a long struggle with a variety of illnesses. He tried hard and gave his all. I'm so happy to see him get a second chance, and as much as I hate Hawthorn I'm thrilled to see him getting a go. Deserves success!

Believe me Essendon fans don't want the spoon. They haven't won one in decades. Finishing bottom would hurt them more.

Finishing 11th with a percentage under 100 is what really hurts in the end. We absolutely let the season down with these last two weeks.

Right now the last two weeks are what I can think about when I think about this season. Maybe in a few days the disappointment will fade and I'll be able to recognize this year for what it actually is, an improvement. We have a long way to go to become a consistently reliable good side and our list is still to me only 80% AFL level. The biggest unknown going forward is whether Goodwin can actually coach.

You're right this game is not reflective of our overall season, but it is part of our reality. We are not a skilled side, we are not a quick side, and most of all when things go bad we go to water. We lack leadership, and have lacked it since we sacked Junior. We have way too many players who can't execute basic skills, way too many players who play like millionaires but don't do the team things well, and we are so heavily reliant on Gawn to dominate. It took less than a season for clubs to work out that if you shut down Gawn our midfield won't touch the thing. It is easy to get blinded by wins like the Hawthorn game or the Port game, but we've put in as many poor performances this year as we have good ones, and those are the games we need to really look at if we are to improve. I just hope to god that Goodwin can coach, because this club cannot take even a slight backwards step right now.

Hard to see beyond getting smashed by over 100 points due to a complete lack of effort combined with zero skills. We had an OK season, we steamed the bleeding, we had some good wins, but my god we are still a very very ordinary side unless absolutely everything goes our way. Skills are woeful, attitude and leadership turns bad very quickly, a lot of question marks over our forward line and I guess our midfield to a certain extent. Lots to do this pre-season. I reckon if we make finals next year we may just scrape in. Wouldn't surprise me if we missed out. You can't put in some of the performances we put in this year, and expect to be a finals team.

Jesus we are pathetic. I can't stand a lack of effort. I really thought we were done with that sort of thing. What possible excuse is there for this sort of gutless showing? I know the season is technically over, but what about taking some pride in your performance and trying to gain some momentum going into pre-season?