Ash35

Slightly over dramatic. Like I said, it's very disappointing, but I doubt it will be the end of him. Dane Swan, Wayne Carey, Brad Ottens, Alan Didak, Colin Slyvia and even Andrew Lovett just to name a few seemed to have gotten on with their football careers ok after off-field "incidents".

he's not the first, and he won't be the last. But it's very disappointing.

Lovett is easily in Essendon best 22. The reason he is being traded has very little to do with his on field performances.

I'll have my life savings, my house, my car and my kids college funds on the Hawks at $3.00 thanks.

Just to clear one thing up, Andrew Lovett is 26 years old.

If Lloyd doesn't play on at Essendon next year, he will retire.

I might be wrong if the rule has been changed, but I thought any draft pick received from a trade had to be used.

good choice, not too populated until you hit Elsternwick.

It's an interesting bet. Hardwick will strip [pardon the pun] the Richmond list back to the bones, whereas Bailey did that with Melbourne when he took over, so Melbourne are probably in a better position to push forward in 2010. Injuries will come into it, as both teams don't have alot of depth. You'd be hoping Richo and Cotchin don't play full seasons just like they were unable to this season. In the end, there was only 1 and a half wins between the 2 this season, so it's a close thing. Good luck, what part of Nepean Hwy? Near Southland, or closer to Frankston, or up near Elsternwick?

Could be a handy pick up if he is over his injuries, but not for pick #18. More likely the Tigers would be happy with a 3rd round pick. With Melbourne having the first pick in the 4th round, that might even be enough. Pick #18 would be way over the odds. Richmond would do that in a heart beat if offered.

Lloyd offered 4 matches with an early plead, so basically 5 matches. reckless conduct, severe impact, high contact = 550 points I'd imagine Essendon will argue to have conduct downgraded. Either way, season, and maybe career over for Lloyd. Ryder and Lonergan also offered 1 match bans with early pleads. Ryder one is interesting seeing Alex Rance wasn't even sighted for his punch to the face of Franklin last week.

Have a good look at the footage. Log on to the fox sports website and search for it. Or wait until it gets played for the 100th time tonight on Footy Classified or On the Couch. Have a close look at it, Sewell had only just, and I mean only just, gathered the ball when Lloyd hit him. We are talking about a split second. Lloyd could argue that he too was going for the ball in dispute and Sewell got there a split second before him. To say Lloyd was "nowhere near it", I think is wrong. If you want to compare it to the Franklin bump, I can tell you that Cousins had the ball for alot longer before Franklin got him than Sewell did. You seem to have your mind made up that Lloyd was out to murder Sewell. Do you really think Lloyd wanted to fracture Sewells cheekbone? It's very unfortunate for Sewell, but as mentioned by Ho Chi Dee said, Neitz broke Luke McCabes colarbone in Round 1 of 2002 with a classic bump. Neitz didn't get suspended cos he didn't get McCabe in the hit, which was lucky for both of them, whereas Lloyd did make contact to the head, and hence will be suspended. Other than that, they were pretty similar efforts.

Yeah, he may well. But I doubt the events of Saturday would influence his decision.

Of course Lloyd will get weeks, don't get me wrong. But what he did was not "sniping". Especially when compared to Browns effort in 2004 on Winderlich. Hawthorn came up with concept of "unsociable football". Yet when the shoe is on the other foot, they don't like it.

Matthew Lloyd ensured Essendon will play finals for the first time since 2004. If you want to talk gutless, lets talk about a so-called tough guy, Campbell "I'm all talk" Brown. The guy had the whole second half to do something about Lloyd, instead all he could come up with was a couple of [censored] slaps on Angus Monfries arm. If he was so intend to squaring the ledger, do it, don't wait until after the game to get all lippy knowing that Lloyd may well retire after this season. I found it bizarre that Brown of all people would be calling anyone a sniper, when he was the one in the "line in the sand" game that king hit Winderlich from behind as Winderlich was leaving the field. I can't see Essendon getting within 8-10 goals of a switched on Adelaide this week, so for those Essendon haters on here, don't panic.

38.957

hence we have to improve our midfield. I am quite comfortable that between Gumbleton, Neagle, Hurley, Pears, Hooker, Daniher and Ryder we have enough talented key position players to hold us in good stead going forward, and that doesn't even include Michael Still [194 cm] who we drafted last November as a 17 year old. Our midfield, on the other hand, does the lack class of a Geelong or WCE circa 2005-06.

Lloyd Richardson C.Grant Neitz Lucas Tredrea Hall O'Loughlin Rocca Robbo

Very fair. Fletcher will be a massive hole to fill, even with the development of Pears, Hurley and Hooker. And I also have concerns for our forward structure. The club has attempted to put in a succession plan by drafting Jay Neagle, Scott Gumbleton and Darcy Daniher [who has kicked 5 & 3 goals in the last couple of weeks for Bendigo], but due to circumstances, I see an uncertain future. There is no guarantee that Gumbleton will ever get fit, and Neagle shows glimpses, but needs to develop some consistency. While Daniher has been unable to establish himself as a regular senior player yet. Hurley can play forward, but I feel that when Fletcher retires, he will best serve us as a backman.

As long as it isn't Collingwood or Carlton, I don't mind. If I had to tip someone right now, St Kilda.

Yep, our ruck stocks are very slim due to injuries. Hille, Laycock and now Ryder out for the rest of the season. Bellchambers is still young and learning but will have to step up. Christian Bock is a "project" player if ever there was one. He won't be ready for a year or two. And just to clear up a couple of things, I don't have an issue with anyone getting on here and saying "I hate Essendon, they're the scum of the earth etc etc" If you hate us, you hate us, and that's fine. I'm not here to change your mind. The second thing is that I don't generally bring Essendon into my discussions on Demonland unless it's relevant. I appreciate that most on here don't care much for Essendon and don't have a desire to talk about them. But this thread was about Essendon [not started by me], so I thought on this thread alone, it was open slather on talking up the Bombers. I suppose Essendon and Melbourne are in similar positions in that both lists are very young, both have young, fresh coaches, and both groups of supporters have alot of hope for the future. The development of both lists will be fascinating to watch. I've had this discussion with some Melbourne mates before, but going forward I feel Essendon might shade Melbourne in key position stocks with the likes Pears, Hurley and [fingers crossed] Gumbleton, but with the injection of Scully and possibly another quality mid with pick 2, on top of Blease, Strauss, Jones, Grimes, Morton, McLean and Davey, Melbourne should develop a better midfield.

yeah, I'll cop Lucas. He is finished. Lloyd, while obviously nowhere near the player he was, still would take a good defender which would take a bit of heat off Jay Neagle. Plus, he is our captain. As for Hille, Ryder has been a revelation, but is showing signs of tiring. So while the team has acclimatised to a certain extend, and Ryders performances have been a bonus, Hille would certainty make our team better, especially with Ryder going down with an injury yesterday.

Thanks DD. I am obviously biased, but I just can't believe how anyone couldn't give Essendon credit for yesterdays performance. I would be interested in peoples opinion on here if the identical thing happened in Round 22. I reckon "best win in 10 years" would get thrown around a bit. Although the "I can't believe we have lost the priority pick" threads would come thick and fast.

Couldn't give a toss what you think about our chances in the finals. And yeah, you do owe us quite a few. Enjoy it if it happens.

One of the dumbest comments I reckon I've read on here in a while. Did you see the game, or were you still celebrating the fantastic win over the mighty Freo Dockers? I'll admit Essendon weren't at it's most composed in the last quarter, but there were circumstances. St Kilda have had that effect on most teams this year. Still, Essendon were able to get 7 goals in front of them by more than matching St Kilda's pressure, and managed to kick 16 goals in 3 quarters against a team lauded as the best defensive unit ever [and rightly so if you look at the stats]. As Dappa Dan is trying to explain, Essendon virtually had no bench in the last quarter and were up against a team that was at full strength. Compared to Essendon missing their captain in Lloyd, last years best and fairest David Hille, Winderlich, Reimers and Lucas to name a few off the top of my head. St Kilda, being the great team that they are, were always going to make a run. Essendon, running on empty, were able to just hold on. It was a win that just might mean we play finals for the first time since 2004. I'm not one to brag, but if ever any Essendon supporter wanted to brag about a victory, this is the time.