Essendon Gameday Thread

[top40]

Listening to Shane Crawford on the nine footy show this morning reaffirmed to me that the talking heads of the Melbourne media have done little to no research on our list.

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Ironically, Shane Crawford is a New South Welsh man.

[Melbournehammer]

Bird is very slow. With Kirk, Bolton, Ablett in the midfield his leg speed deficiency is made even more obvious. We have to play quick midfielders outside him (under the age of 31 preferably).

I agree and he is weak in the tackle.

He wont speed up but with some faster midfielders he can be covered. And he will get stronger with more time in the middle and more time in the weights room.

He is proving to be a good inside midfielder. With time he may yet become very good. His superstar status on this site has more to do with the need to find some positives on the list - he isn't a selwood or a rich yet - but then it took bartel some time to find his go.

[Melbournehammer]

He's only kicked 31 goals. Not a great return for a key forward.

Thats a laugh. Against the dogs, hawthorn, even the crows he looked like our only real option.

Dont whitewash things - justify him going on the whacking and not on his form which was pretty good.

[pinkemu]

He's only kicked 31 goals. Not a great return for a key forward.

So you're saying a good player is only worth their weight in goals?

And don't uses the old key foward excuse on me, we all know the game has changed over the years and Hall is not the traditional Full foward type.

[Lohengrin]

I didn't comment on other parts of his game. Simply that one of the key parts of his game is kicking goals and he's only kicked 31 goals 15 games in, which is not a great return for a key forward.

[Melbournehammer]

actually in a side which is being beaten out of the middle pretty regularly its not too bad.

his only bad game this year was against geelong...and he wasn't exactly alone in that one.

[Bear]

Still a premiership captain, despite this mate. Remember that.

JF

He is a premiership co-captain. We have de-valued the term captain now.

[Bear]

Bevo needs to be on his game as they've gone to Reimers three times already

Essendon's first stategic move at the opening bounce was to see who was on 42, then clear out the whole forward 50 and isolate them one on one.

If the penny didn't drop for Roos right then, when will it???

Our weak link in the backline has become so obvious we are now a laughing stock.

Result - first goal to Essendon on Bevan. Why? Bevan always starts behind his opponents and can't watch the ball and his man. Reimers starts on a lead and gets 5 metres away before 42 knows he's even gone. Easy mark and goal.

Then, again 42 is metres behind Reimers who picks up and gives off an easy handball under no pressure to a team mate running past who goals. Where was the pressure??? It's no use having pace without a football brain.

Off to a great start

It's one thing to start making a few mistakes as a veteran (e.g. O'Loughlin after 10+ years of great service), but when you're supposed to be in the prime of your career...

I know Lyon would show him the door. How long is Roos going to back this guy?

[AnnieH]

I FINALLY got Goodesy's signature on my hat - and a photo to boot!! He's such a top bloke.

I also had the good fortune of meeting Mick & Goodesy's mums after the match, and what marvelous women they are. I thanked them for letting us borrow their sons and thanked them for all the effort they have put into bringing up such wonderful men. A lot of hard work goes into bringing up a footballer.

Re the game ... who cares. We're not seeing September anyway. I'm just going to sit back and watch Micky enjoy the twilight of his career.

[Lohengrin]

actually in a side which is being beaten out of the middle pretty regularly its not too bad.

his only bad game this year was against geelong...and he wasn't exactly alone in that one.

He was also pretty crap in rounds 4, 5 and 14!

[Mr Magoo]

I just cant believe the amount of negativity on this site today. Yes we were comprehensively outplayed but after watching us against the Roos last week I think it was hardly unexpeted that we would struggle against these guys.

Those calling for Roos head, i think you need to take a chill pill. Hes hardly had five minutes to start the rebuilding that everyone has called for from the start of the season and nearly every potential young player that could be given a game has sufferred injuries at some point this season.

As for the young guys being played, they are all of a sudden rubbish and not worth persisting with. What a load of shortsighted crap talk.

Pykes played the game for five minutes and managed 10 possessions and a number of hitouts. Bird is in his second season. Vespremi has just returned after most of the season on the sidelines which would hardly allow him to have much of a fitness base. It takes most players more than two or three games to start any sort of dominance. People have to stop looking at the likes of Daniel Rich as a comparison. He is a rarity, Even high picks like Gibbs, Murphy , Tambling, franklin etc have taken a number of seasons to be considered any good and these guys mostly had been tagged as the best of their generation.

Geelongs playing group that are so highly considered the best of their time were not that different to the one that we beat in 2005 after playing probably our worst game that season, and were the same group that slide down the ladder to such an extent that at the end of 2006, people were funnily enough calling for their coaches head.

I agree that its not all looking rosy but thats what rebuilding is all about, finding who is good enough to stay on and who you need to get rid off. It wont happen in one season and its silly to just throw the whole reserves team out there (well you can but you might end up with fremantle type scores against you and young guys confidence being shot apart - god help roosy then).

I agree that the likes of crouch, ablett look really ordinary and past their best and a number of other senior players look shaky but as seen on saturday night with Geelong any team is only half a dozen players from looking unbeatable to struggling against another emerging team like Brisbane who in my opinion are probably a fifth to seventh type team. Amazing how all of sudden Milburn doesnt look that good, enright starts making mistakes etc etc. Should Geelong start considering getting rid of them - of course not. In every team there are players of the calibre of richards, bevan , mattner etc, it just when a team starts to struggle these players lose confidence and are more easily exposed for their weaknesses.

[connolly]

Essendon's first stategic move at the opening bounce was to see who was on 42, then clear out the whole forward 50 and isolate them one on one.

If the penny didn't drop for Roos right then, when will it???

Our weak link in the backline has become so obvious we are now a laughing stock.

Result - first goal to Essendon on Bevan. Why? Bevan always starts behind his opponents and can't watch the ball and his man. Reimers starts on a lead and gets 5 metres away before 42 knows he's even gone. Easy mark and goal.

Then, again 42 is metres behind Reimers who picks up and gives off an easy handball under no pressure to a team mate running past who goals. Where was the pressure??? It's no use having pace without a football brain.

Off to a great start

It's one thing to start making a few mistakes as a veteran (e.g. O'Loughlin after 10+ years of great service), but when you're supposed to be in the prime of your career...

I know Lyon would show him the door. How long is Roos going to back this guy?

You are kidding. Bevo spoiled him twice at the start then Reimers got a lace out with no one covering the corridor. Then Bevo played a blinder in the central corridor. I get it now. This is satire. You can back one thing in next week. Crouch will be dropped and Bevo will be one of the first picked. Ask Rossey!!!! (By the way this is now the front runner in the best Bevo comment competition to be awarded at the end of the season. Keep them coming.

[ugg]

I agree completely with Bear.

Reimers was isolated at FF against Bevan from the opening bounce, leaving their tall timber Lloyd and Lucas further up around the 50. Why? Because Knights knew Reimers would be too fast for Bevan who not only is relatively slow but also allows a good head start by his opponent.

I've mentioned that opposition coaches have realised Bevan is weak in the one-on-one contests and I can guarantee you it won't be the last time this happens. To be fair to him, he has to play where the coaches ask him to, and due to the fact we have limited options at our small defender position, he's really being asked to do a job at which he is not at all suited to.

[pinkemu]

I agree completely with Bear.

Reimers was isolated at FF against Bevan from the opening bounce, leaving their tall timber Lloyd and Lucas further up around the 50. Why? Because Knights knew Reimers would be too fast for Bevan who not only is relatively slow but also allows a good head start by his opponent.

I've mentioned that opposition coaches have realised Bevan is weak in the one-on-one contests and I can guarantee you it won't be the last time this happens.

Who are you hanging out with?
Is one of them coaching the Tigers next year?
Maybe you should fill Roosy in with these little tit bits of inside information from other coaches.

[ugg]

Who are you hanging out with?
Is one of them coaching the Tigers next year?
Maybe you should fill Roosy in with these little tit bits of inside information from other coaches.

The minute our coaches start taking advice from the fans is the day the club starts going downhill. However, it doesn't mean I can't offer my own observations. Bevan isolated with his opponent alone in the F50 not for the first time, I hardly think it's some serendipitous happenstance.