Wallpapering the Cracks

[BenDoolan]

Is anyone starting to think about the Coaching Staff?

No, like you I'm extremely confident that once Hocking, Myers and Kommer are back we will be unbeatable.

Ha, Hocking, Myers & Kommer are not going to give us much needed pace into our "statue like" midfield

We do miss Zaka though.

[Jazz_84]

Is anyone starting to think about the Coaching Staff?

No, like you I'm extremely confident that once Hocking, Myers and Kommer are back we will be unbeatable.

Ha, Hocking, Myers & Kommer are not going to give us much needed pace into our "statue like" midfield

We do miss Zaka though.

when at his best yes, hasn't been there for a while now

[Gyoza]

Is anyone starting to think about the Coaching Staff?

No, like you I'm extremely confident that once Hocking, Myers and Kommer are back we will be unbeatable.

Ha, Hocking, Myers & Kommer are not going to give us much needed pace into our "statue like" midfield

We do miss Zaka though.

Yep, all he would have had to do is bang through 3 match winning goals...totally different result.

[Mrs Mercuri]

We are missing Zaka and Myers the most, amazing just how underrated Myers is to our side yet not having his big body and lethal boot in our midfield is hurting us!

We are def lacking bigger bodied midfielders and it's an area we need to focus on in recruitment at the end of this year

[mdso]

There are 2 things that frustrate me no end and we do both really well. Fumbling and slipping over.

Please turn the sprinklers on at our training grounds and teach these guys to stand up on a footy field and play wet weather footy. What is it with our blokes falling over all the time. Boots or can't hold their feet?

Oh and one more thing, our skills were lousy last night, we served them that game on a platter. Fletch says, thanks.

[gringo]

We are missing Zaka and Myers the most, amazing just how underrated Myers is to our side yet not having his big body and lethal boot in our midfield is hurting us!

We are def lacking bigger bodied midfielders and it's an area we need to focus on in recruitment at the end of this year

Agree re Myers. He's third in line after Watson and Heppell in the midfield.

Zaka needs to harden up. He doesn't seem to play with any intensity, and fumbles a lot.

[Windy_Hill]

Our forward coach is Bassett, mids coach I think is Skipworth- both must go if we don't start improving

Is anyone starting to think about the Coaching Staff?

yet Skippy is our VFL coach and they seem to move the ball perfectly ok, our forward 50 structure is quite efficient in the VFL.... go figure

simple really, we're a very good VFL Team

Just a shit AFL one

[BenDoolan]

There are 2 things that frustrate me no end and we do both really well. Fumbling and slipping over.

Please turn the sprinklers on at our training grounds and teach these guys to stand up on a footy field and play wet weather footy. What is it with our blokes falling over all the time. Boots or can't hold their feet?

Oh and one more thing, our skills were lousy last night, we served that game on a platter. Fletch says, thanks.

Playing dry weather footy would be good for starters.

I simply cannot believe how the muppets kept slipping over last night. Ground was dry as a bone. What f****** boots do they wear? Flashy looking pieces of junk if they cannot grip the turf IMO.

[s'dreams]

There are 2 things that frustrate me no end and we do both really well. Fumbling and slipping over.

Please turn the sprinklers on at our training grounds and teach these guys to stand up on a footy field and play wet weather footy. What is it with our blokes falling over all the time. Boots or can't hold their feet?

Oh and one more thing, our skills were lousy last night, we served that game on a platter. Fletch says, thanks.

Playing dry weather footy would be good for starters.

I simply cannot believe how the muppets kept slipping over last night. Ground was dry as a bone. What f****** boots do they wear? Flashy looking pieces of junk if they cannot grip the turf IMO.

Too many slow players think that slicks will give them the edge in speed... hard to run while on your bum.

s'd

[s'dreams]

Right ... which one of you bastards is Rohan Connelly??? Fess up!!!

Essendon need to deal with some harsh home truths
Date May 31, 2015 - 8:27PM

Rohan Connolly

Mistakes in AFL football are damaging enough when they happen on the field. When they involve decisions taken off it, the results are more far-reaching. And when the impact of not one but several of those calls run concurrently, the consequences can be grave indeed.

Essendon made probably the biggest mistake the game has ever seen when they pushed the boundaries of sports science too far in 2012, the impact of which may be felt for several years yet.

But there are a couple of direct spin-offs of the supplements saga that have the potential to do just as much damage, and they're becoming clearer with every game the Bombers play.

Essendon's meek offering against a steadfast Richmond in Dustin Fletcher's 400th game would have been disappointing enough in isolation. But it's more evidence that the Bombers should immediately ask themselves a couple of tough questions.

One is whether the travails their players have been through these past three seasons have created a disproportionate sense of loyalty to them, both on a week-to-week basis and in the longer term, from Essendon's coaching staff.

The other is whether some of the Bombers' emotion-fuelled victories over the past three seasons have teased those same coaches and those who run into the club into believing that the list at their disposal is better than it actually is.

The round-two victory over Hawthorn was another such moment, coming just a week-and-a-bit after the AFL Tribunal had found the "Essendon 34" not guilty, and after the Dons had raced to a seven-goal lead over the other grand finalist of last season.

Essendon's most memorable victories since the saga began have come after similar flashpoints. They've been enormous highs. But perhaps they've too easily been allowed to mask some equally significant lows, and more often still, some pretty uninspired football sometimes just enough to get the job done, sometimes not.

Essendon's structural issues remain profound, a lack of pace across the board save speedster Travis Colyer, a lack of midfield depth and variety, and a hotch-potch forward set-up lacking any decent crumbers and two problematic key forwards, one in Joe Daniher still learning, another in Jake Carlisle whose kicking issues came home to roost again on Saturday night.

The Bombers are a long way from premiership material, and successive years of topping up with some veteran stars haven't taken them a lot closer and created some issues of their own for future seasons, Essendon in 2015 with the third-oldest list in the AFL.

Brendon Goddard and Paul Chapman have given value, and Adam Cooney still might, but Chapman's lack of mobility is taking a toll, and Goddard has this season accumulated plenty of touches that haven't necessarily had a lot of impact.

While their experience remains important in one sense, it also denies younger players on the list their own. And Hird and co. already appear conservative enough on the selection front.

The ruck provides a good example. Tom Bellchambers is having a very ordinary second season in a row, smashed again on Saturday night, this time by Richmond's Ivan Maric, who did far more around the ground and provided far more meaningful service at critical centre bounces.

Essendon brought in Shaun McKernan to offer the struggling Bellchambers some support two games ago against North Melbourne. He acquitted himself well, too, but was immediately dropped. Former GWS ruckman Jonathan Giles hasn't even been tried yet.

The Bombers have too many of their supposed best 22 whose strengths are more than matched by their weaknesses, and too many who are unable to string enough good performances together.

Carlisle is a magnificent mark but a dodgy kick, which makes his value as a forward questionable. Patrick Ambrose has been the go-to man for forward line defensive pressure, but simply doesn't win enough of the ball. Others like Jake Melksham and Ben Howlett turn in good games then poor ones alternately.

And the time given to alternatives remains limited. Why hasn't Shaun Edwards been tried up forward when his VFL form has been encouraging? Lauchlan Dalgleish has genuine pace, something the Dons desperately lack, but has played only three senior games, all two years ago.

Martin Gleeson started as a sub on Saturday night. Jason Ashby had to go back to the VFL because he'd started as a sub too often to have meaningful game time. All the while the likes of Nick O'Brien and Elliott Kavanagh, each in their fourth season on the list, plug away at reserves level with few chances, unable to have an impact when they do get one.

Nobody at Essendon has been through the wringer more these past three seasons than their players. But perhaps that's provided a crutch of sorts for under-performance, and perhaps it's made Hird too unwilling to crack the whip.

More ominously, the power of emotion might have conspired to give an entire club a blinkered view of just where it stands in the AFL pecking order.

That's middling at best. And in danger of falling further even before there's a resolution to matters with WADA unless some uncomfortable truths are confronted a lot closer to home.

s'd

[BenDoolan]

Yep, well played Rohan =D>

[tonysoprano]

Good to know Ro'Ro visits here to source the exceptional insight provided by many of the BT'ers!

I was thinking - we really need to get Dank and Robinson back to the club - we were playing our best footy under Hird when they were around.

[mdso]

Unfortunately, pretty spot on Rohan. I have a dreadful feeling our season is shot. This saga will effect our club for some time to come. Thanks AD and the AFL and also not forgetting the EFC Board. Another ten years in the bloody wilderness, while our players recover.

All I can say is our collective karma must be totally farked.

[BenDoolan]

Unfortunately, pretty spot on Rohan. I have a dreadful feeling our season is shot. This saga will effect our club for some time to come. Thanks AD and the AFL and also not forgetting the EFC Board. Another ten years in the bloody wilderness, while our players recover.

All I can say is our collective karma must be totally farked.

What's the saga got to do with the shit disposal or the garbage game style?

[kelvin_sheedy]

Rohan makes a good point. He is saying the club doesn't want to make the harsh decisions on players after what has happened the last 2 years.

Very telling few weeks for our club. Lucky we have the safety of the small Etihad this week to paper over more cracks.

[bomberdonnie]

Rohan is Ancient Tiger

[donsgetthere]

Rohan makes a good point. He is saying the club doesn't want to make the harsh decisions on players after what has happened the last 2 years.

Very telling few weeks for our club. Lucky we have the safety of the small Etihad this week to paper over more cracks.

Clubs need to make the harsh decision. f*** Melksham and Dempesy off to EDFL.

[robrulz5]

Set shot kicking at goal is one of the easiest parts of the game, how are our players so damn terrible at it???

[Windy_Hill]

I reckon we give the current 22 one more crack at Geelong then if no improvement from the usual characters and we lose, its time to make some harsh decisions with a begrudging eye on 2016

I don't care about making up the numbers in the Top 8

Would rather get 10 games into some of the fringe players to see if they are worth hanging onto for next year

[Flip]

I reckon we give the current 22 one more crack at Geelong then if no improvement from the usual characters and we lose, its time to make some harsh decisions with a begrudging eye on 2016

I don't care about making up the numbers in the Top 8

Would rather get 10 games into some of the fringe players to see if they are worth hanging onto for next year

=D>

Oh and perhaps some chaps with a bit of pace in the Trade and Drafting period.