Where do I start?

[nudder12]

Firstly, my apologies for creating a new thread when so much of what I'll say relates to other posts already made.
The difficulty is that so many other posts contain only traces of the full story and I feel like consolidating it all into one place.

Jeez we were awful tonight. Skills were lamentable, bad kicking, fumbling, poor decision making. How many times do we have to kick it to a 2 on 1 in the oppositions favour and watch the ball go back over our heads before we learn the numbers game?

I thought we looked either lazy or tired or disinterested or all three tonight. I lost count of the number of times players just stopped dead after a contest and didn't follow up on the play. Stanton was the number one culprit and I'm a monkey's uncle if he was fit. You'd have thought after we played him last week we'd have learnt that lesson.

But he wasn't alone and it was galling to watch Dogs players run off from a contest and then receive the ball while our players stood there flatfooted. Equally as annoying was every single time we stood off the Dogs when they had the ball and allowed them to take their time, find a target, or run inside 50.

McPhee tried hard, but fumbled just about everything. JJ was the same. Kicking for goal was obviously rubbish and I can barely watch any time it's Stanton or Hille lining up, you just never know where it will go. How come people have called for Jobe to get some kicking skills and let those two off the hook? As for Lloyd, I can only think he too needs to go back to kicking school because he's missed a heap of "easy" ones all season.

And I really don't care if he's had a year off with injury etc, if he's not the best option we've got then he shouldn't be in the side, and frankly I'm not sure he is our best option at the moment. He's not leading well nor applying defensive pressure, and if CJ was looked for as much as Lloyd is I think he'd get at least 3 or 4 each week also, and provide more for the team in those other areas.

Hopefully tonight will put paid to assessments of last week's match against Geelong as being unlucky that we ran out of players, because tonight that wasn't the case, we were simply overrun and looked a rabble at the end, and it had been on the cards against the Cats last week too for much of the game.

On the bright side, we actually are capable of good play. When we get it right we can be very good, but consistency of skill and effort is missing so far.

Jobe played another great game, his kicking has been very good lately and his handball skills are sublime, has good vision, and, he keeps getting hold of the thing.

Nash is a great prospect, I've liked the look of him for a while and am so pleased to see him put some good games together. The boy seems to understand what modern running footy is about and uses the ball very well.

Was also good to see Dyson at least get into the game a bit tonight and even his ball use improved over recent weeks. Hopefully he's turning the corner, finally, into realising his potential. Not saying he had a great game but it was an improvement.

Ditto with Laycock. Struggled until the last few weeks but has been good for us in recent weeks and probably been the better ruckman out of him and Hille. Hoping he keeps the consistency up too.

I was also pleased to see Campo have a good game until injured, and prove many doubters wrong about his use in our side. He didn't get to 250 without some talent.

And, as always, Lucas played a solid game. If he'd play in front a little more he'd be super, and if he had an extra yard of pace he'd be pure gold. It was nice to hear a Dogs supporter near me raving about how good Scotty is.

Anyway, there you have it, all my gripes and opinions in one place - that ought to make it easier for everyone to pick the faults!!

Cheers folks, and Go Bombers next week.

[Bomber_Fan]

I thought we looked either lazy or tired or disinterested or all three tonight.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there perfectly. Although I would like to add what I thought were some positives for our team.
a) Dyson tagging Akermanis once he got off to that flyer. Not sure which one of our brain's trust came up with the idea of playing Campo on Akermanis in the first quarter, not surprisingly he had an absolute field day! This might give him some sort of understanding about how hard Dyson has to work to present to receive the ball. But at least he limited his effectiveness too.
b) After a good start from Brad Johnson, when I'm sure we were all worried about the big bag he might kick against us, I'm glad our team actually covered him well in the second half and I think we have to give Slattery a pat on the back. He must have made sure he covered him pretty well, if the ball wasn't been kicked to him every time.

[jimmyc1985]

Jeepers, seems to be many disillusioned fans after last night's effort......why?

Essendon sans Hird, Fletcher and McVeigh = bottom 4 team.

[swoodley]

Jeepers, seems to be many disillusioned fans after last night's effort......why?

Essendon sans Hird, Fletcher and McVeigh = bottom 4 team.

Disillusioned Jimmy because the poor disposal, fumbles etc cannot be blamed on those missing players

[Boyler_Room]

Jeepers, seems to be many disillusioned fans after last night's effort......why?

Essendon sans Hird, Fletcher and McVeigh = bottom 4 team.

I can't agree. If Campo didn't get himself injured while pinpointing another beautiful pass last night we would have won that game, I'm here to tell you. We've got better players on our list than Campo, but the work rate was abysmal last night. If they stand around like spectators then sure they're a bottom four team... if they actually play, like they're paid to, then we've got a pretty capable team... not top four, but certainly finals worthy.

[jimmyc1985]

Jeepers, seems to be many disillusioned fans after last night's effort......why?

Essendon sans Hird, Fletcher and McVeigh = bottom 4 team.

I can't agree. If Campo didn't get himself injured while pinpointing another beautiful pass last night we would have won that game, I'm here to tell you. We've got better players on our list than Campo, but the work rate was abysmal last night. If they stand around like spectators then sure they're a bottom four team... if they actually play, like they're paid to, then we've got a pretty capable team... not top four, but certainly finals worthy.

I didn't watch all of the game, but given we lost by 6 goals, i can't see how Campo getting injured was the cause of us losing. Bridge too far.

Disillusioned Jimmy because the poor disposal, fumbles etc cannot be blamed on those missing players

Fair enough. I probably should have said "seems to be many surprised fans after last night's effort....why?". Our disposal has been generally poor for 3-4 years, yet people seem to be genuinely perplexed about our efforts in last night's match. The effectiveness of our disposal as a team is generally poor, save for a few stand-outs - Fletcher, Hird and McVeigh being 3 of those stand-outs. Take those 3 out and the effect is two-fold: 3 players who generally use the ball well are absent which means the cracks aren't papered over, and the poorer users of the ball in our team get more of it.

[Boyler_Room]

We lost by 6 goals in a flurry at the end of the game. He was the catalyst for our improved bursts, with precision passing and strong, hard running. When he went, the wheels fell off. That's why.

[danstar84]

Disillusioned Jimmy because the poor disposal, fumbles etc cannot be blamed on those missing players

Fair enough. I probably should have said "seems to be many surprised fans after last night's effort....why?". Our disposal has been generally poor for 3-4 years, yet people seem to be genuinely perplexed about our efforts in last night's match. The effectiveness of our disposal as a team is generally poor, save for a few stand-outs - Fletcher, Hird and McVeigh being 3 of those stand-outs. Take those 3 out and the effect is two-fold: 3 players who generally use the ball well are absent which means the cracks aren't papered over, and the poorer users of the ball in our team get more of it.

Hopefully these issues will slowly disappear as we seek to inject new players into the middle. If guys like Dyson, Hislop, Licha, Nash, Monfries can make their way into the midfield in the near future, we should see much improved delivery.

JJ and Pev, an last night Stanton continually turned the ball over. I think Stants disposal generally this year has been good, but the first two have had constant problems with it.

The fumbling last night was horrible, worst seen so far this year. Not sure of the reason why, maybe spending it before they had hold of it? But it needs to be addressed. Would also like to see us working on keeping the ball low. Too many players who lob the ball much too high in the air.

I don't think we are a bottom 4 side based on what we saw last night though. We have beaten quality opposition this year. You don't grab 8 wins by accident. Having said that, can't have these games such as last night that take us back to last year, and the reason we finished with 3 wins.

I guess a positive to take out of the game was that a number of younger guys stood up. I felt that Dyson, Nash, Monfries, Watson, Laycock and Slattery did fairly well. Rama and Lovett-Murray will be better for the run.

It was our senior players who let us down. Lloyd, JJ, MJ, Pev (disposal) should have done better. Mcphee also had a case of the fumbles. It seems that for everything great he does, he makes a silly mistake. I'd like to see him get back to simple football. First option every time.

[MH_Bomber]

In a word I think the collective effort was pathetic. There did not seem to be any desperation or urgency from a lot of the team. Players refusing to chase, man up and do the hard things was giving me the complete irates. As for the disposal well I think that most of last year it wasnt as bad !!!

Even given the injuries and suspensions I would still expect Essendon players to be ready to run through brick walls in such a significant game. Most seemed lazy and strangely disinterested.

On the Plus side:

Nash - continues to develop and MUST be kept in and on the ground for the majority of the game.

Laycock - His work out of the middle and some of his 2nd and 3rd efforts were great.

Rama - of the few players who seem to be capable of kicking and handballing effectively. With a bit more fitness under his belt he could be a ready made superstar to help our cause.

Watson - tried his guts out.

Dyson - did some good things but needs to lose his inhibitions.

Slattery - was pretty good on Johnson

On the minus side:

Lovett - is this guy turning into a lazy lairising bum or what ? He has to work harder than he is.

Lloyd - continously got into the wrong position up forward on the rare occasion the ball was delivered correctly. Stop playing for frees and do what you do best mark the ball and kick goals !!!

McPhee - whilst I admire his ability to get where the ball is he seems totally bewildered as to where to go next. I dont know if this a reflection on his poor decision making of late or the lack of options presenting themselves.

Some of this will seem harsh BUT given the way we have played this year the effort last night was poor.

[Essendon4eva]

We need to start looking at the entire season not single games.. Looking back at this season we have shown how could we can be, but also shown we have some improvment to get there. The improvment from last year is the ability to win close games. The next step is to be able to play our best on a consistant basis.

[j-mac31]

Jeepers, seems to be many disillusioned fans after last night's effort......why?

Essendon sans Hird, Fletcher and McVeigh = bottom 4 team.

Not so sure about McVeigh, but definitely spot on with Hird and Fletcher.

People used to say no Lloyd, no Essendon (was used a bit before the Geelong game) but these two are far more important.

Without Sir James next year is not looking good. At least Fletcher will still be there.