Bombertalk

Awesome win by the boys yesterday! It is a massive improvement in team balance from previous years and no matter where we end up on the ladder this year I am confident we will get more wins that last year.

Our backline and Scotty Lucus were the catlyst of our win, with our midfield again getting smashed and being littered with footskill errors from the same culprits as last year. Stanton, Bradley, Winderlich and most of all Watson were guilty of consistantly missing targets by foot when under no pressure at all, whilst thier opposing adelaide midfielders made hitting free targets in the midfield look easy.

Our midfielders did win plenty of ball in dispute though, but turn it over by foot more frequently than any side in the comp in my oppinion. I will point out though that Watson has what i believe to be the best handpass i have seen since Greg Williams, but that is hugely offset by one of the worst kicks I have seen since a drugged up Jonathan Hay.

Our backline however, were awesome! With Mal at full back Fletcher can read the play better than anyone and has more room to leave his man and attack the ball at half back. Between Fletch, Mal and the vastly improved Ryder, the consistant flow of supply to Adelaide forwards was rebounded again and again. Throw in McPhee and Johnno's solid performance and the performance down there was nothing less than astounding and gave us a win that really should probably not have been.

Not sure why Lloyd was played up the ground, he was pretty ineffective really, but it did pave the way for Lucus heroics, and if his last season hasn't already stamped him as an all time essendon great then im sure this one will. What a performance by the big man who with a reaping handpass to set up another Essendon goal, proved that old dogs can learn new tricks.

A very encouraging all round performance though, given that some of our new recruits could force thier way into the side and provide the precision footskills we so obviously lack. With a forward and backline functioning well, any improvement in the midfield could have us into the eight.

Considering a similar start last season, perspective is very important.
This year however the win was interstate, and that makes the win even more encouraging.
Caution might be better, but hey, lets just enjoy the win.
Perspective can happen next week!

Perspective is important, especially considering the outs for the crows.

But this is a game few would have pencilled in as a win. This is a valuable four points.

A win outside of Victoria is the most important game this club has played in 3 years!

Confidence is everthing in AFL football - 90% of the game is played above the head and this win sets us up nicely for freo at home this week.

A win this Sunday and who will deny we are a top 8 team?

Christmas carols!!!!!!

I don't think our midfield was smashed. They just about broke even. We had more clearances!

The best part about yesterday's win was that our boys held out a potential Adelaide comeback in that last quarter when they kicked the first two goals. (Well the Crows came back at our boys in each quarter)

Last year we may have hit the "panic" button and not been as sure of how to cope wth that.

But I agree, let's not book annual leave for grand final day just yet.

It's a top win whichever way you look at it. Our interstate record has been abysmal this decade, and this win is totally against the grain. Well done to everyone in the whole club to arradicate the nightmare from last year's match!

As for our skill on occasions.......did anyone notice the deplorable errors made by Adelaide? Na, just noticed our culprits eh! Shit happens every week in every game, and while the same culprits may offend, the oppostion have their own culprits as well.

And can we at least get Scott Lucas' name right for once.....I mean, he's been around since 1996, is a dual best & fairest winner, our leading goalkicker from last year, and is an elite player of the club. I think he deserves it.

This is a good post, surely there has to be the big let down soon lol.

Sol wrote:Awesome win by the boys yesterday! It is a massive improvement in team balance from previous years and no matter where we end up on the ladder this year I am confident we will get more wins that last year.

Our backline and Scotty Lucus were the catlyst of our win, with our midfield again getting smashed and being littered with footskill errors from the same culprits as last year. Stanton, Bradley, Winderlich and most of all Watson were guilty of consistantly missing targets by foot when under no pressure at all, whilst thier opposing adelaide midfielders made hitting free targets in the midfield look easy.

Our midfielders did win plenty of ball in dispute though, but turn it over by foot more frequently than any side in the comp in my oppinion. I will point out though that Watson has what i believe to be the best handpass i have seen since Greg Williams, but that is hugely offset by one of the worst kicks I have seen since a drugged up Jonathan Hay.

Our backline however, were awesome! With Mal at full back Fletcher can read the play better than anyone and has more room to leave his man and attack the ball at half back. Between Fletch, Mal and the vastly improved Ryder, the consistant flow of supply to Adelaide forwards was rebounded again and again. Throw in McPhee and Johnno's solid performance and the performance down there was nothing less than astounding and gave us a win that really should probably not have been.

Not sure why Lloyd was played up the ground, he was pretty ineffective really, but it did pave the way for Lucus heroics, and if his last season hasn't already stamped him as an all time essendon great then im sure this one will. What a performance by the big man who with a reaping handpass to set up another Essendon goal, proved that old dogs can learn new tricks.

A very encouraging all round performance though, given that some of our new recruits could force thier way into the side and provide the precision footskills we so obviously lack. With a forward and backline functioning well, any improvement in the midfield could have us into the eight.

spot on assessment.

How do we keep a win that happened yesterday in the future, or 'in prospective' ?

Typical Lawyer!

Anyway, while its good to keep things in perspective, it is a different scenario to last year. Last year it was mainly the older blokes who did the damage.

Also last year, we jumped out to a massive lead and then hung on. This year, we jumped them and kept extending the lead. In the final term when we were challenged, we stood up and kicked crucial goals.

The kids looked good against Adelaide which is also a good sight. While Adelaide were missing some decent players (hentschel, McGregor and Biglands), they more than likely wont be back this year, so every team is going to play a similar Adelaide team.

This was a road win, something that we struggle with.

Like I said elsewhere, if we lose to the scum or the poofs, then this good win has come undone.

Perspective can wait until Wednesday. It had been a full year since we won a game that mattered. I'm going to do the happy dance for a couple more days yet.

I have coffee with two blokes i work with every Monday morning, one supports Hawthorn, the other Melbourne. I sat down today, and the first thing I said was, "I hate hope, but after watching your teams on the weekend, I dont think thats something either of you have to worry about".

I was walking around the office holding my Essendon mug with pride today. I made sure that I grabbed about 30 cuppas throughout the day

hop wrote:
- 90% of the game is played above the head and this win sets us up nicely for freo at home this week.

I know what you meant, but it still read funny.

I threw perspective out the window on Sunday too. It's been too long since we had a win like that. It's been too long since the players looked happy. It's been too long since they looked like they were playing to win.

It's only one victory but I'm soaking it up baby.

The Man from Bomberland wrote:It's only one victory but I'm soaking it up baby.

I'm with you. It's amazing how good it feels to have won. Next, two in a row.

Here's a perspective; if we only beat:
Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Kangaroos, Brisbane, Richmond.
We are sitting 7/11 going into the break.

In the second half:

Collingwood, Hawthorn, Carlton, Richmond.

We have 11 wins.

A win this weekend puts us up to 12.

Oversimplistic and optimistic, but based on weekend performances I believe this is very achievable. A final crack for the Superstar, finals exeprience for the young'ns ANYTHING COULD happen.

Sismis wrote:Oversimplistic and optimistic, but based on weekend performances I believe this is very achievable. A final crack for the Superstar, finals exeprience for the young'ns ANYTHING COULD happen.

You? Never!

We have to make sure we beat the Scum, Filth, Poofs, ninths and Lions, just to consolidate this win.

Those games, we are more than 50-50, so we must win them.

Would 12 wins be enough. I wouldn't mind having a couple more for insurance.

robrulz5 wrote:Would 12 wins be enough. I wouldn't mind having a couple more for insurance.

12 wins may not be enough, and lets face we miught drop a couple that we should win.

But teams like Geelong and St Kilda could be vulnerable as well. Port I have no idea, they look to be in the same boat as us. Sydney and WC are class But we did pay ok against them both last year.

from a position last year where finals seemed years away, we are now in with a decent crack.