Bombertalk

So we are basically a third of the way through the season and we are 2 wins/5 losses

Our next five games

St KIlda
Richmond
Western Bulldogs
Sydney (SCG)
Geelong

Apart from Richmond, I dont really see us winning any of these games. Lets be honest, the other 4 teams could likely be the 4 preliminary finalists.

So we look like being 3 from 12 at the half way mark. Season over.

I honestly think its now time to come out publicly and say that no player is safe any more, reputations no longer matter and that only players who perform will get selected.

I am not concerned about losing, I am only concerned about the future and building game time into young legs. Sure, we dont want to be thumped week in and week out. So I am not advocating throwing the towel in. But we do have to look at players like Winderlich and Stanton who made stupid errors today and say listen, you guys need to go back to the seconds and really decide if AFL footy is your thing. Alternately, throw them into the trade pot and go for proven quality players.

Hille has to be rested and sent back to BB. Lets finally see what Laycock can do. Or get rid of him.

There is no point in pretending any more. We are just not that good. Efffort was great today but the talent, the cattle so to speak, is just not there.

Stanton has been more good than bad this season but winders has been relatively poor. Good against the Dawks and servicable today, except for that dumb kick in the forward 50.

But we need to see who can play and who cant. Laycock is one for sure. And Houli too. I dont know why this guy cant seem to get a game, he is the whipping boy.

DC2 wrote:Stanton has been more good than bad this season but winders has been relatively poor. Good against the Dawks and servicable today, except for that dumb kick in the forward 50.

But we need to see who can play and who cant. Laycock is one for sure. And Houli too. I dont know why this guy cant seem to get a game, he is the whipping boy.

Houli makes a lot of mistakes when any sort of pressure is applied and I reckon that is why he struggles to get a game.

Williams kicked 4 for bendigo today and should come under consideration for next week.

DC2 wrote:Stanton has been more good than bad this season but winders has been relatively poor. Good against the Dawks and servicable today, except for that dumb kick in the forward 50.

But we need to see who can play and who cant. Laycock is one for sure. And Houli too. I dont know why this guy cant seem to get a game, he is the whipping boy.

Houli is a poor man's Stanton - even worse disposal

Stants has been good, I agree, but his stats get him accross the line, week in, week out.

But I really would love to see a stat that shows oppositon goals scored from player error. I reckon Stants would be right up there. So, is he really as effective as we all think, just because he touches the ball a lot

I think that we are seriously heading in the right direction.
Since that insipid performance Anzac Day the guys are fair dinkum having a crack.
Anyone who can't see that needs their head read.
Definately had our chances today but our finishing off let us down.
Winderlich especially cost us today. Short chip rubbish.
Stanton - fair dinkum has a crack but gets shit listed all the time yet is a ball magnet.

I am realistic and I see huge improvement...
Gumby - gets better every week...

The run and carry is back and the tackling - fierce...

I know we lost but at least we are improving which was so badly needed...

Credit where Credit is due...

All I can say is Shame on those so called Essendon supporters that just talk crap...
Sack Knights Bla Bla Bla.especially MMM
This would appear to be a year of development with Lloydy,Lucas,Mcphee etc gone.
Playing the young Guys - Melksham good poise and delivery/Gumby - will be a Gun if stays fit/Jobe - heading into the Elite category/Howlett - has a fair dinkum crack/Hurley - feeing his way back in and potential to be a Superstar...

The future is bright and we will be a force to be reckoned with again soon...

swoodley wrote:

DC2 wrote:Stanton has been more good than bad this season but winders has been relatively poor. Good against the Dawks and servicable today, except for that dumb kick in the forward 50.

But we need to see who can play and who cant. Laycock is one for sure. And Houli too. I dont know why this guy cant seem to get a game, he is the whipping boy.

Houli makes a lot of mistakes when any sort of pressure is applied and I reckon that is why he struggles to get a game.

Williams kicked 4 for bendigo today and should come under consideration for next week.

This applies to every single player that takes the field for us. Why is he singled out?

stryper wrote:I think that we are seriously heading in the right direction.
Since that insipid performance Anzac Day the guys are fair dinkum having a crack.
Anyone who can't see that needs their head read.
Definately had our chances today but our finishing off let us down.
Winderlich especially cost us today. Short chip rubbish.
Stanton - fair dinkum has a crack but gets shit listed all the time yet is a ball magnet.

I am realistic and I see huge improvement...
Gumby - gets better every week...

The run and carry is back and the tackling - fierce...

I know we lost but at least we are improving which was so badly needed...

Credit where Credit is due...

All I can say is Shame on those so called Essendon supporters that just talk crap...
Sack Knights Bla Bla Bla.especially MMM
This would appear to be a year of development with Lloydy,Lucas,Mcphee etc gone.
Playing the young Guys - Melksham good poise and delivery/Gumby - will be a Gun if stays fit/Jobe - heading into the Elite category/Howlett - has a fair dinkum crack/Hurley - feeing his way back in and potential to be a Superstar...

The future is bright and we will be a force to be reckoned with again soon...

Thank You Stryper =D> Great post! Success deprived people some Essendon supporters are. Close to hitting the plot and fearing that they will never see another flag. We asked for today's effort between Rounds 4 & 5 and we get it in Round 6 & 7 and still not good enough. 3 points is better than 60 points. Give it time.

we should have beaten Port today, but didn't. Young team, made some questionable decisions.

Essendon will not make the 8 from 2-5. But hopefully they can finish the year strongly. If Knights does that then it will be a good start.

Gumbleton and Hurley look all class. v happy with our forward prospects.

If we were 3-4 - would that change our perception of where we are currently at right now.

If we had of got lucky against Geelong in Rnd 1 and won today, some posters on here would have us winning the premiership.

We tried through the media to shake off the 'still under development' tag for 2010.

I still see it as a learning season for 2011 and on.

BenDoolan wrote:

swoodley wrote:

DC2 wrote:Stanton has been more good than bad this season but winders has been relatively poor. Good against the Dawks and servicable today, except for that dumb kick in the forward 50.

But we need to see who can play and who cant. Laycock is one for sure. And Houli too. I dont know why this guy cant seem to get a game, he is the whipping boy.

Houli makes a lot of mistakes when any sort of pressure is applied and I reckon that is why he struggles to get a game.

Williams kicked 4 for bendigo today and should come under consideration for next week.

This applies to every single player that takes the field for us. Why is he singled out?

Because it has happened in virtually every game he has played.

swoodley wrote: Because it has happened in virtually every game he has played.

But again, this applies to every single player who takes the field....

BenDoolan wrote:

swoodley wrote: Because it has happened in virtually every game he has played.

But again, this applies to every single player who takes the field....

So why add to it? Shouldn't we be getting rid of this sort of rubbish than accepting it?

Rossoneri wrote:

BenDoolan wrote:

swoodley wrote: Because it has happened in virtually every game he has played.

But again, this applies to every single player who takes the field....

So why add to it? Shouldn't we be getting rid of this sort of rubbish than accepting it?

Errr....yeah. So why do other culprits escape the axe? The point I'm making is that Houli is being singled out despite others having the SAME problems. If others were dropped for the same reasons, then they will have to work harder in the 2nds to make it back. Currently, they are remaining in the team and showing no signs of improvement.

I have been a long advocator that if you do not play well in the 2's, you shouldn't be picked in the 1's.

Neagle is a classic example, he plays better in the 1's than the two's. This is not good enough, it is a case of players thinking, "f*** this, im better than this shit, I should be picked regardless of form".

At this stage, seeing as our season is over, there is no harm in giving Houli 6-8 games and seeing what he can do.

Frankly - season is over

Hurley should go under the knife and clean up his knee

Any injured player should be rested

And - the kids and "second-rankers" on our list should be played under the pressure of seniors (including the next 4 weeks) to firstly get games into them and secondly see if they are worth keeping.

Remember folks - we have to cut a minimum of 5 at season's end - and given the talent on the rookie list, the interest in a F/S and the potential of a reasonable transfer ... it would be unethical to cut from our senior list without giving these forgotten players a chance to show their worth.

Cheers - sti

little_ripper wrote:we should have beaten Port today, but didn't. Young team, made some questionable decisions.

The problem was that it wasn't our younger players making the bad decisions.

robrulz5 wrote:

little_ripper wrote:we should have beaten Port today, but didn't. Young team, made some questionable decisions.

The problem was that it wasn't our younger players making the bad decisions.

Unfortunately, this is the issue we've had for quite a while. Funny though, I have been hearing how our young and inexperienced team was the issue. Sorry, but that had nothing to do with it. In fact, I'd suggest it has had nothing to do with our last decade.

robrulz5 wrote:

little_ripper wrote:we should have beaten Port today, but didn't. Young team, made some questionable decisions.

The problem was that it wasn't our younger players making the bad decisions.

thats not such a bad problem if you consider when we are realistically challenging for a flag is still a few years away....in fact its a great sign for the club that so many of our youngsters are looking the goods so early in their career.

Richmond will beat us, they will be desperate to win against either the Hawks or us.
We're just going to have to get used to losing majority of our games for the next few years unfortunately.

bpdons wrote:Richmond will beat us, they will be desperate to win against either the Hawks or us.
We're just going to have to get used to losing majority of our games for the next few years unfortunately.

As opposed to our stellar success rate over the last 5 years