Mental Strength and Season defining moments.

[swoodley]

IMHO worse loss since 1999 PF

I don't know what's gotten into you Filth but the above statement is crap of the highest order. That 1 point loss in '99 cost us a very realistic chance at winning a premiership whereas yesterday's loss was relatively meaningless in a year where we were always likely to go backwards.

Do you really consider that yesterday was worse than our effort on Anzac Day or our pathetic efforts in the Elimination Final last year (just to name a few)?

I can dig that you're on the angry pills at present but try and keep some perspective....please.

[robbie67]

IMHO worse loss since 1999 PF

It's really is hard to take the rest of your post seriously Filth, when you say that. The season was over long before yesterday, so I can recall about 40 losses of a worse nature than that one. We didnt have the talent to finish, and they did. They kicked straight, which is good football. we didnt, which was poor football. Even though the same blokes made the same soft mental errors that they always do, our effort was verry good, which can be judged by the other things you have mentioned in your post. Until we have replaced the likes of NLM, McVeigh, Welsh, Slattery etc on the list, it's always going to be the same. You will have to take comfort in the fact that at last we seem to have made some good draft decisions that will bear fruit in the future. If you really thought we were going to contend before yesterday, you are seriously kidding yourself.

[billyduckworth]

Wow, Filthy, you really did take some angry pills last night!

Anyway, in amongst there you do make two very good points:

(1) kick it long versus stuff around with handballs
It is SOOOO obvious to all of us watching the difference between these two styles. Anzac Day all handball = thrashing, Hawks game = mostly long kicking = win, Port half and half = narrow loss. I know it isn't quite as black and white as that, but it really is hard to explain why we are so inconsistent (and please don't anyone say it's bacuase we are young - I am sick to death of that excuse, plus see point 2 below)

(2) it is the "middle aged" group (Stanton, Hille, Winderlich, McVeigh, Welsh etc) who seem to let us down not so much the youngsters. I suppose this just goes back to the point many of us have made here many times - that Sheedy completely lost the plot in his last few years and therefore our (lack of) recruiting from that time still hurts us.

[Windy_Hill]

I only watched the last qtr on Telly and I have to admit that my reaction to the unfolding calamity was violent. Maybe not our worst loss since 1999 PF but there was something acutely painful about it that puts it right up there.

I think its due to all the things Filth is saying. Just as in 99, this is a game that we should never have lost yet we contrived to find ways to blow it.

And I agree, with it went the season. Although, looking at our draw, we were always going to struggle to win the required games, even with a decent squad

[robbie67]

I remember having a coffee with the loverly Koala before the season and we were both so excite about this year mainly talking about all the kids and how good they were

Bloody hell Filth, Carla is ALWAYS excited about the kids coming through, she always see the best in people, which is what makes her the lovely person she is, and the worst judge of talent imaginable.

[uptick]

I actually don't belive that our game plan is all that different to most other teams. Everyone tries to retain the ball until it can be given to a fellow team mate in the clear. Unfortunately, our basic ball handling/kicking skill, decision making, lack of making space, unwillingness to talk, sheppard etc means that we turn the ball over too often/fail to kick the score that total possessions, and other stats would suggest we should. We don't have the quality players at the moment, let alone standout inspirational stars to carry the team through rough patches in games. We handball under pressure/to players under pressure, not because we want to, but because they are often the only options available to the player. It truely is a mess, whether it's Knights fault, or the quality of the players at his disposal is , of coarse, the issue to be addressed. It is not all knights fault, in my opinion. However he is starting to talk about lack of A grsde material, which concerns me - is that what he told the board whe napplying for the job?. We are a long way from being competitve though, comfortably in bottom 4 , might only beat Richmond home, honestly.

[robbie67]

I actually don't belive that our game plan is all that different to most other teams. Everyone tries to retain the ball until it can be given to a fellow team mate in the clear. Unfortunately, our basic ball handling/kicking skill, decision making, lack of making space, unwillingness to talk, sheppard etc means that we turn the ball over too often/fail to kick the score that total possessions, and other stats would suggest we should. We don't have the quality players at the moment, let alone standout inspirational stars to carry the team through rough patches in games. We handball under pressure/to players under pressure, not because we want to, but because they are often the only options available to the player. It truely is a mess, whether it's Knights fault, or the quality of the players at his disposal is , of coarse, the issue to be addressed. It is not all knights fault, in my opinion. However he is starting to talk about lack of A grsde material, which concerns me - is that what he told the board whe napplying for the job?. We are a long way from being competitve though, comfortably in bottom 4 , might only beat Richmond home, honestly.

All of this.

[MH_Bomber]

I had put it down to the game plan but I also think the following has contributed heavily to the frequency of brain fades we are being subjected to as supporters.

1) Lovett, LLoyd, Lucas and McPhee were all lost in one year. Peverill, JJ, MJ, Rama all lost in the previous 2 years.

This is simply too much experience retired, being "encouraged" to retire or being moved on in a short space of time. Lovett has since f-up big time but was the decision to let him go a bit silly. These club leadership groups should not be determining who we keep on our list. Lovett being given the arse seems to be a case of shooting ourselves in the foot. I initially thought it was a good deal but Williams has given us nothing thus far. In retrospect Lloyd should have been retained this year to provide, if nothing else, on field leadership. I really feel that the was completely mishandled by the coach and the club.

2) The game plan, what is now being called euphemistically as "taking the game on", should be read as code for giving us Bomber supporters coronaries. Its high risk and is the antithesis of instinctive football. Why arent players taking shots from almost anywhere other than the boundary within the 50m arc. Professional footballers should be capable of kicking goals within 50m. Now the team has adopted this habit of trying to pin point some dinky high risk pass to "someone in a better position". Someone needs to stand up - be "selfish" - and take the responsibility for kicking goals. It used to be Lloyd and Lucas and now the team wants to run the goals in so they are converting from 1 metre out.

I can relate to Filthy's venom. But after yesterday I am getting resigned to the fact we are just not where we thought we were. We literally blew our chances of winning yesterday. We controlled more possession but just seemed incapable of making it count on the scoreboard because of some of the bad habits that have crept in.

Three positives - I reckon Gumbleton is going pretty well for 12 gamer. Young Melksham seems to have the right stuff. I just hope this awkward epidemic that afflicts our team is not transferred to him by osmosis over the next year. Ryder seems to be getting back to some of his better form.

Interesting to hear James Hird commentate yesterday. He came across like a frustrated coach in waiting at times. I think he is aghast at the poor skills and decision making.

[Rossoneri]

I actually don't belive that our game plan is all that different to most other teams. Everyone tries to retain the ball until it can be given to a fellow team mate in the clear. Unfortunately, our basic ball handling/kicking skill, decision making, lack of making space, unwillingness to talk, sheppard etc means that we turn the ball over too often/fail to kick the score that total possessions, and other stats would suggest we should. We don't have the quality players at the moment, let alone standout inspirational stars to carry the team through rough patches in games. We handball under pressure/to players under pressure, not because we want to, but because they are often the only options available to the player. It truely is a mess, whether it's Knights fault, or the quality of the players at his disposal is , of coarse, the issue to be addressed. It is not all knights fault, in my opinion. However he is starting to talk about lack of A grsde material, which concerns me - is that what he told the board whe napplying for the job?. We are a long way from being competitve though, comfortably in bottom 4 , might only beat Richmond home, honestly.

Bingo!
I think he over-rated the list, but in his defence, his drafting has been a hell of a lot better than Sheeds in the past 10 years.

[s'dreams]

I think he over-rated the list, but in his defence, his drafting has been a hell of a lot better than Sheeds in the past 10 years.

This may be true - but some of the draftees over the last 3 years are yet to play (or play much) in the seniors (Slattery, Still the main ones). Given some of these face delisting at the end of the year - it is time to test their mettle now!

Cheers - sti

[BenDoolan]

How can anyone compare losing narrowly to Port Adelaide (who are a top 8 team, while we are struggling in the bottom 4) to losing to a totally shit Carlton in a Preliminary Final in 1999 (when we finished on top and they finished 6th)?

A bit of perspective is needed FFS. Put up your ******* hand if you seriously expected us to beat Port yesterday. I know a lot were hoping, but put up your hand if you expected it.

[little_ripper]

2) The game plan, what is now being called euphemistically as "taking the game on", should be read as code for giving us Bomber supporters coronaries. Its high risk and is the antithesis of instinctive football. Why arent players taking shots from almost anywhere other than the boundary within the 50m arc. Professional footballers should be capable of kicking goals within 50m. Now the team has adopted this habit of trying to pin point some dinky high risk pass to "someone in a better position". Someone needs to stand up - be "selfish" - and take the responsibility for kicking goals.

Hurley and Gumbleton will do that, they are getting their mojo back.

Last week Lonergan kicked a ripper to start the game against the hawks. thats the sort of shit our mids can and should do.

[robrulz5]

Watson's mistake was very disappointing as if he had kicked it straight away we would have had a shot on goal. I wonder if anyone was talking to him and telling him he was going to get tackled?

Hille was very good last week but kept trying to play from behind at the boundary throw in's which resulted in two easy goals to Pearce.

The '99 Prelim is a game that still stings just now and most were heartbroken about it. Yesterday's game while it has evoked some anger will be forgotten.

[little_ripper]

I think saturdays game showed that with the right endeavour, the current essendon side can mix it with 2/3rds of the comp.

Port are no Geelong/Saints/Dogs etc, but they are a decent team, with quality experienced players.

2-5 is ugly but I still get the feeling the club is still going along in a reasonable direction.

Who knows if the bombers can cause an upset against the aints, all of a sudden it would be 3-5 with richmond to come.(followed by a tough month...dogs, sydney away, cats and hawthorn again.)

The finals mountain is still there for us to climb if we want it. and really to make finals and actually do something there, we need to be good enough to find wins against quality sides.

[rockhole]

A bit of perspective is needed FFS. Put up your ******* hand if you seriously expected us to beat Port yesterday. I know a lot were hoping, but put up your hand if you expected it.

If you try and take the emotion out of the loss and consider it in relationship to the above comment, it was not a bad effort to run a potential top 4 side to 3 points. I was less than confident but to get such a big sniff and then throw it away is gut wrenching.

[84859300]

Port in Melbourne are no Geelong/Saints/Dogs etc, but they are a decent team, with quality experienced players.

Fixed.

If this game was in SA, we would have lost by 10 goals, not 3 points.

[Sismis]

This is the happiest I have ever been losing by less than a goal. It was the oddest feeling after the game. After being on the edge of my seat, we didn't get over the line and after a second I relaxed and thought "Oh well they gave it a red hot go and that is all we can ask".

I think that is extremely important, what are we asking of this team? I'd like to direct people back to Saladin's excellent post of a couple of weeks ago. http://bombertalk4.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... in#p153282 We are in a similar development position to Richmond, North and Melbourne and yet for some reason we expect more out of this team. Last year we lost a lot, i daresay more than any other team in the comp and the only gains were Williams who has only fired one salvo.

We were unlucky, we were wasteful and we made mistakes it end up costing us a game. In close games it is experience and keeping your head that counts, Port did it better than us, because they had more experience than us. But really how much is four points going to matter to us this year? I think we are on track to win 8-10 with the toughest draw in the AFL. If we do that we have moved forward in development.

After ANZAC day i was in a pretty dark place, i felt we had gone backwards and there didn't seem to be a way forward. But the last 2 weeks they have gone out and given their all. We are tackling as well as any team in comp AND we are winning hardball. This is a massive improvment on past years, it is an area we have clearly worked on. Add that to our attacking game and I am starting to see where we are going. Knights has improved the team every year and clearly has a goal we are building towards. I am once again excited about the future of this team.

NLM, as mentioned in another thread this guy has really come on. His influence in the midfeild has been incredible. That period in the third quarter he took the game on and won. I cannot wait to see more of him in this role.

Gumby, not only a freakish mark but is showing the awareness around goal which separates the good forwards from the great. He just gets better every game.

Hooker, massive heart on this guy. I was blown away by his endurance last week ror someone his size and strength. He is pure KPP, not overly blessed in skills but the work ethic and determination to get the job done. Never stops going after the pill.

Zaharakis, showing more class every week. Needs to finish better but the way he presents and creates opportunities he will kick a lot of goals.

Hurley, still effective on one leg, this guy will be star.

McVeigh, an important player for us if he can get back in the game. Started to show his class again on the weekend.

Slattery, Ive watched this guy get battered pillar to post on this site. He does one of the toughest jobs in the team and gets no respect for it. Unfortunately we only notice it when he is gone like was in this game.

Wato, the captain who shows them how it is done. He is the rock we are building around and a strong foundation it will be.

People knock the gameplan, the more i see of it the more i like it. We are not going to become another zone clone team, we are creating something new. The same way the Hawks did to steal a flag. We need patience, tough for a club with such massive expectations, but the other road leads to punt road.

Time is all this group is lacking.

[Doctor Fish]

This is the happiest I have ever been losing by less than a goal. It was the oddest feeling after the game. After being on the edge of my seat, we didn't get over the line and after a second I relaxed and thought "Oh well they gave it a red hot go and that is all we can ask".

I think that is extremely important, what are we asking of this team? I'd like to direct people back to Saladin's excellent post of a couple of weeks ago. http://bombertalk4.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... in#p153282 We are in a similar development position to Richmond, North and Melbourne and yet for some reason we expect more out of this team. Last year we lost a lot, i daresay more than any other team in the comp and the only gains were Williams who has only fired one salvo.

We were unlucky, we were wasteful and we made mistakes it end up costing us a game. In close games it is experience and keeping your head that counts, Port did it better than us, because they had more experience than us. But really how much is four points going to matter to us this year? I think we are on track to win 8-10 with the toughest draw in the AFL. If we do that we have moved forward in development.

After ANZAC day i was in a pretty dark place, i felt we had gone backwards and there didn't seem to be a way forward. But the last 2 weeks they have gone out and given their all. We are tackling as well as any team in comp AND we are winning hardball. This is a massive improvment on past years, it is an area we have clearly worked on. Add that to our attacking game and I am starting to see where we are going. Knights has improved the team every year and clearly has a goal we are building towards. I am once again excited about the future of this team.

NLM, as mentioned in another thread this guy has really come on. His influence in the midfeild has been incredible. That period in the third quarter he took the game on and won. I cannot wait to see more of him in this role.

Gumby, not only a freakish mark but is showing the awareness around goal which separates the good forwards from the great. He just gets better every game.

Hooker, massive heart on this guy. I was blown away by his endurance last week ror someone his size and strength. He is pure KPP, not overly blessed in skills but the work ethic and determination to get the job done. Never stops going after the pill.

Zaharakis, showing more class every week. Needs to finish better but the way he presents and creates opportunities he will kick a lot of goals.

Hurley, still effective on one leg, this guy will be star.

McVeigh, an important player for us if he can get back in the game. Started to show his class again on the weekend.

Slattery, Ive watched this guy get battered pillar to post on this site. He does one of the toughest jobs in the team and gets no respect for it. Unfortunately we only notice it when he is gone like was in this game.

Wato, the captain who shows them how it is done. He is the rock we are building around and a strong foundation it will be.

People knock the gameplan, the more i see of it the more i like it. We are not going to become another zone clone team, we are creating something new. The same way the Hawks did to steal a flag. We need patience, tough for a club with such massive expectations, but the other road leads to punt road.

Time is all this group is lacking.

=D>

Nice one Sis.

...And now to the naysayers.

[little_ripper]

I'm never happy when i see the bombers go down by a goal.

i was bloody angry! still angry. damn bombers gave the game away on the weekend, and it was such an important match.

go on with it FFS.

Also our game plan is nothing new, its basically what geelong do(except they do it a lot better). high possession footy, plenty of movement by hand.

[j-mac31]

I think he over-rated the list, but in his defence, his drafting has been a hell of a lot better than Sheeds in the past 10 years.

Aside from not getting Barlow.