Farewell Champ and Thanks - Lloyd Retires

[s'dreams]

Interesting interviews with Robert Shaw (former EFC asst coach - who still has contact with Matty) and Alan Richardson early today on SEN.

Seems that Lloyd had mostly made his mind up by round 12 (Richardson) - the recent "delay" was due to Lloyd considering the requests within the club to play on (Shaw).

Seems that the main reason behind the decision was this new concept of "forward pressure" - while Lloyd was more than capable of making leads and slotting goals, should the opposition backs mark in the 50, the "new" style of forward has to sprint forward to fill a hole or to man up. Lloyd's body, given the massive injury to the hammy, was not capable of sprinting from the Goal square to the midfield and back again for 120 minutes per game, 18-22 games a year (think Riewolt being held up as the exemplar of this approach). Richardson pointed out that Lloydy was "stuffed" in the second half of many games this year from this intensity and found it harder as the year went on.

Seems that while the club was keen to see him continue - but Lloyd is a proud man who wanted to perform at an elite level ... and Matty didn't feel he could deliver that and so felt he would let the side down if he continued.

While a reasonable explanation, makes me worried about Neagle's ability to do the "modern" forward game plan.

Cheers - STI

[s'dreams]

Stupid Carlton supporter at work gloating about it all day didn't help either. Just reminded her about what a fine upstanding citizen there full forward was.

Bert - Given the tone in this forum when Kouta retired (recognition of a real champion) - I'd be impressing on her that it is a low and pathetic act to play partisan when a true champion of the game retires. It is not the time or place to gloat. Should this not work I'd recommend kneeing the co-worker in the Fevolas, pointing out the class of the coiteries (Eddelsteins), the the close association between characters featured in underbelly and her club and finally class of Anguin and the 1999 premiership team in the post premiership celebrations...

No - on reflection - stuff it. Lloydy will be remembered by the AFL community as an absolute champion and a legend (seriously potential AFL legend) of the game. In fact - as much as I hat to say it, he may have a greater long term cachet than Sir James. Let her prattle on and embarrass herself.

I understand that Collins at Etihad is seriously considering renaming the "Coventry" end as the "Lloyd" end (at least for EFC games). Given both Coventry and Lockett never played at docklands - I'd be pushing for a permanent name change.

Cheers - STI

[Windy_Hill]

Ok, so now I have had some time to think about Matty's retirement I would like to give my thoughts on his career

1) Essendon Gets Its Man - In many ways, we have Fremantle to thank for the assisting us in getting Matthew Lloyd to Essendon. This was by virtue of Essendon receiving a compensatory draft selection in the 1995 pre-season draft as a result of us giving up the 'superstars' that were Todd Ridley and Tony Delaney to Fremantle. The steal of the century and perhaps Sheedy's greatest draft/trading coup. We got a club great, they got the left overs!!

2) Early Years - I remember watching Essendon playing at Waverley in 1998 and Lloyd was just starting to emerge as a player to be reckoned with. The incident that sticks in my mind was Lloyd coming up on to the outer wing to collect the footy, evading a tackle, running along the boundary line and from outside 50m, bangs the ball from the wrong side for a left footer goalwards.....the ball had that amazing subtle slice that Lloydy could impart causing it to bend left and through the goals (whereas most other lefties would have hooked it to the right a la Peter Sumich). It was an extroadinary goal. I leant over to my mate and simply said " this boy will be a champion"

3) The Marking Technique - other than Jason Dunstall, I cannot think of a better one grab mark of a footy coming in at speed and at face level. Lloydy has a wonderful technique where he softens the impact of the footy by marking with nicely bent elbows - watch for yourself on any highlights reel and you will see what I mean. Soft hands but amazing grip.

4) The Demolition of Sydney - Round 3 1999 - 22 Kicks, 14 Marks, 13 Goals. Lloyd at his imperious best.

5) The Centuries - I saw him kick his 100th goal in both 2000 and 2001. In 2000 it was the icing on the cake during the dismantling of arch nemesis North Melbourne during the qualifying final at the MCG - If I am not terribly mistaken, I believe it was Longy who passed the ball? The following year it was again during the first final, this time a night game against Richmond (the night Dean Solomon tore Matthew Richardson a new one). These were great highlights during the very Golden Years of Hird, Lucas, Lloyd, Mercuri, Misiti and Fletcher.

6) 2000 - I went to see Geelong play Essendon at what was then Colonial Stadium with a mate of mine who is a mad Geelong fan. We were sitting behind the goals looking out at the Essendon Forward line. I remember clearly, the line-up was

HF Hird Lucas Caracella
FF Bewick Lloyd Mercuri

My Geelong mate looked at me and simply said - "would you look at that forward line - f***, we are stuffed"!!! He was right - we murdered them that night.

Lloyd was the spearhead that lead his team to the single best ever VFL/AFL Season

7) The Dons in Decline - Despite kicking 90 goals twice in subsequent seasons, it was clear that the Dons were in decline. The great 2000 team was breaking up and the atmoshphere of invincibility was gone. Despite this LLoyd maintained his superb output and continued to be the dominant forward in the AFL. Key to this was his incredible accuracy. At one stage in his career he was averaging better than 70% conversion on set shots. I still believe to this day he has been the most reliable shot at goal in the last 25 years

8 ) Captaincy - a much underated captain subject to much specualtion as to his effectiveness as a leader on the field due to being locked into the FF position. Rubbish!! Footballers lead by example and Lloyd's courage and deeds were significant inspiration to his team mates when they most needed it. Off the field, he was a towering presence in the change rooms and ensured that the riff raff accumulated during the Sheedy Years (Cupido, Zantuck, etc) would not be tolerated

9) The Hard Man - enough has been said about Lloyd's hardness. Perhaps at the cost of his own game, he muscled up and became an enforcer (rather than the agile fast moving forward of the late 90's). He earned the wonderful nickname the 'Velvet Sledgehammer' and the point is that whilst being as tough as nails, he was never malicious and absolutely never sniped. Lloydy dished it out pretty well in the clinches - but as a forward of his quality, had to endure years of rough physical attention from opposition defenders without ever shirking the issue.

I only hope that his career is not remembered for the incident against Hawthorn when he took out Sewell. Dont forget, we laud the likes of Jack Dyer, Ted Whitten, John Nicholls, Glen Archer for their courage and hard hits. Lloyd deserves to be recognised for his tough but always fair play.

10) Number 18 - This number was already revered at Essendon thanks to the glory endowed on it by the magnificent Paul Van Der Haar. There can be no doubt that from this day forward, the number 18 will always be the number worn by the club's most important forward.

Matthew Lloyd is a champion of Essendon, its greatest ever goal kicker who now sits comfortably in the pantheon of heroes at Windy Hill. He deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Coleman, Reynolds, Hutchinson, Hird, Watson, Madden and Fletcher

Hail Matthew Lloyd - thanks for the memories, thanks for making the last 15 years so enjoyable. With only Fletcher left, an incredible era is almost over. We should cherish these days and pay due respect to a true Footballing Great

[Jazz_84]

great post Windy!! there can't be enough of these posts over the off-season!

[Madden]

Without wanting to be negative I do think its bizarre that Knights wasn't sitting next to Lloyd at the press conference.

I cannot think of a player who has been the subject of a retirement press conference recently who has not had the coach sitting next to him. Can anyone name one?

I think Knights is doing a good job but rumours persist that he does not have a good relationship with some of the players. The decision for him not to sit next to Lloyd will only add credence to those rumours, rightly or wrongly. I'm not saying that the rumours are true, but its all about the perception.

At best the decision to not have Knights at the desk was misguided. At worst its indicative of some actual problems. Lets hope thats its the former.

[danstar84]

Without wanting to be negative I do think its bizarre that Knights wasn't sitting next to Lloyd at the press conference.

I cannot think of a player who has been the subject of a retirement press conference recently who has not had the coach sitting next to him. Can anyone name one?

I think Knights is doing a good job but rumours persist that he does not have a good relationship with some of the players. The decision for him not to sit next to Lloyd will only add credence to those rumours, rightly or wrongly. I'm not saying that the rumours are true, but its all about the perception.

At best the decision to not have Knights at the desk was misguided. At worst its indicative of some actual problems. Lets hope thats its the former.

I wouldn't read too much into it. PJ has basically been there from day one. He was better able to speak about Lloyds career, which he did during the press conference.

[Madden]

Without wanting to be negative I do think its bizarre that Knights wasn't sitting next to Lloyd at the press conference.

I cannot think of a player who has been the subject of a retirement press conference recently who has not had the coach sitting next to him. Can anyone name one?

I think Knights is doing a good job but rumours persist that he does not have a good relationship with some of the players. The decision for him not to sit next to Lloyd will only add credence to those rumours, rightly or wrongly. I'm not saying that the rumours are true, but its all about the perception.

At best the decision to not have Knights at the desk was misguided. At worst its indicative of some actual problems. Lets hope thats its the former.

I wouldn't read too much into it. PJ has basically been there from day one. He was better able to speak about Lloyds career, which he did during the press conference.

I agree - so have both of them sitting at the desk.

Surely they must have known that not having him sitting there would lead to speculation. And that worries me. Because if they knew that his omission would cause issues, then there must have been a pretty big F****** reason for him not sitting there.

[Ossie]

Well my #18 jumper from the 2000 premiership year will have to be retired.
Farewell Matty Lloyd, you were my favouritest player ever (ahead of Sir James, it has to be said! ) and I am sad to see you go.

[BenDoolan]

It's a shame he bows out with the sight of being booed off the MCG from feral Hawk supporters - and a rabid attack from Alastair Clarkson. Still, he came out after half time in that game determined to have an impact.

The decision is a correct one. His form has declined along with his passion for the game. It showed. At least he has come out and admitted as such, and is doing the right thing for himself and the club.

Windy has detailed a fine dossier of Lloyd's achievements as a champion player of our club (I don't agree on the captaincy part, but that is my opinion). For so long under Sheedy, I never thought I would ever see a centurian goalkicker at the EFC. Then this spectacular high flyer came along and hit the F50 like a hurricane. Great leap, great pair of hands, great kick for goal......great player. Thanks for the entertainment over so many games Lloydy - it was a joy to watch in full flight. There was that golden patch, that as a spectator, we just had that air of confidence when it came into your zone - and you always delivered. Great memories, and unlike our other goalkicking hero, we have them well captured on our tapes and DVD's.

Congratulations on a magnificent career Lloydy. You're a Bomber champ. Very sad the way it has ended IMO.

=D>


1995 - 5 games, 7 goals, 0 BM votes
1996 - 11 games, 18 goals, 3 BM votes
1997 - 20 games, 63 goals, 7 BM votes
1998 - 23 games, 70 goals, 5 BM votes
1999 - 22 games, 87 goals, 9 BM votes
2000 - 25 games, 109 goals, 14 BM votes
2001 - 21 games, 105 goals, 15 BM votes
2002- 16 games, 47 goals, 6 BM votes
2003 - 22 games, 93 goals, 14 BM votes
2004 - 24 games, 96 goals, 10 BM votes
2005 - 20 games, 59 goals, 6 BM votes
2006 - 3 games, 13 goals, 3 BM votes
2007 - 19 games, 62 goals, 0 BM votes
2008 - 21 games, 62 goals, 5 BM votes
2009 - 18 games, 35 goals, 3 BM votes

Totals: 270 games, 926 goals, 82 x 5 goal bags, 3 x 10 goal bags

Best goal performances: 13 v Sydney 1999 at MCG, 11 v Western Bulldogs 2003 at TD, 10 v West Coast 2001 at TD

I agree with Stag re Knights not being by his side. Regardless of any disagreement, the coach should have been there as sign of respect.

[ealesy]

Strange that such a champion of the club has one award/achievement missing from his honour roll...a Crichton Medal.

Must be a midfielder's award

[robrulz5]

I was hoping for one more year especially to see him play against Hawthorn.

What a champion Lloydy has been for our great club. The best forward the club has ever had and the 7th best goalkicker in VFL/AFL history, 3 Coleman medals and of course a vital part of the 2000 Premiership side. He should be remembered as an absolute star who tore opposition teams apart and was unstopable at his best. Before he was the official club captain he always seemed to play a blinder when Hird couldn't play, I remember in 2004 against Port Adelaide he knocked the stuffing out of Chad Cornes and kicked 7 goals as we beat the eventual Premiers.

From his first match winning performance in 1996 against Adelaide out at the then Optus Oval when he kicked 7, to the 13 goals against Sydney in '99 to the match winning performance against Melbourne last year when he took mark of the year and kicked 8 goals (2 from outside 50 in the last quarter to win us the game) he was always dangerous to any team. Even this year we saw 2 great performances, round 3 against Carlton and round 7 against Hawthorn.

[BenDoolan]

Thanks for the memories....

[dom_105]

It's a shame he bows out with the sight of being booed off the MCG from feral Hawk supporters - and a rabid attack from Alastair Clarkson. Still, he came out after half time in that game determined to have an impact.

So be it. His captaincy will be defined by that one act that got us into the finals.

[andrewb]

I left it a day but I'm still shitty with this decision.

I've never seen anyone carry captaincy as such a heavy burden on the field. Why couldn't he have handed the captaincy over and played one more season without the worries of the world on his shoulders? He's been playing in a losing team for 5 years... surely the prospect of playing in a winning team again would be more than enough motivation.

He's only taking up a veterans list spot FFS... if he needs to retire at R11 then so be it but now who's going to be the senior player in the forward line? Monfries?????? Skipworth??????

Not happy. Doesn't make sense.

[Rover 7]

I left it a day but I'm still shitty with this decision.

I've never seen anyone carry captaincy as such a heavy burden on the field. Why couldn't he have handed the captaincy over and played one more season without the worries of the world on his shoulders? He's been playing in a losing team for 5 years... surely the prospect of playing in a winning team again would be more than enough motivation.

He's only taking up a veterans list spot FFS... if he needs to retire at R11 then so be it but now who's going to be the senior player in the forward line? Monfries?????? Skipworth??????

Not happy. Doesn't make sense.

Not happy either.Am among those who believe Knights has been a major issue regardless of what Lloyd said.

Lloyd still had plenty to give used the right way.

[The Man from Bomberland]

f*** i'm getting all nostalgic looking at those photos. I am going to miss the shit out of Lloyd. Especially the sight of him hurling his body into packs and the brilliant diving chest marks. And the grass...

Let it be known - he really is jizzworthy

[ealesy]

Take it for what this is worth by Mark Robinson reported that Lloyd requested to do the presser with Peter Jackson, not Matthew Knights.

I think there was definitely some friction between the two, at least in the last 4-6 weeks. Hopefully it is not indicative of a widespread issue between coach and playing group.

[gringo]

I'm actually now beginning to get extremely annoyed that Lloyd was not told by Knights he could play FF next year (depending on performance). I didn't realise he kicked 62 goals and 16 behinds in 2008. That's just ridiculous for a bloke playing in a junk team and spending considerable amounts of time up the ground.

Dunstall and those blokes all played on until they were 34 or so. Lloyd definately had another good season in him.

What a complete disgrace it is.

It's a credit to Lloyd that he's gone quitely and with dignity and without any public ill-will towards Essendon. He had every right to throw his weight around but has chosen not too. What a ripping bloke he is. Good luck in the future.

[Windy_Hill]

Look, if Lloyd and Knights were at loggerheads then its absolutley fine that Knights didnt sit with Lloyd at his press conference. In fact, it was also Pter Jacksons last day at the club so maybe it was simply a case of lloyd and Jackson (who are firm friends from all reports) going out together

[Jazz_84]

I'm actually now beginning to get extremely annoyed that Lloyd was not told by Knights he could play FF next year (depending on performance). I didn't realise he kicked 62 goals and 16 behinds in 2008. That's just ridiculous for a bloke playing in a junk team and spending considerable amounts of time up the ground.

Dunstall and those blokes all played on until they were 34 or so. Lloyd definately had another good season in him.

What a complete disgrace it is.

It's a credit to Lloyd that he's gone quitely and with dignity and without any public ill-will towards Essendon. He had every right to throw his weight around but has chosen not too. What a ripping bloke he is. Good luck in the future.

THIS!