Review R2: The Good, Bad and Ugly vs. Essendon

[Rory Walkerfield]

I caught the second half after a long lunch. Some general thoughts.

Good:

Getting a win at the G ticked off early in the season, and a ten + goal one at that.

Our forward structure like last week looks other worldly compared to last season. It looks even better than when Rahilly was in charge. The forwards have space and are being honored with passes to advantage, and our accuracy at goals for two games looks genuinely elite.

We seemed to work the whole dimensions of the G to our advantage, and that's the first time I've seen that for a long, long time.

Rach's goal followed by Izak's back to back in the third quarter were a thing of beauty.

Bad:

Nothing bad enough to mention.

Ugly:

Umpires. Again. That's two weeks in a row the maggots have tried their best to f*ck us, and it's made no difference in two ten goal thrashings. Suffer in your jocks you cheats.

Bombers won the free kick count 21-17 despite getting demolished…

 

[King Elvis]

Neither Essendon nor St Kilda are as bad as we made them look.

I mean, they're really bad, but Richmond, WCE and North all look worse.

They're pretty bad.

 

[Mostyn]

They're pretty bad.

Yeah, they're pretty bad.

A few injuries seem to be really knocking some clubs around.

 

[1990crow]

Defence was shaky.

Keane was terrible. He's on form watch with Butts waiting in the wings.
Worrells disposal directly led to two goals. Needs to be better.

Otherwise our team looks like peak early 2000s Brisbane.

 

[beartoo]

Feel happier this week than last. 2 x 10 goal wins, but this one against a better team and away from home.

On SM-A256E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[huludicidal]

You're not watching the games if you can't see how often ROB is putting the ball into excellent spots for our midfield. Clearances were 38 to 39, and ROB had ten hitouts more than anyone else on the ground.

Derpy derp. What a laughable response.

I’ll say it again so you can take it in.

We played with 1 ruckman. They played with 2.

We lost the hitouts.

The 2 collective rucks had 7 clearances to ROBs 1.

Essendon won the centre clearances 23-15 which kinda suggests maybe their rucks were putting it in better spots than ROB.

ROB was not in the best 40 players out there.

 

[Golumless]

Nicks learning you don't need to run your best 22 into the ground each week if you are winning comfortably.

Nicks hasn't had a whole lot of opportunities to do otherwise in the last 6 years. This is a group that made it routine to do it the difficult way.

 

[1990crow]

Derpy derp. What a laughable response.

I’ll say it again so you can take it in.

We played with 1 ruckman. They played with 2.

We lost the hitouts.

The 2 collective rucks had 7 clearances to ROBs 1.

Essendon won the centre clearances 23-15 which kinda suggests maybe their rucks were putting it in better spots than ROB.

ROB was not in the best 40 players out there.

I think it's hard to argue with. We lost hitouts, lost centre clearances and he was awful around the ground too.

We need better in the ruck to take advantage of the midfield we have now built.

 

[Pea Nut]

And what do ya know, a forward line can function without a talentless spud running around in the forward 50 like a chicken with it's head cut off attempting to lay tackles on opposition defenders.

 

[Alwaysacrow]

Good; Finally winning at the MCG and a 10 goal thumping to boot.
Great; Being able to take off our best player at 3 quarter time to keep him fresh.
Awesome; Nick's backing in Curtin. He's getting better with every game.

 

[1990crow]

And what do ya know, a forward line can function without a talentless spud running around in the forward 50 like a chicken with it's head cut off attempting to lay tackles on opposition defenders.

Non statistical role was code for our list is shit, leave us alone.

 

[Alwaysacrow]

And what do ya know, a forward line can function without a talentless spud running around in the forward 50 like a chicken with it's head cut off attempting to lay tackles on opposition defenders.

Are you talking about Murphy or McSpudry? Lol.

 

[Punchy Bassett]

The worry: Dunderhead Nix over correcting cause we conceded 100 points

 

[CharlieCrow]

Loving the combination of Crouch and Soligo in the middle. This was very evident in the third quarter last week also.

 

[Pea Nut]

Are you talking about Murphy or McSpudry? Lol.

Both really.

 

[Danger in Texas]

Non statistical role was code for our list is shit, leave us alone.

I will say, weirdly enough, I thought his disposal was really good

But yeah the areas in which we actually need him to be good really lacked today (and has in many other matches, too)

 

[Pugsley]

The Very Good - Rankine's goal from the boundary line. Took my breath away.

I yelled have my babies

 

[King Elvis]

Derpy derp. What a laughable response.

I’ll say it again so you can take it in.

We played with 1 ruckman. They played with 2.

We lost the hitouts.

The 2 collective rucks had 7 clearances to ROBs 1.

Essendon won the centre clearances 23-15 which kinda suggests maybe their rucks were putting it in better spots than ROB.

ROB was not in the best 40 players out there.

I think an A Grade ruck is now the biggest weakness of this side.

Get through with ROB this year - trade or FA a quality ruck in the off season.

Flag window open.

 

[VictorianCrow85]

Time we stop using our KPDs to take kick ins is one obvious flaw in our game still. Why don't we give that strictly to players like Milera? Enough times now we've seen Keane squib a kick in.

 

[King Elvis]

Loving the combination of Crouch and Soligo in the middle. This was very evident in the third quarter last week also.

How much better does Crouch look without Laird?

He's much more effective now he's got quality ball users who can take advantage of his ability to get it and extract it.

 

[Eddie Murphy]

I think it’s fine for a defensive grunt midfielder like Peatling to be less involved in a game like today. I’ll be more keenly focusing on him when we’re up against the best mids in the comp as that’s when we’ll desperately need to be losing less clearances.

 

[Danger in Texas]

How much better does Crouch look without Laird?

He's much more effective now he's got quality ball users who can take advantage of his ability to get it and extract it.

95% of us knew this would be the case, especially last year after Laird lost a yard of athleticism

 

[FullyBigKPro]

Epic:

Breaking the mental shackles off and winning at the MCG and winning well.

This should really give the group some serious confidence now.

 

[Golumless]

Pretty much ticked every box for me, yes Essendon scored a bit heavily late but it's likely that we slackened off a bit defensively to try to run up a cricket score on them. When the game was hot, they were pretty toothless, and seeing it was at the MCG we have our statement win.

Good:

Dawson was a monster in the midfield. Has started this year as a man on a mission for us.
Soligo with 27 disposals, 2 goals, 5 clearances, 5 score launches, 9 score involvements with solid defensive numbers. Really starting to build a run that will cement himself into the top echelon of midfielders.
Speaking of players who are starting to build a run to cement themselves in the elite, Josh Rachele with 4 goals 2, 16 disposals and 15 pressure acts. 10 goal actions (goals + goal assists) in his first two games is some serious production.
Riley Thilthorpe is a bit more advanced with cementing himself as an elite forward, and doesn't miss a beat this week. 16 disposals, 3 goals 1, 3 goal assists and 8 score involvements is another big game. On track to be the best KPF in the league come round 11 at this rate.
Fogarty utterly embarrassed Zac Reid.
Rankine with the GOY contender. Not a whole lot more there this week and a good sub choice.
Keays put up a big game with 4 goals. Really pivotal early to put distance from Essendon.
I liked Worrell intercepting game.
Milera is getting closer to that 2023 form, with 5 score involvements and 3 score launches.
ANB is looking like such a smart pick up.
Thought Max and Murray were both quite solid in defense, especially offering a bit with intercepts.
Tex with the 10 score involvements. Such a weapon at third tall with that leg, even if he is having the occasional moment which indicate the cliff isn't too far away.
Structurally, we look really organized which was something we lost in 2024. Good to see the offseason wasn't wasted.


Curtin watch:

Played well, as any time you get a goal + a goal assist as a 7th forward, you've had a good day. Tackled/pressured well and won a few moments as well, which is important as these kind of games keep the wolves at bay for when Dan has a few quiet games - and he likely will owing to the positions.

Draper watch:

Did well, though not much to note here outside of brought energy and seems to have a good knack for accumulating the ball.

 

[Mutineer]

Looks about right for a change, probably 5 or 6 others could easily have got votes.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/news/afl-round-2-adelaide-v-essendon-all-the-news-fallout-and-analysis-on-crows-big-win-at-the-mcg/news-story/c0b3988c9ffce648d083d7baf3b7235f

SCOREBOARD​

ESSENDON 3.2 5.4 9.7 15.10 (161)

ADELAIDE 5.5 11.8 18.10 25.11 (161)

HATZOGLOU’S BEST

Dons: Merrett, Caldwell, Tsatas, Edwards, Kako.

Crows: Dawson, Keays, Crouch, Soligo, Worrell, Sholl, Neal-Bullen.

GOALS

Dons: Merrett 4, Edwards 3, Draper 3, Kako 2, Gresham, Martin, Caldwell.

Crows: Keays 4, Rachele 4, Fogarty 3, Thilthorpe 3, Rankine 2, Neal-Bullen 2, Soligo 2, Walker, Milera, Curtin, Sholl, Hinge.

INJURIES Dons: Nil. Crows: Nil.

Venue: 46,688 at the MCG

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

MAX HATZOGLOU’S VOTES

3 Dawson (ADL)

2 Merrett (ESS)

1 Keays (ADL)