Autopsy Round 1, 2023: Bombers beat the Hawks

[kirbatron]

Brad Scott in 5 months has managed to turn around a previously pretty loose Essendon side by implementing a team defence which is pro-active and very hard to get through.

Sam has chosen not to - he has made that clear.

That was the main difference tactically, and hopefully he acknowledges that. He hasn’t coached our player on how to defend on turnover.

good post.

we can't defend transition at the moment & scott clearly got them switching aggressively all game

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Koschitzke is effectively useless as a key forward. If he keeps this form up he will be playing in the VFL soon.

* next week

 

[Geead]

For 2 years we've been bombing the ball inside 50 to no one, need to be better....

 

[VandoHawk]

It's only one game i know, but I'm not liking the dual ruck setup.
They'll persist with it i know, but come end of the season i hope one of Meek / Reeves has emerged as the preferred option.

Was good to see Worpel back. That was a big watch over the off-season, so really pleased with that.

The cupboard is bare I50. We'll probably see more of Dimma fwd, but we need some tall timber to provide an avenue to goal.
Poor timing of the Jeka hammy.

Forward pressure is a massive issue for our side. We’re both unable to contest in the air, and lack speed when the ball hits the ground. Playing 2 lumbering rucks that aren’t that good aerially exacerbates this issue.

Long-term I think Ramsden may be a solution as a highly mobile chop out. But I don’t know if that happens this season.

 

[theiaofseed]

You can see the midfield pieces are there, they just need time to play together and mature. Indidvidually they all had good games to some degree they just didn't fire all at once. Ward, Day, Newcombe, Mackenzie, Worpel and Macdonald will be a handy midfield.
Backline under siege with not enough pressure through the centre, hard to judge them too harshly but so many times a loose Essendon player got out the back, was pretty disappointing to see.
Need to find a forward target. Just had no target and they waltzed the ball out with easy far too many times.

 

[phreeze77]

Uncompetitive after qtr time.

 

[apiro]

Wow! Puts our season in perspective.

 

[Geead]

Forward pressure is a massive issue for our side. We’re both unable to contest in the air, and lack speed when the ball hits the ground. Playing 2 lumbering rucks that aren’t that good aerially exacerbates this issue.

Long-term I think Ramsden may be a solution as a highly mobile chop out. But I don’t know if that happens this season.

It'd be good to see Brocky back in to add some of this forward pressure

 

[MinerBoy]

For 2 years we've been bombing the ball inside 50 to no one, need to be better....

2 years?!


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[TylerDurden]

Kosi isn't up to it.
Play a small fwd line and get Butler and Brocky in the side. Just get blokes who can compete and score.

Commentary saying it was the lowest pressure score of all time. That shows lack of effort.

Once it got hard late in the 2nd, we turned the toes up.

There were some positives:

• Worpels best game in a long time
• Ward is a player
• Cam will be a gun.

Bring Scrim and DGB in this week too. Keep shuffling the decks til we get a team that will put in the proper effort required.

Thank Christ Bud is out next week.

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Wow! Puts our season in perspective.

It's alright, only Sydney at the SCG next week to help us straighten up.

 

[Baz_hawk]

Felt like we had 18 individuals out there today but no team. We are a young side so this isn't too surprising but that disconnect when the pressure came grew wider and wider.

We'll take a lot out of this game, but our forward line is gonna be a problem for the next month without a key forward that imposes themselves. Kosi being subbed out (unless he's injured) says a lot about how the coaches saw his game.

 

[Glenhope]

We're tipped for the spoon this year. That might turn out to be a bit optimistic.

 

[Steven Tyler]

Don't sugar coat it, that was weak as piss

 

[OnTheRocks]

Tough watch but not unexpected . Club has been very clear with the direction and plan ahead .

If you cannot stomach games like today while we get 40-50 games into the guys , might be best to log off and join the bandwagon then .

You are delusional if you expect that against a likely bottom 8 side and to put up with it for the next 2 seasons.

 

[ImCheatingToWin]

 

[Judd2Sewell]

It's disappointing and concerning that Scott had Essendon looks like a much more organised side, with an actual gameplan, in the space of a few months - whilst we looked like we had no plan at all.

 

[peetoo]

First quarter was like the eighties. Couldn’t stay as open as that.

Then the half time band played the worst eighties songs ever, and the hawks followed suit.

Whatever the game plan, Meek and Reeves don’t suit. Ramma or Lynch? SCG normally only needs one KPF

 

[madhawksfan]

Good:
Frenchie, Worpel, Ward and Nash (in limited minutes)

Okay:
Day, Newk, CMac, Bruest, Sicily, Blanck, Amon

Transition from offence to defence was putrid. Allowing a team as shit as Essendon to cut us apart like that is worrying.

Surely Scrim, Morrison and DGB in with Nash elevated from sub.

 

[The hands of stone]

No excuses for such a dire display given they had more outs (2MP and Stringer) and underdone (Caldwell, Parish, Tippa) then us. Having no KPF (Lewis) did not help us as all, but it's easily offset by their outs. The experience level and the age gap was minimal too.

Essendon looked like a much more organised side. Their setup outpointed us at every turn, and their forwards took the piss out of whatever our defensivd structure was. Though I say that loosely, as I did not see any structure at all.

Everyone who tried to downplay the losses of Mitchell, JOM, Gunston and Big Boy will hopefully be reassessing their opinions. They will prove to be huge outs for us this season. Though we did it for the long-term plan, which I agree with, I just don't agree that we won't feel their losses over the course of the season.

Positives:

• Worpel played well, it looks like he's back
• Mackenzie looks like a class act
• Ward was busy and worked tirelessly
• Nash tried hard once he came on
• MacDonald got busier as the game went on

Negatives:

• Mitchell was outcoached by Scott after QT
• Bramble, Frost and CJ as defenders, they were just terrible
• Kosi. Enough said
• terrible decision making throughout the whole game
• lack of effort and a lack of cohesion
• our defensive structure was laughably bad
• huge issue with a lack of a genuine KPF target. Kosi and Greene aren't anywhere near good enough to lead the line for us

Somewhere inbetween:

• Sicily played well, but was visibly angry, demonstrative and gave-up a few times
• Amon and Newcombe were OK
• Day did some nice things, his movement in tight spaces and when under pressure in particular. But he absolutely butchered the ball all game

Dont get sucked into the average age and games played stat .
Their ruck and midfield core have had 30-40 games together and it showed .
We are literally throwing kids in there with a view to it working longterm .

 

[lethalselbow]

It sucks that Chad and Mitchell Lewis

2

Mitchell Lewis

Age

26

Ht

199cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.5

2star

K

5.9

2star

HB

3.6

3star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.3

3star

G

1.2

4star

D

4.3

1star

K

2.8

1star

HB

1.5

1star

M

0.8

1star

T

0.3

1star

G

0.3

3star

D

8.6

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.8

4star

G

0.6

3star

are both guns in our forward line, but both injury prone. Forward line needs a lot of work.

Positive was Hardwick forward looked good. Bruest always good.

 

[HawthornHawk]

Our forward pressure was barely VFL standard. Essendon were effectively able to take their kick ins from our forward 50 metre arc, they just walked it out every time. Might be good at some stage this season to witness what Sam has in mind for our team defensive structure going forward.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

You are delusional if you expect that against a likely bottom 8 side and to put up with it for the next 2 seasons.

It's going to take a few years to turn this around. Two years is optimistic IMO.

 

[Mrzohs]

Positives.
Frenchie-very impressive debut should get the Rising star round 1. pick of the draft.
Worpel-didn't stop trying all day.
Ward -a solid effort run and carry.

Best-
Sic,Worpel,Frenchie,Amon,Ward,
In the Gun-
Two Rucks, Kosi,Frost,Bramble.
Changes-
I think Dgb and Jeka need to play in the seniors when fit. I would like to see one ruck. Bring in Butler / Brockman there was no fwd pressure! Play Moore on the wing and possibly bring in Scrimshaw high half forward another marking option while Jeka is injured.

 

[PT Bar None]

"No longer possible to interfere in the marking contest against the Hawks." I must have missed the announcement of that rule change.

Positives

• Mackenzie. Got to get the ball into this kids hands more. When he's involved, things happen
• Good to see Worps back being impactful
• Day with conspicuous midfield involvement.
• CJ's run caused problems
• Ferg, Chad and Punky all tried hard to create with little opportunity.
• Avoided a 10 goal loss

If past season's are anything to go by, that will probably be *'s best performance for the year. There was so much downhill skiing going on in the second half, I kinda expected Che Cockatoo-Collins

Che Cockatoo-collins

Age

49

Ht

181cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.1

3star

K

8.8

3star

HB

4.3

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

1.2

3star

G

1.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

16.0

4star

K

12.8

5star

HB

3.2

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.8

5star

G

2.0

5star

to jump the fence and start running down the wing!

 

[Denver Day Lewis]

Commentary saying it was the lowest pressure score of all time. That shows lack of effort.

Once it got hard late in the 2nd, we turned the toes up.

I used to laugh at sides like the Scum who run one way, and never bothered to defend. (That applies to both structure and effort.)

I guess the joke's on me.