as a bit of an exercise, you're Brad Scott and Rosa/O'Brien ask you who can you see that could deliver this club a premiership in 3 years time.
i wonder how many names go up.
Coach Men's Senior Coach: Brad Scott
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i wonder how many names go up.
ant555
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And I was saying you can be wrong but you still have to compare apples with apples which is why I said we would be more like Richmond in their build up if we take another step or Melbourne. Sides that were coming off years of average and not recent final wins .
GWS are irrelevant to us even if everyone tipped them to finish at the bottom .
It is like Sheedy mentioning the 93 side . Not relevant.
The back 6 is not team defence.
Team defence is the shifting of functioning zones over the length of the ground to slow the ball getting to the back 6.
We have had very strong defences over the last 15 years. Fletcher, Hurley, Hooker, Carlisle, Saad (who destroyed all the best small forwards in his time with us), McKenna, Redman, Ridley, McGrath in 17 (when he was amazing). We've lacked a big guy that could run with Buddy but that's about it.
The back 6 has hardly ever been a problem.
Agree, Most of our issues are keeping the ball in our fwd half. That is where the rebound happens.
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For me the biggest issue is Jake Stringer.
They keep trying to play him as a forward but he’s too small to be a key forward. Too slow to be a pressure forward and a worse 3rd tall than Langford.
Carlton basically started their run last year when they dropped 1 tall no pressure forward for a smaller player capable of pressure.
Essendon had one of the best attacks in the AFL in 2021 with a lot of the same pieces on the list in the mid/back half.
Front half was Wright, Hooker, Jones, Perkins, Smith, AMT
Wright and Perkins are still there. Langford is much better than Jones. Hooker was a warm body. So the main difference is AMT/Smith at SF. If Gresham can fill one of those slots it will go a long way towards being a good team
They keep trying to play him as a forward but he’s too small to be a key forward. Too slow to be a pressure forward and a worse 3rd tall than Langford.
Carlton basically started their run last year when they dropped 1 tall no pressure forward for a smaller player capable of pressure.
Essendon had one of the best attacks in the AFL in 2021 with a lot of the same pieces on the list in the mid/back half.
Front half was Wright, Hooker, Jones, Perkins, Smith, AMT
Wright and Perkins are still there. Langford is much better than Jones. Hooker was a warm body. So the main difference is AMT/Smith at SF. If Gresham can fill one of those slots it will go a long way towards being a good team
Don't discount the impact tippa had
He was quick, a supreme tackler, had immense footy IQ and is about the best small forward we've ever had..
You're looking for a combination of Kozi's physical presence and Rachele's goal sense there.
the difference in '21 is we had a blinder year from stringer in the middle as a bash and crash bull mid. basically the thing we've been lacking compared to the best in the comp. But i wouldn't hold your breathe waiting to see it again.
that's the difference between us playing finals and not. If Jake could do it again. i'd be confident we can go top 5. We were close last year before things fell away. He'd flip at least 4 games last year (swans, port x2 and anzac day) if he put in '21 performances, which puts us top 4-5.
At 30 in a little over a month, not sure we can expect that from him again. Suspect one of Perkins/Caddy eventually overtake him
Happyskeret
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Tippa was a great set shot too and goal kicker all round not including the ones he set up. I don’t remember him kicking to many behinds.
Had him up there with Langford as our best set shot and Merrett as our best field kick
Was an underrated player all round because his flashy stuff was so good.
I'd have him up there with Zach as the best Dons player since Hird/Lloyd.
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Yep been saying this for so long. I’d rather build a list that can have sustained top 4 finishes like Brisbane than sugar hits of winning an Elimination final, but the list ceiling is only top 6.
it doesn't bother me the finals stat.
i'd a) prefer to see us play a decent, consistent season over sneaking in and winning one final, and b) would want to see that as a springboard for the future vs. a false dawn.
that '17 final left a sour taste in my mouth. too many seemed a little too happy to have just made a final after the suspension returns.
and felt like it was a "job done" attitude. What's happened since has been far more deflating than '13-'16 for me.
2 things spring to mind;
-Richmond held the finals drought record prior to us and went 3/4 flags from '17-20. And probably should have 4-peated.
-I can only think of one EF winner that has jagged a flag in 20+ years, and it was a Dogs team that couldn't back it up.
You need to be performing at a top 4 level in the season proper to win a flag. We need to get to that.
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Wow I love Tippa but that is a wild overstatement. Not sure he'd even make the top 10-20 best Essendon players since Hird/Lloyd
Nicholas61
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I like a fair bit about Scott like the research put in when the tall guys got back problems, getting in specialists to fix kicking issues, etc. I get the feeling there is an increase in professionalism with him but the big thing I am looking for and haven't seen yet is what you mention here - I want to see the opposition strangled for space.
Will also help big time when Jones & 2MP can actually take a contested mark.
I've been asked about managing the list. I would have paid Stringers contract to get rid of him, for a start.
Horrible balance player, for the reasons you've mentioned, and not a professional. Does have a game that could heavily influence September if the rest of the team can get close enough (but it can't and won't).
He has no place in a rebuilding side.
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Plenty on our list that fit that category, we just brought 1 in to play 1st ruck.
He's probably the best shot at goal we've had since Lloyd.
Hence when I said,
"Yes I know you meant defence across the board (aka team defence) but"
And in my opinion you've gotta get your back six in order first. You claim we've had some good backlines in the past, and that's true, but they were not backlines built to win premierships (as evidenced by how they ultimately performed in those times). Nor did they have the potential to be when we look at the mean age they were hitting/being less aligned on their prime (Fletch? Really?).
Those were duct tape backlines, but also during the saga/coming out of the saga.
Today's back six seems to be the most settled, the closest in mean age (and also the most in approaching prime age compared to other parts of the ground) and the most experienced part of the ground without being too old.
You have to have that part right before you can implement team defence with a straight face. It must be able to absorb the barrage of attacks while the team learns it. When oppo sides hit you on the turn over during those teething periods you need a strong backline to repel that, and get it the other way. I personally believe defence is the most important area of the ground to win you a flag. We're still a young side though with a recent recruit so it needs to gel, but it seems to have the most potential and it's heartening.
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P Money
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I reckon Jake Stringer is a bit unfairly maligned in respect to his defensive and pressure game, mostly because the clickbait journos and commentators love a negative Stringer narrative and give little heed to the facts that don't suit that narrative. Stringer led Essendon for highest average forward 50 tackles last year (1.47 per game, next closest being Will Snelling with 1.2). He was also second to Snelling for average tackles across the whole ground per game outside of the main mids (Setterfield, Parish, Merrett, Shiel & Caldwell) averaging 3 per game. You can argue that he's not the right player to have in a rebuilding team but you really can't say he doesn't provide forward 50 pressure, he's actually potentially the player that provides the best pressure/defence in our fwd half.
P Money
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Essendon has wasted a fair few careers over the past 20 years but Walla is the one that stings the most. Watching a fully fit, engaged and properly developed Tipungwuti run out onto the G for the Bombers in a Grand Final would have been a sight to behold and sent fear through the veins of the opposition. The fact that he reached the heights he did considering his background and where he came from through a period where we now know the Bombers had little investment in proper development, was more focused on making money than winning games of football and was basically an all-round basket case just gives you a hint at how good and impactful he could have been playing for a proper outfit. I shudder to even type it but can you imagine the player he would have been if he was drafted by Collingwood? He'd probably leave the game with multiple AAs and a Norm Smith medal (and probably 3 or 4 years longer in the game than he ended up having with us).
Yeah but on the other hand you could say Tippa wouldn't have had the chance he had if it weren't for the saga and wouldn't have had that many games to use for improvement if it weren't for the majority of the list being suspended. So ultimately for us it was a shining light in that we unearthed a talent at a dark time and I would suspect it is something Tippa looks back on fondly in the sense that it was the environment that gave him the opportunity to play and show his stuff over a lengthy period of time. Perspectives.
I actually like to think we helped Tippa to achieve something pretty special all things considered.
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AMT was actually pretty well developed from the club a fair way out, I think Dodoro had quite a bit to do with him pre draft, and got him involved in the VFL program.
He had incredible natural instincts for goal, but talked about how he struggled with the 'system' of modern AFL teams.
He's probably the most talented small forward we've had at the club, just unfortunately didn't have a long enough career. He was certainly one of the brightest parts about being an Essendon supporter in the years he played for us.
He might have got more notoriety playing at a more successful club, but I'm not sure the player himself would have turned out a whole lot different. The covid isolation seemed to hit him really hard and he never quite got back from that.
for a late-ish starter, he strung a good number of games together.
Casualty of the absolute basket case we became.
McKenna, Tippa and Saad would probably all still be playing for us today if not for whatever it is that went on.
likely we still have Daniher too.
Imagine telling a 4 time, current reigning premiership coach that he doesn't have broad coaching experience
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