Autopsy After a tight😶 half of football we steamroll Essendon by 39

[Ticky009]

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

f


The pitchers arms are ****ed but yeah not gruelling but fan wise there is a saturation point.

This season has felt bloody long for us , maybe because early good

Sorry for OT i dont follow international sports outside of Tennis and Boxing.

I imagine a pitcher career is quite short?

 

[The Mares Leg]

Why would Corey go to Melbourne when he could literally go into that Eagles side and play the Gulden wing/on ball role

I was more referencing that Melbourne will be actively hunting fresh blood over the off season.

I think Warner would appeal, as would McLean.

I’m not mind-reading what the player might do - just pointing out Melbourne will be looking at players like Cor Warner who would be seeking more opportunity and/or more money.

 

[caesar88]

Two questions...

1. When did Melican become the strong, stable, steadying presence in our back-line and McCartin & Sir Dane the two I have to watch through my fingers because they look so uncertain? This is not to say they've been poor, but... I trust Melican more at present.

2. When did Rowbottom just... forget how to tackle? He was just getting swatted off by Bombers players left, right and centre. I feel like this has been the case for weeks now unless my eyes are playing tricks on me? It's very bizarre.

 

[RedBloodBlackSwan]

You hear Longmire comment when asked about resting Grundy that they basically leave it up to him because he knows his body so well. I’m sure it’s not solely up to him but you’d have to think that given we’ll have likely secured a top two spot by the end of the weekend, the coaches can say to him enough is enough and you need a rest before finals.

I guess there’s a chance that whatever he’s carrying won’t be helped much by resting and instead moving around is best for him? But feels like a rest would do him good considering just how frail he looked last night. Give McAndrew a proper test with a full game against Riley O’Brien next week for experience.

I was going to say the same thing. No player heading into finals tels the coach: ‘you know what, give my understudy a go and see how they go’.

I think there is value in resting players who are not at the best (eg. Grundy, Adams), and giving others a go. It will give them a rest but also bring back hunger to do really well when they return - especially if the backups perform well. And if the backups explode with an unbelievable performance, well then you have a delicious selection quandary, which is also a good thing.

 

[Maddo11]

Surprised Craig Bird didn't make this, that team is poo considering they had the corpse of Chapman and Cooney for example.

View attachment 2081917

Chapman was alright at Essendon though wasn't he?

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Two questions...

1. When did Melican become the strong, stable, steadying presence in our back-line and McCartin & Sir Dane the two I have to watch through my fingers because they look so uncertain? This is not to say they've been poor, but... I trust Melican more at present.

2. When did Rowbottom just... forget how to tackle? He was just getting swatted off by Bombers players left, right and centre. I feel like this has been the case for weeks now unless my eyes are playing tricks on me? It's very bizarre.

2. Would be when he fractured his facial bone so i imagine he is being wary of big hit or shoulder to that same area?

 

[MarshallG]

Kudos to Parker and some (media) unsungs Rowie and Hayward.

I love being able to read the "Marvel in the Red Seats" halfway through the last quarter.

 

[Punts]

Anybody worried about our contested ball , especially against the dons

Coming into finals and we still not there yet. Hopefully building

It will get exposed n finals imo

 

[caesar88]

2. Would be when he fractured his facial bone so i imagine he is being wary of big hit or shoulder to that same area?

I feel like it's been missing since before then though?

 

[Kbroome]

Anybody worried about our contested ball , especially against the dons

Coming into finals and we still not there yet. Hopefully building

It will get exposed n finals imo

Not really we just got smoked in it in the first quarter the rest of the game was exactly even and we don't need to be a positive contested ball winning side to win games. Just need to be -5 or closer

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Anybody worried about our contested ball , especially against the dons

Coming into finals and we still not there yet. Hopefully building

It will get exposed n finals imo

Thats sorta been a weakness post JPK era its more noticeable now that Grundy has dropped off that area as well.

No real solution just gotta be up more at the contest

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

I feel like it's been missing since before then though?

Nah was a tackling machine before that but i will check the stats to be sure

 

[the hypnotoad]

That was definitely our best game since the GWS win nearly two months ago (sigh...) but there are still red flags everywhere.

Horse seemingly has no answers for our slow starts, which is a massive concern as you have to wonder where that change is going to come from. We still look lost whenever our corridor game plan gets shut down. And a lot of our players look like shells of their best selves from earlier in the year. So I'm not yet convinced the coaches and conditioning staff haven't bungled this season.

On a more positive note...

It really did feel like a win built on our quote-unquote bottom six/whipping boys. Cleary & Campbell's workrate and intensity early on arguably kept us in it; Mills looking comfortable in defence; Parker taking marks and kicking goals; Florent elevating as the game went on; McDonald being an absolute workhorse up the ground; Roberts with an awesome two-way game in defence. I like these kinds of wins so much more than when it's just the usual suspects dominating.

Although Heeney is just endlessly watchable when he's in the kind of form he was in last night.

it's understandable there's such a focus on our slow starts, but i'm trying to stay positive and maintain the faith in this team i have all season (although that faith has been tested a bit)
i've been more worried about the general drop in intensity, culminating in the game that shall not be mentioned ...
earlier in the season, when we turned up the intensity we were able to make up for slow starts, but that intensity vanished, maybe going back to the last quarter of the giants game

from about halfway through the second quarter last night i really sensed that relentless pressure we were applying to essendon players in possession or around the ball ... i've posted elsewhere, that's where i think the game turned
they were stuck on 29 points for ages and i reckon that was the period in the game they could've established themselves but we never let them
parker, heeney, florent, gulden and rowbottom lifted the team after halftime, but the team lifted with them, rather than just rely on individual efforts ...
it goes without saying, really, but we are in a vastly better place than we were two weeks ago ... it started with the comeback win over collingwood, it was consolidated last night ... that's a good trajectory into finals

 

[RedBloodBlackSwan]

Not a heap of love for JJ once again in the POTY thread - which I find a bit odd.

Merrett didn’t impact last night. It’s a massive scalp for JJ.

The silent assassin

 

[Maddo11]

Sorry for OT i dont follow international sports outside of Tennis and Boxing.

I imagine a pitcher career is quite short?

Depends. Guys that try and blow batters away with heat don't tend to stick around long. Pitchers that have good off speed pitches can throw more junk and preserve their arm longer.

And then you can move to a bull pen spot and only throw 4 or 5 innings per week, which can see guys staying on rosters into their late 30s and 40s

 

[the hypnotoad]

Has a future in heavy metal with that hair. At least heavy metal won't disappoint him constantly.

hahahahaha ... stringer's all mouth, no trousers ... self-centred flake

 

[The King!]

Anybody worried about our contested ball , especially against the dons

Coming into finals and we still not there yet. Hopefully building

It will get exposed n finals imo

A bit I mean look at how many didn't even lay a tackle last night , lot of hanging back in the contest . Maybe self preservation ?

 

[the hypnotoad]

100%.

People are also forgetting that we had the first gettable shot on goal (a near behind).

Also, maybe just maybe Essendon played well and pressured well at the start of the game. There was reasonable pressure out there.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we don’t have to lift for finals, but if any coach could objectively choose which team that wanted heading into finals, they would choose Sydney.

Also, Mills is just starting to fire up. He and Parker are both fresh as daisies will go beast mode in the finals, one in the forwards and one in defence. Those two and Heeney, who is also firing again, make an incredible hard bodied leadership spine.

As Parked yelled after one of his many goals, let’s go!!

pretty sure campbell and heeney yelled "let's go" after their goals too ... the new rallying cry, simple but significant

 

[the hypnotoad]

Pretty sure this isn't right... think we're talking a 300 point differential for anyone to get us...

stop tempting fate!

 

[MarshallG]

Anybody worried about our contested ball , especially against the dons

Coming into finals and we still not there yet. Hopefully building

It will get exposed n finals imo

Yup, especially when the ball is in the air

 

[the hypnotoad]

Not me

yeah, i'm guilty of not paying due credit to jordon's job on merrett, who'll likely be all-australian captain (not that that's particularly relevant, but merrett has been a star all year)
jordon has been one of the best signings of the season

 

[the hypnotoad]

We won this game in the first and second quarter IMHO.

There was a period, maybe end of the first were they were all over us out of the midfield, so many repeat entries into the 50 it was absolutely absurd, but our pressure all over the park went up to heights they couldn't cope with, Swans literally refused to let them score and they folded. Like Essendon do. They knew their best wasn't good enough even when things were all going their way.
From then on it was only a matter of by how much. We tired a bit at the end of the second quarter for the last ten minutes, but they couldn't muster anything.

To see Cleary maniacally chasing them down in the fourth when he was outnumbered 2 to 1 after the game was well won demonstrated the difference between the teams. Our guys wanted it more, even though it was their season on the line. Back home to Melbourne they go, for a week of coffees, chatting up the girls and looking the part. A club of pretenders.

absolutely this

 

[the hypnotoad]

On or off?

no, no ... he meant "of", in the spiritual sense ...

 

[the hypnotoad]

MLB is 162 games with potentially like what 24 for the postseason and they also have like 30 games of spring training. Thats like 210 games (yes they are alot less physical) but still they have literally no offseason

and they chew tobacco (shudder)

 

[the hypnotoad]

Anybody worried about our contested ball , especially against the dons

Coming into finals and we still not there yet. Hopefully building

It will get exposed n finals imo

not like you to be negative