AFL Toast Beat the giants by 20!

[Kettles]

Ess has been shutting teams down in the last quarter. Giants only goal in the last quarter came early on, held them goalless for the last 18 minutes. Something is working right and real well.

I love it.

Please, please let this continue against that filth in 4 games from now.

 

[Gabe251]

We do, he’s called Langford…

View attachment 1987371

Fair point. Doesn't feel like he's got the same aerial dominance as Charlie though. Langford great on a lead and off the ground.

 

[Call Me Cake]

The topic of our percentage is a good one. Every team in the top 4/8 at the end of the year going all the way back to 2012 has had a % over 100 at Round 9.

Except one team that bucked that trend, the Pies in 2022. They had a % of 97 at Round 9 and finished in the top 4.

 

[faible]

The topic of our percentage is a good one. Every team in the top 4/8 at the end of the year going all the way back to 2012 has had a % over 100 at Round 9.

Except one team that bucked that trend, the Pies in 2022. They had a % of 97 at Round 9 while in the top 4, and finished in the top 4.

I'd say our percentage is a better representation of our side than our W:L right now. Hawthorn finished 4th in 2018 out of nowhere after missing finals the year prior, then fell back down because it wasn't actually representative of where they were at.

Hopefully EFC don't make the mistake of thinking we're just one big name trade away from a Premiership come the end of this season.

 

[Donakebab]

After the game while singing the song I was wondering who the hell was in a moon boot. Just watched the replay and it was just a really tall kid wearing a signed jumper.

In my defence, I may have had a couple of drinks and was just about to head out the door.

 

[faible]

After the game while singing the song I was wondering who the hell was in a moon boot. Just watched the replay and it was just a really tall kid wearing a signed jumper.

In my defence, I may have had a couple of drinks and was just about to head out the door.

Nice that our young rucks are getting their jumpers signed by Durham.

 

[BomberManU]

Would be travelling even better if we could tidy up some of the unforced errors - including set shots. But overall this is the best 'brand' of football we've played for a long time. We might not get there this year, but it's the style that wins finals. The spreading of the load is also impressive, not just relying on a few. Exciting times.

 

[TheUnicorn]

 

[Saint]

The pressure the team showed for the whole final quarter was insane. I've got no idea how we held up so well. We just kept intervening, chasing, harrassing and not letting GWS get ANY easy possessions in the last quarter.

Our team looked a lot more composed than theirs, which is saying something!

 

[Beerfish]

I'm doing my bit keeping the water in the tub by not watching either of those.

 

[Ati Tude]

They build us up, so they can tear us down again.

 

[Old Campaigner]

They build us up, so they can tear us down again.

They let us into the top 4 so we can lose two finals instead of the traditional one final

 

[I Remember Bluey]

After the game while singing the song I was wondering who the hell was in a moon boot. Just watched the replay and it was just a really tall kid wearing a signed jumper.

In my defence, I may have had a couple of drinks and was just about to head out the door.

Was wondering the same thing and I thought it may have been Duursma and I hadn't had anything to drink.

 

[MiguelM]

The pressure the team showed for the whole final quarter was insane. I've got no idea how we held up so well. We just kept intervening, chasing, harrassing and not letting GWS get ANY easy possessions in the last quarter.

Our team looked a lot more composed than theirs, which is saying something!

Yep, watched the last quarter again and the pressure was immense.

Compared to past season's not one player was jogging in the last. We were first at the contest. The missing piece for a decade has been hunger, that was there in spades.

Clear as day the players are playing for each other and completely on board with the coaches. Something that has not been there since Sheedy (notwithstanding a brief period pre Saga with Hird)

 

[Dave]

I'm doing my bit keeping the water in the tub by not watching either of those.

Bugger that. We’ve been pox for so long I’m going to enjoy this for as long as it lasts. As someone said to me leaving on Saturday, “How good’s winning??!!”

 

[bommer16]

Moving our games to prime time!
Bn rounds 16-23
Well…maybe 3 games at least

 

[ant555]

Agree. Made a similar remark before the Eagles game. Top 4 sides bury bottom 4 sides. Again, it's weird that a game against a side like North is a very real test of where we're at.

Not always. A quick check of the Pies last year showed they took care of the Eagles easily but beat North by 35 and actually lost to the Hawks.
I will be happy if we win and the pressure stays the same. 10 or 20 or 30 points do not care . Just keep working on attitude and pressure. We can not really improve the personal or skill level issues during the season so I am happy to just keep winning ugly.
I still think the Eagles played pretty well and we where okay. They fell away this week but they had key players out again and it was in Melbourne.

 

[The Dustbin]

Quick circle back to the last quarters. I had some spare time today to play the role of footy nerd.
Since R5, last quarter scores:

Ess: 5.1. 31
WB: 2.4. 16

Ess: 2.4. 16
Ade: 2.4. 16

Ess: 3.2. 20
Coll: 3.1. 19

Ess: 1.3. 9
WCE: 3.0. 18

Ess: 3.1. 19
GWS: 1.1. 7

Total
Ess: 95
Rest: 76

Not a big scorer in the last quarter, but restricting the opposition.

 

[MiguelM]

Not always. A quick check of the Pies last year showed they took care of the Eagles easily but beat North by 35 and actually lost to the Hawks.
I will be happy if we win and the pressure stays the same. 10 or 20 or 30 points do not care . Just keep working on attitude and pressure. We can not really improve the personal or skill level issues during the season so I am happy to just keep winning ugly.
I still think the Eagles played pretty well and we where okay. They fell away this week but they had key players out again and it was in Melbourne.

The intangible is what impact does belief and confidence count for?

I think some skill issues can resolve themselves when confidence/belief creates time and space thus putting pressure on the opposition.

Watching the last quarter, GWS made some shocking turnovers on the back of our pressure, and I would say they are pretty skillfull.

Pressure creates panic and rushed possessions from the opposition, something that helped the Pies win a flag. Most AFL players have good skills on the training track, under pressure is what causes mistakes.

Of course, we need to get better in some areas. Perkin's second half forward entries were the best I have seen for a long time.

 

[ghostdog]

Not always. A quick check of the Pies last year showed they took care of the Eagles easily but beat North by 35 and actually lost to the Hawks.
I will be happy if we win and the pressure stays the same. 10 or 20 or 30 points do not care . Just keep working on attitude and pressure. We can not really improve the personal or skill level issues during the season so I am happy to just keep winning ugly.
I still think the Eagles played pretty well and we where okay. They fell away this week but they had key players out again and it was in Melbourne.

I agree it doesn't happen all the time. Boilovers are a thing. But if we become a consistent, convincing top 4 side, that's what we should be expecting to see when we play bottom 4 sides more often than not. For now I'll also be happy if we can keep improving and refining our system.

This weekend I'm really looking for whether we're mentally capable of lifting to perform with the same defensive tenacity against a bottom 4 team. If we can maintain that effort, who knows what the final score could be.

 

[pepsi]

Bugger that. We’ve been pox for so long I’m going to enjoy this for as long as it lasts. As someone said to me leaving on Saturday, “How good’s winning??!!”

Absolutely the way I'm looking at it. Riding the train for as long as it lasts, boasting about being top 3 with friends for as long as that lasts also.

 

[ant555]

The game plan has been interesting. Apart from the improved pressure and team defense side of this which makes a huge difference it looks like we have a take what the opposition give us plan. If they let us run and gun we will but we are also just as happy to take the short forward targets and do a slow build. Also no preference as far as attacking down a wing or through the corridor. Just go where the space lets us go. Seems to be less down the line stuff from deep defense. It looks like we are trying to move the footy to at least 70 meters from goal before we go down the line if there is nothing on. Does not always work but we have been trapped inside the opposition 50 a lot less.

 

[bommer16]

Just want to say that Ess beat gws at an almost full side. Makes this win really special given their talent on every line.