Did we even want it?

[RoyalBlue]

We are lucky we weren't don by 40. They got violated by the umpired and didnt kick straight, it would have been a blight on the game had we won.

That was a ****ing embarassing performance and Im not even sure the In:McKinleyesque selection work was even the problem.

Turnovers, skill errors, and all the other shit that comes from playing a dozen kids doesn't cover it.

Did we even want it?

 

[A Swallow]

- Skills were f***ing atrocious.

- Thomas will get a game again because he kicked two goals on the stat sheet, which fails to highlight how horrid he was. He wasn't alone though.

Would have obviously been elated with a win, but they were terrible in front of goal and some crucial umpiring decisions kept us in it to be honest. Disappointing.

 

[Gimp]

It was somewhat of a miracle how close the result was. A better team wouldn't have allowed us to get back into it. Carried at least 10 blokes who did **** all for the majority of the night.

Whats even more concerning is that other than Jack there isnt too much quality to be brought into the side. Hansen/Grima/Pedo while potentially would have been the difference tonight, aren't going to instantly revitalize the team into a the skillful, cohesive unit which is required if we're to make any inroads this year.

God help us if Drew, Boomer or Wells goes down. Might be a tad alarmist, but after tonight I'm preparing myself for another year of 9th - 12th mediocrity.

 

[Elite Master]

I say early we really wanted it. Loved our intensity on the contest, but as the game wore on we started making fundamental errors, made bad decisions, cracked under pressure, struggled to actuelly get uncontested possion and ran out of legs. We were far to predicable with our kick ins and forward set up structures too. Essendon caught on to this and when they started finding space and hitting targets, we were looking more and more vulnerable. Its there kicking for goal/umpiring that kept us within touch, but gee we didn't look like winning.

We are way to reliant on the older guys which is worrying

 

[Mailman]

Did we even want it?

Were you there, coz i would have thought if you were you would have seen that our boys well and truly wanted it......

Not happy with the result but pretty proud of the boys tonight overall. A few issues here and there, but a spectacular game and we are on the right track.

 

[RoyalBlue]

Were you there, coz i would have thought if you were you would have seen that our boys well and truly wanted it......

Not happy with the result but pretty proud of the boys tonight overall. A few issues here and there, but a spectacular game and we are on the right track.

I'm sorry, were you there?

That was ****ing terrible.

 

[Devil Fish]

- Skills were f***ing atrocious.

- Thomas will get a game again because he kicked two goals on the stat sheet, which fails to highlight how horrid he was. He wasn't alone though.

Would have obviously been elated with a win, but they were terrible in front of goal and some crucial umpiring decisions kept us in it to be honest. Disappointing.

Ease up. Thomas was one of our best tonite.

 

[Ry009]

Funny thing is with the small patch in the 2nd quarter thought it was almost the other way around.

When Harper missed that shot that would have put us up by 22 I think (not having a go at him for it) but we really went to shit after that.

 

[The Other Dean]

Woo-hoo. We're on the right track.

How awesome is that?!!!!?

Can hardly contain my f***ing glee.

Exciting times.

 

[Groucho]

Funny thing is with the small patch in the 2nd quarter thought it was almost the other way around.

When Harper missed that shot that would have put us up by 22 I think (not having a go at him for it) but we really went to shit after that.

In some ways it was probably a worse miss than H's. Would have caused enormous doubts in their collective minds.

 

[Angus1]

Boys tried bloody hard I thought.

We just aren't a side who can cover the loss of key players such as Zeibel, Greenwood, Pederson, Grima, Delaney and Hanson.
Add them and the whole structure will be different and we might knock teams like Essendon over.
The worry is we can't cover them.

 

[LeFtBehinD]

- Thomas will get a game again because he kicked two goals on the stat sheet, which fails to highlight how horrid he was. He wasn't alone though.
.

Thomas? Are you ****ing serious! I guess Hansen was also the reason we lost. Watch the game before you're gonna slag off players.

We lost because we were DOMINATED in the guts and lacked precision through half back. Something though they have tried to correct with young kids Atley, McMillan, mullet etc which will need more than one game to see how effective it can be.

 

[Zondor]

I'm sorry, were you there?

That was ****ing terrible.

Yep. Seven less scoring shots. Killed in the clearances. Beaten in contested possession. Conceded late goals in the second quarter. Struggled for large parts of the third term. Failed to cope with Essendon's spread at times. So much to improve on. And to think we had a chance to pinch it. :disappointed look

 

[DarwinRoo]

I'm not too sure about being violated by the umpires but I can think of at least one incorrect free kick against us that resulted in an Essendon goal and a should have been 50 metres that wasn't rewarded which should have ended up in a certain goal.

 

[nicko74]

Unfortunately I don't think we are as good as we thought/hoped we might be, myself included! It's only round 1 so let's hope we get better...Quickly! We get another shot at the BUMBERS this year too, hope we can exact some revenge!

 

[Kangalicious]

Yep. Seven less scoring shots. Killed in the clearances. Beaten in contested possession. Conceded late goals in the second quarter. Struggled for large parts of the third term. Failed to cope with Essendon's spread at times. So much to improve on. And to think we had a chance to pinch it. :disappointed look

Struggled in two main patches - end of second quarter (brought back way too many memories of junk time goals under Laids), and then for about 15 mins in third when Tarrant when down and Cunnington disappeared down race for stitches. Whole structure went to pieces.

We had no right to be in it - but the thing is, we were in it, right up until the final siren as it turned out. I thought our ability to fight back into it was bloody impressive. And our ability to make stupid mistakes seriously distressing. To be honest, in the last couple of years we've had the errors and no ability to fight back. So I'm taking that as a positive.

Did we want it? **** yeah.

 

[Mailman]

I'm sorry, were you there?

That was ****ing terrible.

Yep, was there and there is no doubt our mob 'wanted it'.

I reckon there is large degree of overreaction here that hopefully will settle over the coming day/s.

There are some structural problems to sort out. There are some key players that need to come back in.

This thread title is an unfair insult to the boys that went out on the park tonight.

 

[Yianni]

Not sure if it's a question of desire, but we certainly dropped off the required intensity between mid 2nd and 4th quarters.

We got murdered in the guts and seemed to have no Plan B going forward. We couldn't hold the ball for long enough to relieve pressure.

Loves the fight shown to get back into it but we don't seem to do ourselves any favours with the way we play.

I think we were too predictable going forward. If we at least sometimes looked for a target it would make the times we bombed long to Petrie so much more effective.

Disappointed in the effort overall.

 

[rm3504]

cant wait to get back hansen like some posters are salivating... he will make a huge difference... just like cunnington in the middle... nothing against these guys personally... i'm sure they are great guys to have a beer with, but as top 5 draft picks they are killing us.... look at the top 4 last year for evidence.
coll... top 5 picks - thomas , pendlebury
hawks ... roughhead, franklin

 

[tazaa]

We got smashed in the middle.
That was the difference.
Our mids were poor and our bookends held up alright IMO.
That match was won and lost in the box aswell.
Why we didnt leave Azza one out with Wells earlier i dont know.
I know Tazz went down but Dish just had to become a decoy after that.
We definitely didnt make the most of Goldi and i would have played Delaney tonight to take either Hille or Ryder.
We didnt deserve to win it but Essendon early on is always a tough task.
Its not season over it is a marathon and we get another shot at them this year.

The boys can take their anger out on GWS next week and then get ready for the Cats with JZ.

 

[RoyalBlue]

Struggled in two main patches

Struggled is generous.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Boys tried bloody hard I thought.

We just aren't a side who can cover the loss of key players such as Zeibel, Greenwood, Pederson, Grima, Delaney and Hanson.
Add them and the whole structure will be different and we might knock teams like Essendon over.
The worry is we can't cover them.

Loss? Those 3 players were available and overlooked.

 

[Kangalicious]

Struggled is generous.

It is. I'm soft.

But 'did we even want it' is a stupid question. If we didn't want it, Essendon would have won by 40 points. Arguing that the umpires and Essendon's kicking are the only reasons we were in the game is completely disingenuous.

I'm as pissed off about that result as anyone. But FFS, we were a matter of centimetres from winning, against a team that had thrown everything at us.

 

[Missing The 90s]

About halfway through the last quarter when we had just kicked a couple in a row, I commented to my brother that the players were showing no emotion. It wasn't until Wells' soccer goal that their body language started to look good again

Did they want it? Yes. Silly question.

Did they think they could win in the last? I don't think many did.

That's how it looked from where I was sitting anyway.

P.S. Lay off Thomas. He was good tonight. Couldn't believe the things I was hearing on my way out of the game about the poor bloke. (i.e. getting blamed for the loss).

 

[RoyalBlue]

It is. I'm soft.

But 'did we even want it' is a stupid question. If we didn't want it, Essendon would have won by 40 points. Arguing that the umpires and Essendon's kicking are the only reasons we were in the game is completely disingenuous.

I'm as pissed off about that result as anyone. But FFS, we were a matter of centimetres from winning, against a team that had thrown everything at us.

I reckon there were plenty of time when blokes didn't go in and under hard enough or really do enough to stop their opponents. Maybe this is nerves, inexperience, whatever.

There were numerous times rank shit truck Essendon players made us look like GWS.

I'm comfortable asking the question. I'm not saying the answer is catergorically no we didn't - what I'm looking for an an explanation for what was an inexcusable performance from the selection committee, to the coach, to a fair whack of the players.

I'm yet to review the bootstudders game but I am guessing he too showed up late.