Analysis i've got a high tolerance for essendon being s**t, but this game was appalling

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where do we go as a club from here, exactly? week in week out, we have a stark contrast in performances, excluding zach merrett & 2023 nic martin, we rarely have anyone who'll string together a consistent number of games before 1) a season ending injury pops up, 2) soft tissue injury causes a 3 month stint on the sidelines, or just performing so poorly that they all but deserve to be dropped from the side. i can understand our end of the year last year as it was extremely evident that everyone had essentially checked out after coming up against GWS and Collingwood at the end of the season, but it's round 4, how can you honestly be proud of this performance as a coach, as a member of staff and as a player. except for a few players, it was gutless and pathetic. i've played in u15 games that had more guts than we did, and i was at best a pretty mediocre player (for a 15 year old)

some general complaints (consider this an ever expanding list)

1) we're not fit for a full 120~ minute game of football, half way through the 4th quarter we're consistently run ragged, and arguably have been for years. no other team except a decimated west coast and a young north melbourne side are about as equally unfit as we are.

2) we constantly pick no one with actual, linebreaking pace. we constantly have to rely on our kicking/handballing skills which are bad at the best of times, and result in game ruining turnovers. our win vs saint kilda last week felt like a miracle while watching our thumping today. i have no idea how we were able to keep the ball off the saints long enough to run the timer out, but it was an absolute miracle.

3) for people who're paid to kick a football for a living, they've rarely done a good job actually doing that so far over the past 5 or so years, so many times i see kicks that end up just going to nothing, or are so bad they're turned over

4) our support staff have got to be some of the worst in the league, players get injured for "1-2 weeks" and they're out for a month+ because they don't know how to diagnose or treat seemingly the most mundane injuries that plague our players.

5) i know very little about the administration side of things (for a good reason, that garbage bores me to death) which is why i'm still so confused about the lecherous parasites who still manage to maintain a position within the club like dodoro et al. has he not been one of, if not the primary source for all our failures, misfortunes and shit performances? he's been the one doing drafting, recruiting and what not for 30~ years now and what do we have to show for it, 24 years of mediocrity, while being good in the 90s? i feel extremely lucky that i was "alive" (doing a lot of work here) for both our last finals win and our last premiership. we should not hire "from the inside" as that iwll only keep the rot manifesting year afteryear

6) where to from here? what does the club have to do to actually reach our "alleged" potential. ev ery year i read rubbish about how "we're finals prospects" and all of those prospects end up going away after a shit performance like this.

i'm sure i could go on for longer and longer but i'm drunk and it's 1:30am. at least we can have solace in the fact that we were once good.

if this isn't the proper spot for this post pls put it where it belongs xoxo mods
 
if this isn't the proper spot for this post pls put it where it belongs xoxo mods
Honestly, there's a number of threads this could be merged with.

This one springs immediately to mind


But we may as well have a 2024 edition..
 

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I seriously can't handle how slow we are, surely the worst in the league.

From the blokes out there tonight: Parish, Caldwell, Hobbs, Setterfield, Heppell, Laverde, Perkins, Menzie, Stringer

Only Merrett, Martin, Redman, Duursma and Gresham have acceptable pace around the ground and even then they wouldn't be faster than many Port players.

Don't get me started on McGrath who barely breaks out of a light jog when he doesn't have the ball.

Hind is our fastest player...

Even against the Saints, Brad Hill and Milera ran rings around us.

Years ago we neglected our inside midfield (which still gets pushed around) and we have now neglected outside run.
 
Honestly, there's a number of threads this could be merged with.

This one springs immediately to mind


But we may as well have a 2024 edition..
We are still shit for all the reasons mentioned in that thread. The 2024 version is only for those who can not read the tea leaves and have been sucked in again. :cool:
 
where do we go as a club from here, exactly? week in week out, we have a stark contrast in performances, excluding zach merrett & 2023 nic martin, we rarely have anyone who'll string together a consistent number of games before 1) a season ending injury pops up, 2) soft tissue injury causes a 3 month stint on the sidelines, or just performing so poorly that they all but deserve to be dropped from the side. i can understand our end of the year last year as it was extremely evident that everyone had essentially checked out after coming up against GWS and Collingwood at the end of the season, but it's round 4, how can you honestly be proud of this performance as a coach, as a member of staff and as a player. except for a few players, it was gutless and pathetic. i've played in u15 games that had more guts than we did, and i was at best a pretty mediocre player (for a 15 year old)

some general complaints (consider this an ever expanding list)

1) we're not fit for a full 120~ minute game of football, half way through the 4th quarter we're consistently run ragged, and arguably have been for years. no other team except a decimated west coast and a young north melbourne side are about as equally unfit as we are.

2) we constantly pick no one with actual, linebreaking pace. we constantly have to rely on our kicking/handballing skills which are bad at the best of times, and result in game ruining turnovers. our win vs saint kilda last week felt like a miracle while watching our thumping today. i have no idea how we were able to keep the ball off the saints long enough to run the timer out, but it was an absolute miracle.

3) for people who're paid to kick a football for a living, they've rarely done a good job actually doing that so far over the past 5 or so years, so many times i see kicks that end up just going to nothing, or are so bad they're turned over

4) our support staff have got to be some of the worst in the league, players get injured for "1-2 weeks" and they're out for a month+ because they don't know how to diagnose or treat seemingly the most mundane injuries that plague our players.

5) i know very little about the administration side of things (for a good reason, that garbage bores me to death) which is why i'm still so confused about the lecherous parasites who still manage to maintain a position within the club like dodoro et al. has he not been one of, if not the primary source for all our failures, misfortunes and s**t performances? he's been the one doing drafting, recruiting and what not for 30~ years now and what do we have to show for it, 24 years of mediocrity, while being good in the 90s? i feel extremely lucky that i was "alive" (doing a lot of work here) for both our last finals win and our last premiership. we should not hire "from the inside" as that iwll only keep the rot manifesting year afteryear

6) where to from here? what does the club have to do to actually reach our "alleged" potential. ev ery year i read rubbish about how "we're finals prospects" and all of those prospects end up going away after a s**t performance like this.

i'm sure i could go on for longer and longer but i'm drunk and it's 1:30am. at least we can have solace in the fact that we were once good.

if this isn't the proper spot for this post pls put it where it belongs xoxo mods
Number 1 is not correct. We are fit. The issue is we have never really bothered to draft endurance runners as a priority and secondly when you defend badly you spend more of the game chasing players back the other way and you run out of gas much earlier. Last week we defended okay and went the distance with one of the fittest running sides in the AFL.
Make no mistake. Poor defense kills your running ability as the game goes on. You end up continually chasing .

Number 2. We obviously know that as we drafted two last year and have moved Martin back to try and do something about it.

Number 3 yes. The skill level under pressure is average.

Number 4. We are actually no worse than most sides on the injury front and they have used several people outside the club to consult on injuries. One issue we have is it may just be the players as the same blokes are getting the same injuries. They are looking under every rock and put more resources into the rehab and the program in general. Scott mentioned they are still reviewing what they are doing and looking for different ways.

Number 5.Dodoro has only been one factor in all of this and not the total reason. All the rest are gone. Dodoro should go but he is 100% not in a position to influence the selection of players in the draft or via trade and FA. I do not know how many times I can say this. He is actually in a role that is his best skill set but I know the fact he is still around causes angst for many. For the record I think he has been a mid range list manager. Not up with the best but certainly not in the worst few. The problem is if you combine an mid range operator with all the other issues we have ( saga / lack of football department resources / wrong coaches / CEO told to concentrate solely on the bottom line and not the football department / multiple football managers in a short time ) you end up where we are now.

Number 6. Hope Scott can build the culture platform and then they can build a list that can take the next step. It may shock many or they may not believe but my opinion is there will not be a lot of the current list that plays in a GF. Make no mistake this is reset number 5 in the last 20 years and not many want to admit it but I will say this is year one of it as the club and coach have admitted last year was a look and see the issues year.

Make no mistake. This is ground zero again despite the fact we took a clear change in direction at the end of 2020. Every time you move on a coach you are basically starting a lot of things over. If you are a club with issues and an average list it can set you back 2 or 3 years minimum unlike clubs like Collingwood or GWS who had good systems but just needed a fresh voice after a long period under one coach who had a degree of success .

There are no short cuts here. Short cuts have been what we have done between 2017 and 2020 and for various reasons have not worked. I said years ago that the saga would have an effect on the club for more years than people would realize and it has. Lets face it we are now in 2024 and for the first time in 20 years we have had a coach question not only our on field efforts and lack of defense but also the culture and professionalism of the place. This is not going to change short term. It is a mid to long term project that will have many high points and low points like this season so far.

Yes we have been shit for 20 years. Yes it is ****ed and people patience is thin or gone and they do not want to hear rebuild again and I understand that but we are what we are. A club that had almost climbed back into contention as a side that could play finals and win only to **** it up by using a witch doctor and a dodgy strength and conditioning coach to get all our players banned and basically kill off anything we had built. Then we spent 3 years after that trying to hang onto the threads of that side and top up but it was too late.
So then we start again at the end of 2020 with a young coach and get a bit of a sugar hit only to fall over in 2022 when we realize we do not have the coach for what we needed and the board fumble the ball several times trying to find a plan to get us out of it.

Is it really a shock we still suck ?

The only way out of this sill be stability under Barham / Vozz / Scott / McPherson / Rosa for the next 3 or 4 years and hope they are a team that can build it up again. They could easily fail as well and we are back at square one but that is how it is.

And finally people need to take the Essendon player blinkers off and actually not be shocked if a lot of the current blokes are not up to being finals contenders. Personally I do not buy that the time is now because if it is not then what about Parish and Merrett and co who are our better players . It is part of the journey. When Melbourne started under Roos / Mahoney / Taylor / Goodwin to the time they won a flog they turned over 90% of the list and only Gawn and McDonald where left to play in the GF win. It took them 9 years and 60 plus players being turned over and they came from a similar spot to us. Years of under performing. Years of average drafting including a period where they has a plethora of top 20 picks.
Richmond where also similar.

All I know is we could be crap for another 5 or 10 years but we simply have to stay on the line we are on now and challenge the culture and attitudes in the club and playing group and not wet the bed again.
 
Number 1 is not correct. We are fit. The issue is we have never really bothered to draft endurance runners as a priority and secondly when you defend badly you spend more of the game chasing players back the other way and you run out of gas much earlier. Last week we defended okay and went the distance with one of the fittest running sides in the AFL.
Make no mistake. Poor defense kills your running ability as the game goes on. You end up continually chasing .

Number 2. We obviously know that as we drafted two last year and have moved Martin back to try and do something about it.

Number 3 yes. The skill level under pressure is average.

Number 4. We are actually no worse than most sides on the injury front and they have used several people outside the club to consult on injuries. One issue we have is it may just be the players as the same blokes are getting the same injuries. They are looking under every rock and put more resources into the rehab and the program in general. Scott mentioned they are still reviewing what they are doing and looking for different ways.

Number 5.Dodoro has only been one factor in all of this and not the total reason. All the rest are gone. Dodoro should go but he is 100% not in a position to influence the selection of players in the draft or via trade and FA. I do not know how many times I can say this. He is actually in a role that is his best skill set but I know the fact he is still around causes angst for many. For the record I think he has been a mid range list manager. Not up with the best but certainly not in the worst few. The problem is if you combine an mid range operator with all the other issues we have ( saga / lack of football department resources / wrong coaches / CEO told to concentrate solely on the bottom line and not the football department / multiple football managers in a short time ) you end up where we are now.

Number 6. Hope Scott can build the culture platform and then they can build a list that can take the next step. It may shock many or they may not believe but my opinion is there will not be a lot of the current list that plays in a GF. Make no mistake this is reset number 5 in the last 20 years and not many want to admit it but I will say this is year one of it as the club and coach have admitted last year was a look and see the issues year.

Make no mistake. This is ground zero again despite the fact we took a clear change in direction at the end of 2020. Every time you move on a coach you are basically starting a lot of things over. If you are a club with issues and an average list it can set you back 2 or 3 years minimum unlike clubs like Collingwood or GWS who had good systems but just needed a fresh voice after a long period under one coach who had a degree of success .

There are no short cuts here. Short cuts have been what we have done between 2017 and 2020 and for various reasons have not worked. I said years ago that the saga would have an effect on the club for more years than people would realize and it has. Lets face it we are now in 2024 and for the first time in 20 years we have had a coach question not only our on field efforts and lack of defense but also the culture and professionalism of the place. This is not going to change short term. It is a mid to long term project that will have many high points and low points like this season so far.

Yes we have been s**t for 20 years. Yes it is ****ed and people patience is thin or gone and they do not want to hear rebuild again and I understand that but we are what we are. A club that had almost climbed back into contention as a side that could play finals and win only to * it up by using a witch doctor and a dodgy strength and conditioning coach to get all our players banned and basically kill off anything we had built. Then we spent 3 years after that trying to hang onto the threads of that side and top up but it was too late.
So then we start again at the end of 2020 with a young coach and get a bit of a sugar hit only to fall over in 2022 when we realize we do not have the coach for what we needed and the board fumble the ball several times trying to find a plan to get us out of it.

Is it really a shock we still suck ?

The only way out of this sill be stability under Barham / Vozz / Scott / McPherson / Rosa for the next 3 or 4 years and hope they are a team that can build it up again. They could easily fail as well and we are back at square one but that is how it is.

And finally people need to take the Essendon player blinkers off and actually not be shocked if a lot of the current blokes are not up to being finals contenders. Personally I do not buy that the time is now because if it is not then what about Parish and Merrett and co who are our better players . It is part of the journey. When Melbourne started under Roos / Mahoney / Taylor / Goodwin to the time they won a flog they turned over 90% of the list and only Gawn and McDonald where left to play in the GF win. It took them 9 years and 60 plus players being turned over and they came from a similar spot to us. Years of under performing. Years of average drafting including a period where they has a plethora of top 20 picks.
Richmond where also similar.

All I know is we could be crap for another 5 or 10 years but we simply have to stay on the line we are on now and challenge the culture and attitudes in the club and playing group and not wet the bed again.
Agree with all points except number 5. Want Dodoro gone permanently. He's cancer and I simply don't trust what the club are telling us as we've been lied to too many times.

This post should be stickied to the top of every thread on the board.
 
You summed it all up well!! Other things i might add.
I think it was a matchup problem and also a failure to let the team know, "Just play the same 1-on-1 you did in the 1st quarter".

  • Power had a height advantage, I felt, and changed their game-plan to win through marking from height, because we play small through the middle. They know we can't mark it, so they just kick a rainbow and it will drop in the hands of a port player.
  • Our marking skills are awful, have been for 15 years. I doubt they even train much for it as it just doesn't translate to game day.
  • We seem to prioritise, small running style players, yet still looked slow and don't run both ways, in fact, they just look defeated and stood around if the ball was turned over.
  • Defensive skills are atrocious and show that we have a side with way too many 1-way runners and not enough all-round AFL level players.
  • Jones, Perkins, Martin, Merrett and McKay really stood up.
  • When Wanganeen is fit, i'd play him, might as well get him some game time, warts and all.
  • The players don't look confident with the ball(like holding a hot potato), in fact often look more like a decent VFL side playing AFL level.
  • Also what you said, Martin was needed up the ground.
  • Lastly we really missed Ridley, Perkins(hamstring), 2Meter, Durham, Guelf and probably a fully functioning Shiel.
 
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Number 1 is not correct. We are fit. The issue is we have never really bothered to draft endurance runners as a priority and secondly when you defend badly you spend more of the game chasing players back the other way and you run out of gas much earlier. Last week we defended okay and went the distance with one of the fittest running sides in the AFL.
Make no mistake. Poor defense kills your running ability as the game goes on. You end up continually chasing .

Number 2. We obviously know that as we drafted two last year and have moved Martin back to try and do something about it.

Number 3 yes. The skill level under pressure is average.

Number 4. We are actually no worse than most sides on the injury front and they have used several people outside the club to consult on injuries. One issue we have is it may just be the players as the same blokes are getting the same injuries. They are looking under every rock and put more resources into the rehab and the program in general. Scott mentioned they are still reviewing what they are doing and looking for different ways.

Number 5.Dodoro has only been one factor in all of this and not the total reason. All the rest are gone. Dodoro should go but he is 100% not in a position to influence the selection of players in the draft or via trade and FA. I do not know how many times I can say this. He is actually in a role that is his best skill set but I know the fact he is still around causes angst for many. For the record I think he has been a mid range list manager. Not up with the best but certainly not in the worst few. The problem is if you combine an mid range operator with all the other issues we have ( saga / lack of football department resources / wrong coaches / CEO told to concentrate solely on the bottom line and not the football department / multiple football managers in a short time ) you end up where we are now.

Number 6. Hope Scott can build the culture platform and then they can build a list that can take the next step. It may shock many or they may not believe but my opinion is there will not be a lot of the current list that plays in a GF. Make no mistake this is reset number 5 in the last 20 years and not many want to admit it but I will say this is year one of it as the club and coach have admitted last year was a look and see the issues year.

Make no mistake. This is ground zero again despite the fact we took a clear change in direction at the end of 2020. Every time you move on a coach you are basically starting a lot of things over. If you are a club with issues and an average list it can set you back 2 or 3 years minimum unlike clubs like Collingwood or GWS who had good systems but just needed a fresh voice after a long period under one coach who had a degree of success .

There are no short cuts here. Short cuts have been what we have done between 2017 and 2020 and for various reasons have not worked. I said years ago that the saga would have an effect on the club for more years than people would realize and it has. Lets face it we are now in 2024 and for the first time in 20 years we have had a coach question not only our on field efforts and lack of defense but also the culture and professionalism of the place. This is not going to change short term. It is a mid to long term project that will have many high points and low points like this season so far.

Yes we have been s**t for 20 years. Yes it is ****ed and people patience is thin or gone and they do not want to hear rebuild again and I understand that but we are what we are. A club that had almost climbed back into contention as a side that could play finals and win only to * it up by using a witch doctor and a dodgy strength and conditioning coach to get all our players banned and basically kill off anything we had built. Then we spent 3 years after that trying to hang onto the threads of that side and top up but it was too late.
So then we start again at the end of 2020 with a young coach and get a bit of a sugar hit only to fall over in 2022 when we realize we do not have the coach for what we needed and the board fumble the ball several times trying to find a plan to get us out of it.

Is it really a shock we still suck ?

The only way out of this sill be stability under Barham / Vozz / Scott / McPherson / Rosa for the next 3 or 4 years and hope they are a team that can build it up again. They could easily fail as well and we are back at square one but that is how it is.

And finally people need to take the Essendon player blinkers off and actually not be shocked if a lot of the current blokes are not up to being finals contenders. Personally I do not buy that the time is now because if it is not then what about Parish and Merrett and co who are our better players . It is part of the journey. When Melbourne started under Roos / Mahoney / Taylor / Goodwin to the time they won a flog they turned over 90% of the list and only Gawn and McDonald where left to play in the GF win. It took them 9 years and 60 plus players being turned over and they came from a similar spot to us. Years of under performing. Years of average drafting including a period where they has a plethora of top 20 picks.
Richmond where also similar.

All I know is we could be crap for another 5 or 10 years but we simply have to stay on the line we are on now and challenge the culture and attitudes in the club and playing group and not wet the bed again.
Yep correct. And yet the media want Scott to come out and say essendon are a finals side and can win finals this year. We are so far away, we’ve got talent but we are rebuilding the side/ game plan/ footy department/ culture from scratch. It’s going to take 3-4 minimum to build something half decent.
 
Agree with all points except number 5. Want Dodoro gone permanently. He's cancer and I simply don't trust what the club are telling us as we've been lied to too many times.

This post should be stickied to the top of every thread on the board.
The Bombers have announced that Dodoro, who has been at the club full-time for a quarter of a century, will continue in his current job through the upcoming trade and draft periods before taking "a step back from his current senior role" and "transitioning to and assisting Matt Rosa moving forward".


This is actually what the club told us.
I am less concerned as I have a couple of good sources inside / around the club that have explained the set up which is why I have been a constant in challenging statements that he is still in control.
Have no real problems with people wanting him gone although some of the personal comments are a bit much IMO. He is a genuine Essendon person who loves the club and is actually a decent bloke as well . Sure you can make judgment on his performance and want him sacked but the vitriol is just troll behavior IMO.
 
We suck and we lack the balls to make hard calls on players.

I don’t even remember the last time we did to someone what port did to us.
 

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We suck and we lack the balls to make hard calls on players.

The new Essendon could have started last year, trade Parish for a mid top 10 and a late teens pick, rebalance the midfield affording Perkins, Caldwell even Hobbs more midfield minutes in lieu of Darcy and we grow better infinitely quicker imho.

The hard (list) calls lands firmly with one man
 
The new Essendon could have started last year, trade Parish for a mid top 10 and a late teens pick, rebalance the midfield affording Perkins, Caldwell even Hobbs more midfield minutes in lieu of Darcy and we grow better infinitely quicker imho.

The hard (list) calls lands firmly with one man
It probably would have if the key off field team where not in watch and observe mode more than make decisions straight up.
Parish is a bit decisive as he is an elite player in a lot of areas but poor in a couple of others. I think they have balanced out the midfield a bit anyway. Problem is the three blokes who do balance it out have had or have injuries. Setterfield / Perkins / Durham have made a difference but we have only managed 1 game with all three so far and now it looks like Perkins will be out.
 
It probably would have if the key off field team where not in watch and observe mode more than make decisions straight up.
Parish is a bit decisive as he is an elite player in a lot of areas but poor in a couple of others. I think they have balanced out the midfield a bit anyway. Problem is the three blokes who do balance it out have had or have injuries. Setterfield / Perkins / Durham have made a difference but we have only managed 1 game with all three so far and now it looks like Perkins will be out.
Ive been a huge voice we should have traded Parish and admit he is elite but the ability to garner draft collateral as well as offer the opportunity to our kids already should have been taken.

As someone mentioned, we never make hard calls with the list. Its always nice and more the generous.
 
Ive been a huge voice we should have traded Parish and admit he is elite but the ability to garner draft collateral as well as offer the opportunity to our kids already should have been taken.

As someone mentioned, we never make hard calls with the list. Its always nice and more the generous.
Should have actually traded him the previous draft which was my view.
 
It was a clusterf*** on every level and on the biggest stage possible. I didn't give us a chance to win but just wanted effort. When Port went man on man we fell apart.

One thing is the media will jump off big time, which may not be a bad thing.

The most disappointing thing was the total blowout after quarter time. It was honestly like watching the little league play where we all chased the ball and left wide open paddocks for Port to do as they like.

Hopefully this is the catalyst for a tough list cull and rethink. I have been saying for years we lack genuine speed and it showed in spades last night. I know it looks worse when you are chasing and getting smashed in clearances but Rozee & Butters toyed with our players. Not one got close to running them down.

Also compounding our issues is our general skills. Handballing to players who are not free (way too many handballs last night when a kick would have been better) tapping the ball out of contests which resulted in numerous goals to Port, lack of marking players and general poor field kicking and decision making.

I honestly think last nights game was worse than the opening round against Geelong a few years ago.
 
In further, disturbing news. The average age and games experience of our midfield last night was older and more than Port. So you can't actually say we are a 'young' and 'developing' team.

Other teams zoom past us each and every year.. they get better more than we improve so we are continually stuck in a loop. We are not as fit as other teams, our list balance is woeful, our game plan isn't crash hot either.

The fact that we had to make a big deal out of trying to play with intensity??? FFS.. that is nothing to get excited about. Screams that our culture is butter soft and not going to get better anytime soon.

Last time I actually felt proud of this club was those few glorious periods during the Hird years where we actually played hard, accountable football and challenged for top 4. Haven't see us play with anything resembling passion since. Can't see any evidence at all that Scott has challenged or changed things at all. I think we have bought in another guy who is a failed coach and there is nothing to suggest we are improving in his 2nd year in charge. Dodo might be a nice man or whatever.. but this list sucks and it has been bad for near 20 years.. far too long. Can't blame the saga anymore. Our club is run by morons who clearly do not understand modern football.

It really does need to be a total clean out and start the whole thing again. North will win a final before us. Scoff at me for sure but North will win a final before us. We are going absolutely nowhere.
 
In further, disturbing news. The average age and games experience of our midfield last night was older and more than Port. So you can't actually say we are a 'young' and 'developing' team.

Other teams zoom past us each and every year.. they get better more than we improve so we are continually stuck in a loop. We are not as fit as other teams, our list balance is woeful, our game plan isn't crash hot either.

The fact that we had to make a big deal out of trying to play with intensity??? FFS.. that is nothing to get excited about. Screams that our culture is butter soft and not going to get better anytime soon.

Last time I actually felt proud of this club was those few glorious periods during the Hird years where we actually played hard, accountable football and challenged for top 4. Haven't see us play with anything resembling passion since. Can't see any evidence at all that Scott has challenged or changed things at all. I think we have bought in another guy who is a failed coach and there is nothing to suggest we are improving in his 2nd year in charge. Dodo might be a nice man or whatever.. but this list sucks and it has been bad for near 20 years.. far too long. Can't blame the saga anymore. Our club is run by morons who clearly do not understand modern football.

It really does need to be a total clean out and start the whole thing again. North will win a final before us. Scoff at me for sure but North will win a final before us. We are going absolutely nowhere.
This isn't on the coach IMO. Look at North, they have one of the best don't they? No coach in the world could do better. It's the cattle. Like car racing, doesn't matter what team you have behind it if the car has no speed.

Need to stop blaming coaches, it is a copout.

I am just hoping Scott gets tough on the list now. It is time.
 
This isn't on the coach IMO. Look at North, they have one of the best don't they? No coach in the world could do better. It's the cattle. Like car racing, doesn't matter what team you have behind it if the car has no speed.

Need to stop blaming coaches, it is a copout.

I am just hoping Scott gets tough on the list now. It is time.
I'm not putting it all on coaches.. for sure Scott can only do so much but I still don't see a game plan here. Like it really was as simple as Port went 'man to man' and it was game over. We had zero response to it. Zero.

Our defensive scheme is still poor. Port continually walked (or sprinted) out of centre bounce but not a SINGLE move was made.. at no point did we line up defensive side or send a defensive sweeper (you can do this in 6-6-6 by choosing where you position your HB and Wingers).

It was clear our forward line wasn't working but I saw no change in set up down there.. our leading patterns are beyond bad. Stringer didn't get a run on the ball.. we didn't change up the midfield mix at all.

So yeah.. I'm not saying Scott is the worst problem or only problem.. far from it BUT I promise he is not the coach that is going to drag us out of this mess. Look around the league. You can tell within a year or two if you have found the right coach.. the impact is immediate. Scott is out of touch with modern footy.
 
Number 1 is not correct. We are fit. The issue is we have never really bothered to draft endurance runners as a priority and secondly when you defend badly you spend more of the game chasing players back the other way and you run out of gas much earlier. Last week we defended okay and went the distance with one of the fittest running sides in the AFL.
Make no mistake. Poor defense kills your running ability as the game goes on. You end up continually chasing .

Number 2. We obviously know that as we drafted two last year and have moved Martin back to try and do something about it.

Number 3 yes. The skill level under pressure is average.

Number 4. We are actually no worse than most sides on the injury front and they have used several people outside the club to consult on injuries. One issue we have is it may just be the players as the same blokes are getting the same injuries. They are looking under every rock and put more resources into the rehab and the program in general. Scott mentioned they are still reviewing what they are doing and looking for different ways.

Number 5.Dodoro has only been one factor in all of this and not the total reason. All the rest are gone. Dodoro should go but he is 100% not in a position to influence the selection of players in the draft or via trade and FA. I do not know how many times I can say this. He is actually in a role that is his best skill set but I know the fact he is still around causes angst for many. For the record I think he has been a mid range list manager. Not up with the best but certainly not in the worst few. The problem is if you combine an mid range operator with all the other issues we have ( saga / lack of football department resources / wrong coaches / CEO told to concentrate solely on the bottom line and not the football department / multiple football managers in a short time ) you end up where we are now.

Number 6. Hope Scott can build the culture platform and then they can build a list that can take the next step. It may shock many or they may not believe but my opinion is there will not be a lot of the current list that plays in a GF. Make no mistake this is reset number 5 in the last 20 years and not many want to admit it but I will say this is year one of it as the club and coach have admitted last year was a look and see the issues year.

Make no mistake. This is ground zero again despite the fact we took a clear change in direction at the end of 2020. Every time you move on a coach you are basically starting a lot of things over. If you are a club with issues and an average list it can set you back 2 or 3 years minimum unlike clubs like Collingwood or GWS who had good systems but just needed a fresh voice after a long period under one coach who had a degree of success .

There are no short cuts here. Short cuts have been what we have done between 2017 and 2020 and for various reasons have not worked. I said years ago that the saga would have an effect on the club for more years than people would realize and it has. Lets face it we are now in 2024 and for the first time in 20 years we have had a coach question not only our on field efforts and lack of defense but also the culture and professionalism of the place. This is not going to change short term. It is a mid to long term project that will have many high points and low points like this season so far.

Yes we have been s**t for 20 years. Yes it is ****ed and people patience is thin or gone and they do not want to hear rebuild again and I understand that but we are what we are. A club that had almost climbed back into contention as a side that could play finals and win only to * it up by using a witch doctor and a dodgy strength and conditioning coach to get all our players banned and basically kill off anything we had built. Then we spent 3 years after that trying to hang onto the threads of that side and top up but it was too late.
So then we start again at the end of 2020 with a young coach and get a bit of a sugar hit only to fall over in 2022 when we realize we do not have the coach for what we needed and the board fumble the ball several times trying to find a plan to get us out of it.

Is it really a shock we still suck ?

The only way out of this sill be stability under Barham / Vozz / Scott / McPherson / Rosa for the next 3 or 4 years and hope they are a team that can build it up again. They could easily fail as well and we are back at square one but that is how it is.

And finally people need to take the Essendon player blinkers off and actually not be shocked if a lot of the current blokes are not up to being finals contenders. Personally I do not buy that the time is now because if it is not then what about Parish and Merrett and co who are our better players . It is part of the journey. When Melbourne started under Roos / Mahoney / Taylor / Goodwin to the time they won a flog they turned over 90% of the list and only Gawn and McDonald where left to play in the GF win. It took them 9 years and 60 plus players being turned over and they came from a similar spot to us. Years of under performing. Years of average drafting including a period where they has a plethora of top 20 picks.
Richmond where also similar.

All I know is we could be crap for another 5 or 10 years but we simply have to stay on the line we are on now and challenge the culture and attitudes in the club and playing group and not wet the bed again.
very well put.

i guess in my overt frustrations it's hard to see where we actually progress as a club from where we are presently, as we've been in this exact position far too many times over the past few years
 

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Analysis i've got a high tolerance for essendon being s**t, but this game was appalling

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