AFL Toast Nailbiter against The West Coast

[eth-dog]

Good to win. They were good.

 

[MiguelM]

First time watching WC, Reid is going to be scary, two big don't argues at Essendon players in a row, he ragged dolled them.

Norf screwed the pooch big time

The problem at North is they are the league's nursery at the moment and clubs will pick the eyes out of it. Top draft picks find their feet there and look elsewhere once their time is served. Throwing more top 10 picks at them will not solve the problem.

I think they should take the moneyball approach. Throw in some mature age hungry players that have fallen out of the system, who will be loyal and slowly build around them.

 

[TheWeapon]

What has happened to holding the ball? Essendon laid 66 tackles for 1 HTB? Players have prior opportunity but are holding the ball in when they know a spill will be to their teams disadvantage. Reid was pinned for 5 seconds at one point flapping around and the umpire just waits. And sadly ducking free kicks are also creeping back in.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

a win is a win but our % is a concern.

our lack of ability to put damage on the scoreboard when we dominate play has to be addressed in order for us to be a good team. Cannot let teams keep their noses in it.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Look, it's really important after a game like this we don't lost sight of what's important, and that is that we are currently above the blues on the ladder.

And they’re premiership favourites .. if you ask their fans

 

[boncer34]

I only felt comfortable when boncer34 reassured me. Before that I was a mess.

I am a calming influence.

 

[MiguelM]

a win is a win but our % is a concern.

our lack of ability to put damage on the scoreboard when we dominate play has to be addressed in order for us to be a good team. Cannot let teams keep their noses in it.

We are a goal or 2 away from getting away from teams. It is frustrating but the other side of the coin is we don't completely fall off the cliff when teams get the game back.

Could have easiliy been a 30+ win with our domination at times.

 

[jmoo wan]

Scott said it wasn’t an injury to Caldwell. He was fine to play but as his calf was feeling tight, they didn’t want to risk it. Especially as they had Hobbs as the sub that could come in and play that role for them.

Scott also said Caldwell should play next week.

oh good - sounds like Caldswell that ends well then

 

[astrowizzle]

Re the free kick count, funny how TV continually shows it when we get a good run but it goes silent when we are getting shafted. Or is that just my paranoia kicking in?

Nope you are 100% correct. Been doing it for years

 

[Unfazed]

Scott said it wasn’t an injury to Caldwell. He was fine to play but as his calf was feeling tight, they didn’t want to risk it. Especially as they had Hobbs as the sub that could come in and play that role for them.

Scott also said Caldwell should play next week.

I can't believe Scott would sub an uninjured player in a close match. RIP Jye

 

[Gumby2Hurley]

Shuey may have retired but that mf still having an impact. Redman looking better. good to see perkins back.

 

[Phone]

We would of lost this game a few years ago. West Coast came at us about 10 times in the last 4 minutes, never would of held on under Rutten

I'm just picking this post amongst a sea of "Essington would have lost!!! We should be happy we won!!!".

Yes we would have won this game a few seasons ago. The most obvious example is that in 2021, when we trying to make the finals, in R17 we were up against bottom of the table North and with a few mins to go, we were only up by 4. We got up and won. A few weeks earlier against second last place Hawthorn, we fell behind in the last quarter but still got up. We won those games. We made it into the finals. We lost. And then we sacked the coach the next season.

There's far too much acceptance in here for what was a woeful performance. West Coast won the spoon last season and after 7 rounds, have won 2 games. This isn't ****ing Geelong. We keep this up and we're on track do what exactly what we did a few years ago under Rutten...... and under Hird, and under Knights, and that's make the finals when we're a crap team, get pumped, go backwards the next season and sack the coach. This was a terrible performance, particularly from partway through the 3rd quarter to the end. Repeated stupidity, laziness and recklessness and leaving Zach Merrett and to a lesser extent Nic Martin to sort it all out. Zach had nearly 30 touches and 3 goals and we won by 6 points against West Coast.

There's the elements of a good team in here. We have some top end talent. We have some promising youngsters who are beyond their rookie seasons. And that performance wasn't acceptable and I feel like I'm on crazy pills here seeing all the "just be happy we won" stuff. Just be happy we won? I'll be happy when we win games because we've pumped the opposition, or we've beaten a good team. Crawling over the line against West Coast thanks to amazing Zach performance? Nah I ain't happy about that and neither should anyone else.

 

[Rick Ross]

I can't believe Scott would sub an uninjured player in a close match. RIP Jye

Can’t believe Scott would sub an uninjured player that wasn’t the limited impact ADJ in a close match.

 

[eDPS]

Perkins and Cox both lead our team for pressure acts, Cox has been terrific in that regard over the last few weeks and good of Perkins to bring that attacking and defensive mix first game back from injury

Scott is really getting these younger players to buy into team defence and playing with confidence and it’s good to see

 

[I Remember Bluey]

I Zach

Best since Hird, we don’t deserve him

Yes we do - yes we do

 

[pepsi]

I'm just picking this post amongst a sea of "Essington would have lost!!! We should be happy we won!!!".

Yes we would have won this game a few seasons ago. The most obvious example is that in 2021, when we trying to make the finals, in R17 we were up against bottom of the table North and with a few mins to go, we were only up by 4. We got up and won. A few weeks earlier against second last place Hawthorn, we fell behind in the last quarter but still got up. We won those games. We made it into the finals. We lost. And then we sacked the coach the next season.

There's far too much acceptance in here for what was a woeful performance. West Coast won the spoon last season and after 7 rounds, have won 2 games. This isn't ****ing Geelong. We keep this up and we're on track do what exactly what we did a few years ago under Rutten...... and under Hird, and under Knights, and that's make the finals when we're a crap team, get pumped, go backwards the next season and sack the coach. This was a terrible performance, particularly from partway through the 3rd quarter to the end. Repeated stupidity, laziness and recklessness and leaving Zach Merrett and to a lesser extent Nic Martin to sort it all out. Zach had nearly 30 touches and 3 goals and we won by 6 points against West Coast.

There's the elements of a good team in here. We have some top end talent. We have some promising youngsters who are beyond their rookie seasons. And that performance wasn't acceptable and I feel like I'm on crazy pills here seeing all the "just be happy we won" stuff. Just be happy we won? I'll be happy when we win games because we've pumped the opposition, or we've beaten a good team.

Understand all of those feelings. We've been in that same shit cycle for many years now. We were sitting in 5th position last year at the start of round 17, then we fell off a cliff.

I take nothing away from a game like last night.

Probably what I'm most interested in this year is how we perform in the last 6-7 games of the season, if something is on the line. There are still lots of things to improve on with this team, not sure where we really are yet. But I just think enjoy the ride this year and see what happens.

 

[doug85]

I'm just picking this post amongst a sea of "Essington would have lost!!! We should be happy we won!!!".

Yes we would have won this game a few seasons ago. The most obvious example is that in 2021, when we trying to make the finals, in R17 we were up against bottom of the table North and with a few mins to go, we were only up by 4. We got up and won. A few weeks earlier against second last place Hawthorn, we fell behind in the last quarter but still got up. We won those games. We made it into the finals. We lost. And then we sacked the coach the next season.

There's far too much acceptance in here for what was a woeful performance. West Coast won the spoon last season and after 7 rounds, have won 2 games. This isn't ****ing Geelong. We keep this up and we're on track do what exactly what we did a few years ago under Rutten...... and under Hird, and under Knights, and that's make the finals when we're a crap team, get pumped, go backwards the next season and sack the coach. This was a terrible performance, particularly from partway through the 3rd quarter to the end. Repeated stupidity, laziness and recklessness and leaving Zach Merrett and to a lesser extent Nic Martin to sort it all out. Zach had nearly 30 touches and 3 goals and we won by 6 points against West Coast.

There's the elements of a good team in here. We have some top end talent. We have some promising youngsters who are beyond their rookie seasons. And that performance wasn't acceptable and I feel like I'm on crazy pills here seeing all the "just be happy we won" stuff. Just be happy we won? I'll be happy when we win games because we've pumped the opposition, or we've beaten a good team. Crawling over the line against West Coast thanks to amazing Zach performance? Nah I ain't happy about that and neither should anyone else.

I think you’re underrating west coast. They’ve been ruined by injuries over the past couple of season. They have a few players back now and Waterman is having a great season.

They’re not top 8, but they’re definitely better than the bottom of the barrel teams like norf and will be hard to beat in WA for the remainder of the season.

 

[Nicholas61]

I think you’re underrating west coast. They’ve been ruined by injuries over the past couple of season. They have a few players back now and Waterman is having a great season.

They’re not top 8, but they’re definitely better than the bottom of the barrel teams like norf and will be hard to beat in WA for the remainder of the season.

Agreed - the way they beat Freo and the lightning speed at which they moved the ball was going back to 2018 type play. They have good players back and confidence - I think they will win more games at home than not at this point unless they cop another injury crisis.

 

[Blind Turn]

I think you’re underrating west coast. They’ve been ruined by injuries over the past couple of season. They have a few players back now and Waterman is having a great season.

They’re not top 8, but they’re definitely better than the bottom of the barrel teams like norf and will be hard to beat in WA for the remainder of the season.

I slightly disagree. I thought they were average last night and we should’ve won by more. They may have improved, got some players back, and have a greater intensity, but that’s not saying much in comparison to what they’ve been like in recent years. I never felt like they were going to get control of the game and play it on their terms. We had some perfect opportunities to take hold of the game but we weren’t clinical enough. The best teams take the game away when they have momentum by being clinical.

 

[carnthedons]

I’ll take it. 4pts over there is never assured. The great thing for mine is we were challenged, looked done and fought for it. Same as ANZAC day and not rolling over in that second quarter. Same as giving up a start against the Saints. Same as Jamarra looking like he was gonna rip that dogs game apart and us just trusting the process.

Zach is a stud. Not sure his current lady friend but can we hook him up with a netballer/basketballer? A bit of extra height and he’d be the perfect footballer.

Duz I wanted to stay on the wing. Further proof that I am a know nothing nuffy (not that it was needed)

Marto quality

Benny Mac solid

Rish sneaky good

Gresham kicking to our forwards instead of Snelling is monumental

Laverde still hurts us but his last 5 mins or so were massive

Doing all this without our most important player in Ridley and our last two top draft picks has me cautiously optimistic, something I haven’t been for a long time (only pessimistic bordering on nihilist or full lid off)

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

a win is a win but our % is a concern.

our lack of ability to put damage on the scoreboard when we dominate play has to be addressed in order for us to be a good team. Cannot let teams keep their noses in it.

Percentage will mean nothing unless it comes down to equal points with the pies...or there is another draw with clubs around our mark. But yeah we are making games closer than they need be...which will mean losses at some point. Bit of an indicator of where we are and what needs to improve.

 

[Beerfish]

Just finished watching the replay as I was required elsewhere last night. That 'commentary team' was vile.

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

Re the free kick count, funny how TV continually shows it when we get a good run but it goes silent when we are getting shafted. Or is that just my paranoia kicking in?

Probably something we should mention at the next festivus. We can challenge the umps to deadlifts when attempting feats of strength

 

[jannissary]

started the replay now.

if duz took that mark like 40 seconds in 30m out, would've set the game up very nicely

 

[outersanctum]

I'm just picking this post amongst a sea of "Essington would have lost!!! We should be happy we won!!!".

Yes we would have won this game a few seasons ago. The most obvious example is that in 2021, when we trying to make the finals, in R17 we were up against bottom of the table North and with a few mins to go, we were only up by 4. We got up and won. A few weeks earlier against second last place Hawthorn, we fell behind in the last quarter but still got up. We won those games. We made it into the finals. We lost. And then we sacked the coach the next season.

There's far too much acceptance in here for what was a woeful performance. West Coast won the spoon last season and after 7 rounds, have won 2 games. This isn't ****ing Geelong. We keep this up and we're on track do what exactly what we did a few years ago under Rutten...... and under Hird, and under Knights, and that's make the finals when we're a crap team, get pumped, go backwards the next season and sack the coach. This was a terrible performance, particularly from partway through the 3rd quarter to the end. Repeated stupidity, laziness and recklessness and leaving Zach Merrett and to a lesser extent Nic Martin to sort it all out. Zach had nearly 30 touches and 3 goals and we won by 6 points against West Coast.

There's the elements of a good team in here. We have some top end talent. We have some promising youngsters who are beyond their rookie seasons. And that performance wasn't acceptable and I feel like I'm on crazy pills here seeing all the "just be happy we won" stuff. Just be happy we won? I'll be happy when we win games because we've pumped the opposition, or we've beaten a good team. Crawling over the line against West Coast thanks to amazing Zach performance? Nah I ain't happy about that and neither should anyone else.

Great post.. although I still think you can be 'happy' with a win.. even a terrible one. It is better to be terrible and win than be terrible and lose. The important part is that we don't drink the bathwater and over evaluate where we are.

We are in the 2nd year of our 'rebuild' under Scott and still show familiar signs of failure. There are still gaping holes across the list and there is a long way between where we are and where we want to go. I was blistering after the Port game and I haven't seen a heap that makes me think that we have changed significantly.

Having said all that.. I do think it is a big positive that since that Port debacle.. the team seems to have gone back and really committed to change. Our tackle numbers are up, our physical presence is higher. Since the port game we are yet to lose and that includes games against Dogs and Pies and 2 interstate wins.. so not 'easy beats/games'.

The real test of growth is when you become a ruthless team that plays at a consistently high level week in and week out. When we can demolish opposition in one quarter of good play.. when our 'average' can match most teams and our best can outplay all. Those margins are pretty small in the modern AFL.

I'd love to address the stupidity.. cause boy do we try hard to spud it up at times. Really hard.