Roast Our general fitness, strength and conditioning.

[ant555]

The hope is what drives me insane. Win a few games, look like things are changing and then same old Essendon in new financial year every year pains me.

You just knew we were going to lose on the weekend but still pains me when you know we should be beating such an inept Suns team at our home ground. We are just more inept.


The fact we brought in Goldstein (should retire), Gresham, McKay, Duursma and are no better or worst says that the list is just the same old same old.

Maybe your last paragraph is right but in saying that, I can’t see to much changing from the list perspective

You need to start thinking long term. You know we lack genuine elite players. You know we do not have quality KPF or small forwards.
Yes we got 4 guys in but they were never about jumping up to top 4 .
Goldstein was simply Draper cover . McKay to fill FB which we needed. Gresham would have been a 30 goal forward if we played him forward all year and Duursma was a win . We needed an endurance runner .
You want Dodoro gone which is fair but then you go off tap when we are still ordinary and nothing changes .
You seem to have a handle on why we ended up here but refuse to accept that it will take anything from 3 to 10 years to change even if they do make 70% odd of the list decisions right .
It is basically the end of year one for most of the off field changes .
You do not build something new from 15 years of under performing in 2 years.
The list will need time to change and they will not get it all right along the way .

 

[Mercurial89]

The hope is what drives me insane. Win a few games, look like things are changing and then same old Essendon in new financial year every year pains me.

You just knew we were going to lose on the weekend but still pains me when you know we should be beating such an inept Suns team at our home ground. We are just more inept.


The fact we brought in Goldstein (should retire), Gresham, McKay, Duursma and are no better or worst says that the list is just the same old same old.

Maybe your last paragraph is right but in saying that, I can’t see to much changing from the list perspective

Mate it might just be a case of you moderating your emotional attachment to both wins and losses.

It's never as good as it seems and never as bad.

This trade and draft period try not getting too excited about who we bring in, and next year wait for more data before getting the hopes up.
Look at this year, the wins were piling up but the red flags of percentage and the fact we played pretty poorly should have been warning signs for all involved.
Try enjoy the sport and not just the result of your team, that's supposed to be the cherry on top, not the single defining factor for your happiness.


Step away when you need to and remember all this crap for when they eventually are good and winning.

 

[faible]

Mate it might just be a case of you moderating your emotional attachment to both wins and losses.

It's never as good as it seems and never as bad.

This trade and draft period try not getting too excited about who we bring in, and next year wait for more data before getting the hopes up.
Look at this year, the wins were piling up but the red flags of percentage and the fact we played pretty poorly should have been warning signs for all involved.
Try enjoy the sport and not just the result of your team, that's supposed to be the cherry on top, not the single defining factor for your happiness.


Step away when you need to and remember all this crap for when they eventually are good and winning.

There's enough negativity in life, I watch football - sport in general really - for the positive moments.

A loss annoys me for a few minutes, then I move on. Look for the positives. 2016 was a great year to watch football, seeing the growth of individual kids, seeing the team of misfits and retirees playing their hearts out.

Look at the growth of Durham and Caldwell. Think about what Caddy will be doing when he's 23 or 25. Our win over the Dogs. An epic ANZAC Day culminating in a draw.

 

[Mercurial89]

There's enough negativity in life, I watch football - sport in general really - for the positive moments.

A loss annoys me for a few minutes, then I move on. Look for the positives. 2016 was a great year to watch football, seeing the growth of individual kids, seeing the team of misfits and retirees playing their hearts out.

Look at the growth of Durham and Caldwell. Think about what Caddy will be doing when he's 23 or 25. Our win over the Dogs. An epic ANZAC Day culminating in a draw.

To be honest I get angrier and more frustrated at the sport then I do the team, that's when it sucks the most, when you don't like the sport.

 

[Old Campaigner]

The hope is what drives me insane. Win a few games, look like things are changing and then same old Essendon in new financial year every year pains me.

You just knew we were going to lose on the weekend but still pains me when you know we should be beating such an inept Suns team at our home ground. We are just more inept.


The fact we brought in Goldstein (should retire), Gresham, McKay, Duursma and are no better or worst says that the list is just the same old same old.

Maybe your last paragraph is right but in saying that, I can’t see to much changing from the list perspective

You’ve got the same issue the club has had over the past decade - you’re overrating the list and adjusting your expectations accordingly.

I have hope but it based on a much longer time frame. It takes a really long time to deconstruct an incumbent culture and replace it with something better, it takes years to turnover an AFL list and develop the new group of players.

The media don’t help, but understanding that their primary motivation is eyeballs on ads and not necessarily measured reporting.

When a side is down hope sells well among those fans which is why the trade and draft period gets hyped up in the media. Your side gets an A during the trade period, every draft profile lists a superstar they play like, you might come away certain the next season will be better than last. But it’s mostly bullshit, improvements are incremental and not every draftee lives up to their promise.

So there’s no other option than to be patient. The coach and players are human and will make mistakes along the way, the new draftees will take time to come on, and throwing the toys out of the cot along the way will do precisely nothing to change that.

I’ve enjoyed this season, just eyeballing it I think we are playing better footy and showing far more grit than in previous years. We’ve got some good young players in Caddy and Roberts and some of the older players have taken their game to a new level.

 

[cavalcade]

The premise of this thread is spot on. Fitness is a perennial issue for Essendon. For a long time Essendon has recruited players with chronic injury concerns. Even now we have Baldwin, JDavey & Tex that haven't played regular footy since they were 16.
But it goes back a long way. Kavanagh got drafted after 3 hamstring tears and hadn't played for nearly 18 months. Top 20 pick when should have been a speculation pick.
Shotgun 28 years old with a wonky knee. Cooney wrong side of 30 and years on the sidelines. Prismall fresh off an all. All traded in for good draft picks. The list goes on.
We don't even try for a fit squad.

 

[Beerfish]

Even now we have Baldwin, JDavey & Tex that haven't played regular footy since they were 16.

Don't forget Reid.