AFL Autopsy Outgunned by the Tigers

[Yoda_]

Francis, Waterman, Cutler & Smith are VFL footballers, so please keep them there. We’re not moving forward with them, so just play kids instead.

Broken record but get Heppell out of the backline truck if you’re not gonna drop him.

I’m firmly in agreeable but who should have played in lieu of these guys last night? Guys not injured and available of course.

Don’t say 4 kids because that would never happen.

 

[frodos gardener]

Because everyone wanted ‘a response’ great, we started a couple of fights but have deviated from the stated plan and gone back to what we have already decided doesn’t work due to external pressure. Shortcuts.

Where are the reports of “external pressure” coming from? Is it confirmed or is it people just inferring because the game plan appears to be folding back?

 

[MiguelM]

Francis, Waterman, Cutler & Smith are VFL footballers, so please keep them there. We’re not moving forward with them, so just play kids instead.

Broken record but get Heppell out of the backline truck if you’re not gonna drop him.

Agreed, I have defended Cutler but he is so weak at the contest.

Injuries caught up with Smith. Heppell softest leader we have ever had, cooked. Waterman & Francis depth at best.

Forward line & lack of run to receive in the backline is killing us.

Tigers had 2-3 stopping Wright on a night not suited to him, so where are the free players? Waterman & Francis, zero movement to get space.

Some real green shoots emerging in Reid, Martin, Hobbs, Perk etc but the paddock still full of weeds.

 

[MiguelM]

I’m firmly in agreeable but who should have played in lieu of these guys last night? Guys not injured and available of course.

Don’t say 4 kids because that would never happen.

IMO, Wanganeen should have at least taken Francis or Waterman's spot. Dreamtime perfect time to give him a real taste. Not just a token 5 minutes.

 

[Yoda_]

IMO, Wanganeen should have at least taken Francis or Waterman's spot. Dreamtime perfect time to give him a real taste. Not just a token 5 minutes.

A small forward playing in a key forwards spot? hm.. not sure about that

 

[MiguelM]

A small forward playing in a key forwards spot? hm.. not sure about that

Neither are close to a key forward and even if they were you don't go with 3 plus ruckmen on a greasy night.

We need a crumber,

 

[Old man fletch]

Stringer will play 1 game then re-injure

Langford, Caldwell - average

Snelling, Stewart - well below average

Jones - too early to tell

Harsh on a few here.

Agree on stringer, needs a few weeks post recovery where they get his body right instead of rushing him back.

Langford when he's on is one of our most damaging players and best kicks to players inside 50.

Caldwell doesn't get enough of it atm, but adds grunt our midfield sorely needs.

Snelling is probably our teams most prolific tackler and applies a lot of defensive pressure which was absent last week.

Stewart is a hard one. Has looked underwhelming this year but our defense is up against it with no midfield pressure. Looked pretty good last year when our defenders had support from the midfield

 

[Yoda_]

Neither are close to a key forward and even if they were you don't go with 3 plus ruckmen on a greasy night.

We need a crumber,

I agree that we need a pressure small forward, just commented that we should even go as far to look at the mid season draft for one but Francis appears to be being used a KPF (might be a '3rd' tall forward), Waterman was found in the square as our deepest forward a few times last night which suggests ge is our FF.

 

[mxett]

But harsh there.
Harsh on a few here.

Agree on stringer, needs a few weeks post recovery where they get his body right instead of rushing him back.

Langford when he's on is one of our most damaging players and beat kicks to players inside 50.

Caldwell doesn't get enough of it atm, but adds grunt our midfield sorely needs.

Snelling is probably our teams most prolific tackler and applies a lot of defensive pressure which was absent last week.

Stewart is a hard one. Has looked underwhelming this year but our defense is up against it with no midfield pressure. Looked pretty good last year when our defenders had support from the midfield

Langford shows plenty but goes missing far too much. His net output is average

Caldwell is worth persisting with but has shown glimpses at best

Snelling just isnt up to it. His best is mediocre on balance. Good defensively but no pace, and doesnt impact games

Stewart is just embarrassing. He makes BZT look like a good option

 

[Yoda_]

Langford shows plenty but goes missing far too much. His net output is average

Caldwell is worth persisting with but has shown glimpses at best

Snelling just isnt up to it. His best is mediocre on balance. Good defensively but no pace, and doesnt impact games

Stewart is just embarrassing. He makes BZT look like a good option

you are welcome to your opinion but some of these are weird and most Essendon supporters may politely disagree.

 

[Zach Package]

Where are the reports of “external pressure” coming from? Is it confirmed or is it people just inferring because the game plan appears to be folding back?

It was in the press that they’d stripped back elements and simplified things a little bit.

To be honest a lot of things work a lot better than in previous weeks but at the same time if it’s not the way you want to play long term then what’s the point.

Our wingers got exposed something brutal and last night really highlighted how much we miss some genuine ground ball threats in the forward half, because unlike previous weeks, we actually got the ball to ground in the forward 50 a fair bit.

 

[BuffDog]

Last year we moved the ball forward quite well and tackled well, which masked our issues defending transition. This year we have regressed on our strengths and failed to improve on our weaknesses and it’s just bizzare and frustrating.

We aren’t going to win too many games until we get some small forwards that can apply pressure and a legitimate marking target to help Wright (which could and should be Jones). Snelling out is hurting as he toes the blue collar line and AMT needs to be replaced fast.

 

[srobbo]

Agreed, I have defended Cutler but he is so weak at the contest.

Injuries caught up with Smith. Heppell softest leader we have ever had, cooked. Waterman & Francis depth at best.

Forward line & lack of run to receive in the backline is killing us.

Tigers had 2-3 stopping Wright on a night not suited to him, so where are the free players? Waterman & Francis, zero movement to get space.

Some real green shoots emerging in Reid, Martin, Hobbs, Perk etc but the paddock still full of weeds.

Cutler’s a lions reject & has done nothing in my eyes to right the wrong. Has a nice leg on him, but that’s it.

Francis & Waterman just arent/weren’t smart enough to exploit the lack of respect/attention, Richmond knew it & were proven right.

 

[Yoda_]

Last year we moved the ball forward quite well and tackled well, which masked our issues defending transition. This year we have regressed on our strengths and failed to improve on our weaknesses and it’s just bizzare and frustrating.

We aren’t going to win too many games until we get some small forwards that can apply pressure and a legitimate marking target to help Wright (which could and should be Jones). Snelling out is hurting as he toes the blue collar line and AMT needs to be replaced fast.

No excuses as the list needs to have cover but not having a conduit like Will Snelling has been glaring for weeks now. Harry Jones in means Francis is null and void with Jones' tank creating space for forwards behind him.


No stringer doesn't help, he does some magical things and Tippa as a pressure forward was replaced by a guy who had 0 tackles

 

[Yoda_]

Cutler’s a lions reject & has done nothing in my eyes to right the wrong. Has a nice leg on him, but that’s it.

Francis & Waterman just arent/weren’t smart enough to exploit the lack of respect/attention, Richmond knew it & were proven right.

Cutler got into the kick chasing antics last night constantly trying to get easy kicks running past when a shot on goal was on or he wasn't in the right spot.

 

[IHurley]

It was in the press that they’d stripped back elements and simplified things a little bit.

To be honest a lot of things work a lot better than in previous weeks but at the same time if it’s not the way you want to play long term then what’s the point.

Our wingers got exposed something brutal and last night really highlighted how much we miss some genuine ground ball threats in the forward half, because unlike previous weeks, we actually got the ball to ground in the forward 50 a fair bit.

It's probably a good thing we still got smashed. It would only have encouraged more shortcuts.

 

[Mini Dustin Fletcher]

I really don’t like it when Jake Kelly

29

Jake Kelly

Age

29

Ht

190cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.5

4star

K

8.3

3star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.6

4star

MG

157.8

2star

D

8.1

2star

K

6.3

3star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.6

4star

MG

104.1

2star

D

14.8

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

5.8

4star

M

6.0

5star

T

4.2

5star

MG

107.0

2star

has the ball in the back pocket. I’d love to see him be a tagger.

Time to change the plan I think, we don’t have the cattle for it.

Looked a bit scipted with the hardness.. it’ll go back to the way it’s been next week.

We are in a rebuild. Whether we like it or not

 

[ghostdog]

Stringer will play 1 game then re-injure

Langford, Caldwell - average

Snelling, Stewart - well below average

Jones - too early to tell

Caldwell has played 23 games.
Snelling was top three in the Crichton only last year.
Jones has shown enough to suggest he will be a strong key forward. He has kicked 20.6 from only 16 games and he's only 23.

 

[B4dg3r]

There’s too many on here claiming we saw more of last week in yesterday’s performance. From a skills / game plan perspective 100% we looked average. From an effort point of view we definitely rocked up.

I watched the game on silent and without the external opinions from commentary it was interesting to compare our players to the tigers. What I saw was two groups of players equally committed to the contest and physical danger but one group having the skills and system to move the ball where they wanted. Our players just haven’t learnt the system yet. Give them time but demand the physical commitment.

Unfortunately it’s just a reality for a rebuilding team. We’re not ready to match it with the big boys yet. If the coaches / board stick together and reward / prioritise the younger players that actually crack in I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised in a few years - but it’s going to take a few years… mark my words if we bail on the current strategy and sack Rutter, recruit for temporary success, or continue to drop young players for not getting 30 soft touches we’ll be the new Norf / laughing stock of the AFL (if we’re not that already!).

Reid, Hobbs, Perkins, Martin, Redman, Rids, Draper, Bryan, Jones, etc are all under 23. We’ve got good years ahead but until that core are pushing 25-27 it won’t be winning finals. Patience

 

[ghostdog]

There’s too many on here claiming we saw more of last week in yesterday’s performance. From a skills / game plan perspective 100% we looked average. From an effort point of view we definitely rocked up.

I watched the game on silent and without the external opinions from commentary it was interesting to compare our players to the tigers. What I saw was two groups of players equally committed to the contest and physical danger but one group having the skills and system to move the ball where they wanted. Our players just haven’t learnt the system yet. Give them time but demand the physical commitment.

Unfortunately it’s just a reality for a rebuilding team. We’re not ready to match it with the big boys yet. If the coaches / board stick together and reward / prioritise the younger players that actually crack in I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised in a few years - but it’s going to take a few years… mark my words if we bail on the current strategy and sack Rutter, recruit for temporary success, or continue to drop young players for not getting 30 soft touches we’ll be the new Norf / laughing stock of the AFL (if we’re not that already!).

Reid, Hobbs, Perkins, Martin, Redman, Rids, Draper, Bryan, Jones, etc are all under 23. We’ve got good years ahead but until that core are pushing 25-27 it won’t be winning finals. Patience

Totally agree. What I saw last night was a team that believes in their coach and who do want to play better for each other, finally. We're still turning the list over and, when I look at defensively minded players like Snelling, Durham, Hobbs, Perkins, Reid, and last night, Bryan, I see a group that is gradually filling the Ben Rutten vision.

It's a bit tough when some of the leaders are a bit flaky, but last night for example, I think I actually saw a different Andy McGrath as well; someone who wants to be the leader but was finally willing to establish himself in that mould on his own terms rather than the nice-guy example that he has been set since he arrived. No doubt he was spurred on by the public comments from Rutten during the week, but it's worth noting that those comments contradicted Heppell's, and I think the result was the McGrath of last night. Being belted by Sydney seems to have caused some serious self-reflection.

I agree though, we need to recognise the little victories and keep the faith in Rutten's vision.

 

[sameolds33]

you are welcome to your opinion but some of these are weird and most Essendon supporters may politely disagree.

Also, you don't have to be a superstar to play a role. Look at the Suns. Most games just come down to players making the right choice at the right time and executing effectively.

Edit: and a season comes down to doing that consistently every game, every week.

 

[Mootsy]

Shiel fended off a couple of times and had free kicks against him, funny how if you’re a star a grade player, you can actually get away with fending off. Talk about double standards.

 

[B4dg3r]

Totally agree. What I saw last night was a team that believes in their coach and who do want to play better for each other, finally. We're still turning the list over and, when I look at defensively minded players like Snelling, Durham, Hobbs, Perkins, Reid, and last night, Bryan, I see a group that is gradually filling the Ben Rutten vision.

It's a bit tough when some of the leaders are a bit flaky, but last night for example, I think I actually saw a different Andy McGrath as well; someone who wants to be the leader but was finally willing to establish himself in that mould on his own terms rather than the nice-guy example that he has been set since he arrived. No doubt he was spurred on by the public comments from Rutten during the week, but it's worth noting that those comments contradicted Heppell's, and I think the result was the McGrath of last night. Being belted by Sydney seems to have caused some serious self-reflection.

I agree though, we need to recognise the little victories and keep the faith in Rutten's vision.

I think a big part of the frustration is that we’ve been rubbish for the best part of 15+ years. I can’t help but feel that is the first fully acknowledged (at clubland) rebuild in that period though. I also think we’re going about it with more maturity than the post-Sheedy / Hird Knights era. I reckon the board just thought a new coach would be all we needed. There’s a sense that the club (board / coaches / players) knows it currently stinks AND they’re willing to work slowly towards excellence. I find it strange that a lot of BF posters want us to each shit line Norf rather than be measured and surgical in our approach. I’ll eat humble pie if we’ve go to the trade table again and recruit middle aged soft bellied $$ chasers but I have a sneaky suspicion we’ll continue following the youth / draft strategy and maybe sprinkle some Hodge to Brissy in their (if someone worth it is available).

 

[faible]

I find it strange that a lot of BF posters want us to each shit line Norf rather than be measured and surgical in our approach.

A lot of supporters seem to think blowing it all up every 18 months when things don’t work is somehow going to fix things.

 

[BomberFan355]

Sad that we are celebrating the effort last night when that should be standard every week.