
- Apr 23, 2016
- 39,026
- 59,206
- AFL Club
- Essendon
I really dont take much heed to expected score, according to that metric we lost most of our games this year.
Everytime a goal is kicked instead of missed the whole dynamic of the game would change because the ball goes back to the centre instead of a kick in, Carlton always seemed to answer our goals with a good centre clearance whereas from kick ins we got repeat entries due to our our press, so hard to know how inside 50s would look if we kick more accurately initially.
At end of the day it was a good lesson in where we are at, the intent was there all game but we lack some of the high end talent that contenders have (especially in forward line).
I dont think its something to be down on, Carlton are head of us in their team development and Voss is a decent coach, whilst Scott made some good moves to quell cripps/walsh/Curnow/McKay I think Voss slightly shaded him by taking away some of our main weapons in Intercept possessions and uncontested marks, it meant a lot of our kicking going into 50 was rushed so the lack of a contested marking tall was really magnified.
Yes, it's probably a good indication that sitting 2nd on the ladder was more a reflection on the sides around us falling over than it was us genuinely being the 2nd best side in it.
You don't win (or lose) based on xScore, but it's a good data point for understanding whether we were wastefully inaccurate (we were) or whether Carlton were overly accurate / got much better looks (they were, and they did).
Kick a few of those early missed options, we have scoreboard pressure, our players are up and about, their players are fighting to stay in the game.