AFL Autopsy RND 7: Draw Against The Pies

[The Dustbin]

I said to my mate when we were 1 point down at 8 minute mark I just want a point to be on level terms. Had no idea that it was going to be a 1 point score to us in that entirely of that time. What an arm wrestle.

Essendon seem to have an issue scoring a goal in the last 7-10 minutes of the 4th quarter. Not always a bad thing, actually a good sign they can hang in there and/or shut the game down.
If someone has the stats on this it’ll be interesting.

 

[Howard Moon]

A mate was saying mid game Collingwood look like they are in second gear, I said I dont think think they have gears, their schtick either works and they fly, or it dosent and they look a mess.

What stuck out to me was their positioning after a dropped mark or spoilage at half back, they know exactly where each other is stationed, usually with a couple at the fall of the ball then a gaggle in the corridor waiting to play pass the parcel through the corridor with an outnumber.

The times we cottoned onto it we'd interecpt that inbound pass and they were all caught totally out of position, the times we fell asleep they'd get it and cut the ball straight through us. Their game is dare I say all duck no dinner, but credit, they rarely go home hungry.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Absolute roller-coaster 24 hours...

Up for the dawn service, then straight home to watch Liverpool * their season (while Everton saved theirs!...campaigners)

Survive THAT classic game, including my boy Langers missing the potential match winner. Meanwhile, my wife brings home a spur-of-the-moment purchase...a puppy! Timed her walk through the door to coincide with the Last Post, no less.

To bed early, feeling tired and more than just tipsy. Up very early, hungover and hungry. Decide to get Maccas, then last-minute change of heart to go KFC in the neighbouring town. On the road joining the two towns, I get side-swiped by a ******* stag that takes out my passenger mirror...and KFC was shut anyway!

So I'm sat here with my eventual Maccas wondering wtf just happened these last 24!

Did you get the McPuppy

Small but delicious

 

[JayJ20]

After a sleep, this feels like a win to me. Not only because there's no difference between a win and a draw for our ladder position given our poor percentage, but also because it was an amazing spectacle. We got to see both Essendon and Collingwood in full flight at different stages. It had one of the goals of the year from Stringer and mark of the year from Elliott. Very entertaining game.

I usually don't like draws but it was easily the game of the year and I'm glad Essendon demonstrated they belong on the big stage playing a tough brand of football that finals are made of.
The anticipated finals win may not be too far away even if it isn't this year.

 

[fairbump_playon]

If anyone thinks that a loss would have been better than a draw watch the coaches press conference. Do you really think we would have been better off with a close loss and McCrae being Smug about it? It totally bamboozeled him!!!! Contrast that with Brad. Couldn’t hide his smile.It was like that movie the 300 we took a bit of skin of them today!

Yeah I had a lot of feelings at full time but waking up today I’m happy with the result.

I always come to hate the premier but OMG Collingwood and their supporters are smug - like they haven’t just won a flag, they’ve cracked the code of footy.

Even Macrae who I fundamentally like.. I so want to see his little yoda zen bubble burst. He might be less gracious when we eliminate them in a final .

Yesterday was definitely progress. After the last 18 months they believe that when they put the foot down, they win. We caught it on the chin but still hung in. Excellent.

 

[fairbump_playon]

Martin is getting all of the same ball.

I really don't understand it.

Yes Martin is robbing him of some distribution duties but Redman’s intercept game including his marking has been off, and that’s not on Martin.

Redman doesn’t look as clean in the air and around the contest as he can be at his best.

 

[MiguelM]

I took this as a win tbh. I can’t shake the feeling that Collingwood find a way to kick another goal if Langers slotted it.

Yeah they had plenty of time and would have been confident of doing it. was thinking the same.

Amazing how many times Pendles bobs up in these situations too. Almost again before the Parish tackle.

 

[JayJ20]

Yes Martin is robbing him of some distribution duties but Redman’s intercept game including his marking has been off, and that’s not on Martin.

Redman doesn’t look as clean in the air and around the contest as he can be at his best.

Redman isn't just a little down. He is way down on his usual output. His run, his kicking, his intercepting, his goal kicking, his tackling. Like he is down on confidence. Without looking at the stats, he seems to be well down in most if not all metrics.

What makes this year positive for me is that we're doing this without Setterfield, Wright and Ridley for large parts with Redman and Parish (who was good yesterday) well down on their usual output.

If Setterfield, Wright, Ridley, Redman and Parish were out or had little impact last year, then we'd have been no chance to win last year.

 

[hurlygurdy]

So last year we fell apart around about now. Logically this year progress would mean falling apart around round 12? Something to look forward to.
TBH it doesn’t feel that way. Last year it looked like we played desperate football in order to win. This year we are holding it together even when we are looking sloppy and tired. I thought last year we went downhill when Durham ran out of gas. He might turn out to be the barometer of this year as well although our midfield looks far better on paper

 

[Howard Moon]

So last year we fell apart around about now. Logically this year progress would mean falling apart around round 12? Something to look forward to.
TBH it doesn’t feel that way. Last year it looked like we played desperate football in order to win. This year we are holding it together even when we are looking sloppy and tired. I thought last year we went downhill when Durham ran out of gas. He might turn out to be the barometer of this year as well although our midfield looks far better on paper

Last year we also started with a dream draw then got the horror run which aided the collapse. This year we've had it tough and still help up, now it gets easier

 

[ant555]

watching them waltz out of D50 was disappointing

It was but it was predictable as they do it moist weeks. Going forward I doubt it is the structure and I did note Scott actually threw in the line it may be a bit of horses for courses when asked about it so he is obviously thinking it is not 100% where he wants it to be.
I guess it comes down to where the list is at. We desperately need a quality crumbing small forward with pace and pressure. We may have it if either Davey can find the next couple of levels or Tex can actually stay on the park but we need it from somewhere.
We also need one of Sam or Nick to step up in the ruck. For me the structure going forward is will be one ruck and Wright with Jones and Caddy if those guys find a consistent level. Jones and Caddy are very mobile and add pressure well for tall blokes. It then allows you to have Stringer and Langford and then a couple of small forward.

 

[ant555]

As for the draw I have no issues with it because it doesn't happen a lot but that is just me.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Redman should be playing the Ridley intercept spot but has shown he’s probably isn’t capable. Crazy we only have the one player on the list that a legit afl quality intercept mark across half back. McKay the next best but he’s to busy playing on the best forwards every week

 

[ant555]

Tackles inside 50 were poor.

Ess 2
Collingwood 14

It's why we cannot play all of Draper, Wright and Goldstein.

Agree. It also highlights the lack of even one fast small pressure forward. Davey may be the guy but right now he has to decide if he is actually going to finish it off and start making tackles. Mentioned it above that the future structure should be 2 rucks and no Wright or 1 ruck and Wright. It would allow us to play the two mobile tall forwards in Caddy and Jones. Pies play two rucks and a mobile forward line. We have the opportunity to use two rucks or 1 ruck and Wright who actually goes okay in the ruck.
It highlights the fact that our young rucks need to find a level and our quick small forwards need to come on or we need to look again in this space.

 

[astrowizzle]

Probably cos he kept getting caught and was offering very little.

If they are going to ping a player for handling away from Pendles then the player is better off not being on the ground. There was some very questionable umpirng/non umpirng . The non 50s to us were rubbish. Stringer and Langford nothing were ridiculous - game changing

 

[ant555]

Redman should be playing the Ridley intercept spot but has shown he’s probably isn’t capable. Crazy we only have the one player on the list that a legit afl quality intercept mark across half back. McKay the next best but he’s to busy playing on the best forwards every week

Heppell is AFL quality intercept. He is just slow.
We do need a bit more speed from half back. They have obviously put Martin back to try and provide fast play by ball use but we really need someone who can break the lines with pace and bounce.

 

[ant555]

Was at the game.

What was really interesting was what I think was played out as a tactical battle between their front half / midfield turn over game and our half back turn over game.

Forward pressure wasn't there, at all. Gresham exposed badly, for absence of run and speed. Alwyn wasn't much help although he worked into the game a bit.

What was really noticeable was how much harder they ran in the transition between the arcs. They could slice through our forward and midfield zone but that didn't convert to any ongoing control of the game because we seemed to be able to absorb the pressure at half back. Just as it seemed that they were going to run all over us they were pegged back.

It's something to bear in mind because I doubt we have an overall profile that looks like any other team that is considered good. If that's what we're trying to do, and I'm pretty sure we are, and it works then credit where it's due.

I think the score board flattered Collingwood at quarter time. 3 of the scoring shots came from what was essentially 1 phase of play. That doesn't mean much given the belting in the clearances we gave them in the first half.

They controlled the second quarter. The second half was even. In the second half it never felt like the game was out of control like it was in the last quarter of ANZAC day last year.

Prettt good game against a great team which is probably only a good team at this point in time.

Last time I was at the G it was R1. I'd take today over the s**t we dished up in R1 any time. There was heat out there and the team held up well.

I think the reason they where able to slice us up a bit was they are a bit faster across the board and there game is based on rolling the dice and just running forward of the footy backed up with some players who are good at setting up defensively if it goes wrong. They actually cheat a lot because they are a good side. They run hard and they have some speed.

 

[Gabe251]

Pies are hard to tackle in defensive 50. Their handball game gets them out super quick. Not saying we don't need to work on that, but pies are really really good at it.

 

[Squeaky]

Yeah I had a lot of feelings at full time but waking up today I’m happy with the result.

I always come to hate the premier but OMG Collingwood and their supporters are smug - like they haven’t just won a flag, they’ve cracked the code of footy.

Even Macrae who I fundamentally like.. I so want to see his little yoda zen bubble burst. He might be less gracious when we eliminate them in a final .

Yesterday was definitely progress. After the last 18 months they believe that when they put the foot down, they win. We caught it on the chin but still hung in. Excellent.

Well said.
The only bit I didn't like was when Collingwood was going, we went back to corralling the man with the ball rather than exerting proper pressure. If we are giving the premiership players time, they will almost always hit their target. When we put physical (& it then generates to mental) pressure on, the Pies looked fallible.
I say mental pressure, refer to McCreary butchering a chance in the first because of perceived pressure. That's what I mean.
Other than that, we went well. Better than expected.

 

[ant555]

I will say this about Kelly . Had a couple of really bad brain fades and you would hope we can upgrade his spot at some stage . He should be fringe depth on a good list but we are not in that spot yet. For every time he moves the footy a bit slower or makes a mistake there are 5 times he does something good or is strong in the contest and he knows the team structure. Until we find the bloke that does all of this and plays better offensively then he will remain just in the 22.
I know he is not the quickest ball mover but 50% of that is we are not a great run and spread side. That is why Martin has come up with a lot of dodgy thread the needle kicks out of the back half. If we spread like the Pies then Kelly would not look as bad.

 

[oldandslow]

Sorry if it has already been mentioned but we dominated many areas of the game including clearances… where did we go wrong to come out with a draw?

Was it points from turnover from our half forward line?

Mind you rapt with the result.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Sorry if it has already been mentioned but we dominated many areas of the game including clearances… where did we go wrong to come out with a draw?

Was it points from turnover from our half forward line?

Mind you rapt with the result.

I haven’t looked at the numbers but it feels like we did and do get burnt in the turnover a lot. It’s in the nature of the style we play. Which I have no issues with atm. We are early into Scott’s tenure and it will take time. The signs are good and we need to keep developing the guys we have and bringing in more players that suit that style. If we were seriously contending I’d be worried

 

[ant555]

Sorry if it has already been mentioned but we dominated many areas of the game including clearances… where did we go wrong to come out with a draw?

Was it points from turnover from our half forward line?

Mind you rapt with the result.

They did make us pay on some turnovers but also the little skill errors like missed handball targets that put our blokes under pressure or the little fumbles at times. They love to pounce on the footy after a mistake and take of in numbers the other way. Also exposed the forward half for speed a few times.

 

[zigipop]

Brad post match “Win lose or draw the effort and intent is what we’re after”.
How the **** did it take 15 years for us to find someone who understands and enforces this? It’s not a personnel thing. The Essendon we’ve seen since the Port game we haven’t seen for a long time. We’re hungry and we’re up for the fight.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Turnovers especially that second quarter hurt us. They beat us +14 in tackles which Scott wasn’t happy about.

We average 11 tackles a game inside 50 ..we had just two in this game. Davey zero tackles ..I like the kid but if he’s not contributing in this aspect or physically then he needs to go back to VFL.

Overall though good performance, like others have said after that second quarter we would’ve folded under previous coaches. Interesting Zach emphasising after the game that we had a clear plan ..he’s criticised that in the past. We look as good as we have had in a long time setting up behind the ball. All this without Ridley.