AFL Autopsy Round 14: Essendon defeated by Sydney (1 point)

[bombreys]

There is a player in the league 10 kgs lighter than Gleeson? Gee, he must be 40 kilos then! Gleeson is about 6 stone ringing wet! Seriously though guys, game was played like a final, Goddard is a twat, should have dummied the guy, then kicked it, was hoping guys hung on. That run of 7 goals had the Swans on the ropes. Very unlucky, great to see you guys up and about this year, and 65,000 members is a great show of strength by the fans to stick it up the AFL after your club was r*ped by that drug saga for 5+ years!

I made a blue there, I got their respective weight the wrong way around.

I know he's easy to hate, but I have to stick up for BJ, I reckon he gets a harsh go around here. He did more than quite a few others. If he made that error in the first quarter, it doesn't get mentioned.

 

[rumply]

The only thing I can possibly think they're talking about is this:



which in my view seems to cover the scenario where it's touched from an attempted smother and the siren goes while the ball is in mid-air. Doesn't apply here. The ball wasn't just touched, it was caught and stopped. The Essendon player - forget who it was - subsequently walked over the line for the sake of running momentum, in an action that can't reasonably be considered a continuation of play.

We must appeal.

I hate technicalities, but if thats right the point was not scored, a shitstorm coming I suspect.

 

[DapperDon]

Worst loss in 4 years. No hiding the pain.

Unacceptable

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

their strong bodies inside killed us...our pace and willingness to take them on killed them...great game really....pity it was not at the g.

 

[Barry Roundhouse]

That relates to touched in transit. Didn't Kelly actually take possession and walk it over in motion? I'd see that as different.

He took possession while in mid air and landed over the line.

 

[oldandslow]

Yes Goddard made a poor decision but for the last 3 minutes we played extremely dumb football. Joe Daniher and Hurley stood tall but our decision making was horrendous.
If we are going to put players back in defence when we go forward we need to create a ******* contest not kick it onto Tippas head where he will get outmarked 99/100 times. What happened to kicking it long along the boundary line and spoiling it over the line.
Mentally weak effort in the end after fighting hard to be in a position no football team should ever lose.

 

[Teflon Dons]

True Woosh, we went up to Sydney against the form team of the whole comp and came within a point without Hooker and Parish. McKenna kicking out and Baguely replacing Gleeson on the goal line we win that. With Hooker we beat currently the best team in the league by 3-4 goals. Not the worst result. Could've let them blow us right out after half time.

 

[Atavistic]

Very good effort tonight. We usually get smashed in interstate games against good sides, so this level of competitiveness is encouraging. Exciting stuff in the fourth.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Worst loss in 4 years. No hiding the pain.

Unacceptable

Yep boys should be fuming no pats on the bums and saying "great effort"

 

[Jesse Custer]

Worst loss in 4 years. No hiding the pain.

Unacceptable

Agree but that means we have expectations now after 4 years of worse pain. We're coming.

 

[Summer Nights]

He took possession while in mid air and landed over the line.

Yeah, I still thinking it's different to the intention of the rule, but I can't be bothered caring. We lost. That's all there is to it

 

[BobbyDavisGo]

I made a blue there, I got their respective weight the wrong way around.

I know he's easy to hate, but I have to stick up for BJ, I reckon he gets a harsh go around here. He did more than quite a few others. If he made that error in the first quarter, it doesn't get mentioned.

True, but as some of you guys have mentioned, he shouldn't be kicking out.

 

[scythe]

I hate technicalities, but if thats right the point was not scored, a shitstorm coming I suspect.

I know I just told eth I don't hold the opinions of our enemies in any regard, but strictly speaking that's not true. The pure rage that would accompany the fairytale scenario of the club having enough backbone to protest AND having it upheld would be pretty enjoyable. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Felt sorry for Gleeson was never going to win that why wasn't a bigger bloke on Rohan ffs.

 

[bombreys]

True Woosh, we went up to Sydney against the form team of the whole comp and came within a point without Hooker and Parish. McKenna kicking out and Baguely replacing Gleeson on the goal line we win that. With Hooker we beat currently the best team in the league by 3-4 goals. Not the worst result. Could've let them blow us right out after half time.

Please tell me he didn't use Parish being out as an excuse? He elected not to play him - going with inferior players instead.

He doesn't get to use hindsight now that it suits his argument, stuff that.

 

[Towno78]

Should have won.
Didn't.
Will not make finals.

I'll be stunned if we don't go at least 4-1 in the next month

 

[ScrappyCoCo]

Felt sorry for Gleeson was never going to win that why wasn't a bigger bloke on Rohan ffs.

if we had 1 extra there...anyone..they would have absolutely killed that ball...cannot believe they found a 1 on 1 in that stage of the game on the goal line when we had 18 blokes in their 50.

 

[blitzer]

Well that one certainly burns but I did think there were some positives.
1) The game was on Sydney's terms for most of the day - they kept it in close and had their clearance game going which forced us to have to try to rebound from defense far too much. Normally in such a situation we would go into our shell but the guys just kept taking the game on and we also won back some control in the clearance stakes.
2) Conditions were slippery and on the smaller ground you would have expected that to play into the Swans hands given the respective strengths of our teams. I think we did a reasonable job countering that.

I will also say that I'm not surprised that in situations requiring team cohesion we are a little short of where we need to be (such as playing out a lead). Although we have made great strides we still have some work to go in playing as a team that really knows each other inside out.

Some individuals:
McKenna - Was super today. He brought us back into the game with his run and carry in the 3rd. Its extraordinary how much he's grown as a player. That bit of play that lead to him kicking a goal was awesome.
Zac Merrett - We take it for granted but in conditions you wouldn't expect to favour him and on a small ground he was still fantastic. Lead the team in contested possessions. His kicking was quality as usual (well except that first one in the backline which was a stinker).
Zaharakis - Another good game from Zaka. You can see he's playing with confidence. He's not over-thinking he's just doing and its really working for him. That goal he kicked was really important at the time.
Watson - Was quiet. We probably needed a bigger contribution from him. To be honest he's way too slow now in the modern game. He can't keep up defensively and even offensively he's lost a yard.
Heppell - Similar to Watson was quiet. It was interesting because the things he did were very good but we need a bigger impact from our captain. On the tv it seemed he spent a lot of time in the backline which I don't think really worked for us.
Bellchambers - Liked his game. I wouldn't say he dominated by any stretch but on a dirty day he was one of the cleanest players out there.
Baguley - Did some super things. Also made some glaring mistakes. I think he was more good than bad today but I think when you notice Baguley a lot it normally means things aren't really going our way.

Small forwards: Tippa, Fantasia and Green - all tried but it just wasn't their day. They had missed 7 shots in the first 3 quarters without a goal to their name. They hit back in the last but we needed a more consistent effort and some of those shots - well you just need your small forwards to nail them.

We also missed Hooker a fair bit. The ball wasn't going to ground in our forward line nearly as much without him. McKernan struggled to get involved for most of the match before snagging a couple of goals which were good but compared to the impact Hooker was having well its pretty clear we lost out big time there.

 

[scythe]

Felt sorry for Gleeson was never going to win that why wasn't a bigger bloke on Rohan ffs.

Real shame, Gleeson had a decent game tonight.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

if we had 1 extra there...anyone..they would have absolutely killed that ball...cannot believe they found a 1 on 1 in that stage of the game on the goal line.

Such a bullshit last few seconds.

The fluke kick of Rampes boot that managed to find a 1v1 on the goal line.

 

[oldandslow]

Good teams don't lose games being 13 points up with 2 minutes to go.
None of this we should be proud bull****.
What's our interstate record like?
We just had to win that game.
I hope Woosha gives them a proper serve for the mental disintegration.

 

[oldandslow]

Very good effort tonight. We usually get smashed in interstate games against good sides, so this level of competitiveness is encouraging. Exciting stuff in the fourth.

With that attitude we will never win another flag

 

[fishardansin]

Good game by the boys. In the first half Kennedy put on a clinic, our small forwards were ineffectual and McKernan was a spectating potato. The fact we were still in at 3 quarter time is a credit to how well our backline competes and how dangerous we are with limited chances.

I know a lot want to get stuck into Goddard, but it was him going to Kennedy that changed the game. He didn't nullify Kennedy but he did curb him and then took advantage of Kennedy's complete lack of accountability the other way. It amazing to see our run on and shows that we're unstoppable when that happens.

I really hope the club goes hard for Martin. It is the only thing missing from our side. A gun bull midfielder means we're not chasing tail in that area of the game. We are making the play and our attacking speed and KPFs are using their petrol attacking. Especially if Myers can find form and Laverde and Langford can come on like we're hoping they will.

On positive notes. It was great to see Hurley and Zaka continue their great form. I loved Gleeson finding an aerial game and I have hope that McKernan can put more of an effort into effecting the contest over the next few weeks while Hooker gets his finger right. Baguely. McKenna and McGrath were also good.

I think that disaster of a finish will be good for the boys. A great lesson. I also think we can take a lot of confidence out of how good we look when we're on. Looking at our fixture from here on in we should make finals. Another year of development into the kids, one or two good draft picks and hopefully a star mid as a FA, we'll be a very good side next year.

 

[Doss]

With that attitude we will never win another flag

There is a disconnect between an attitude a fan displays on an internet forum and the actual club's attitude. Don't lose sight of that and start taking potshots needlessly.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

With that attitude we will never win another flag

Accepting losses like this is how you become mediocre and we have been that for far too long.