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

[DonsRule]

Disagree mate. Not here to troll just engaging in serious discussions around those last 2 minutes and what Essendon can do next time.

You don't play fast, risky footy when you're couple of goals up with a few minutes to go.
The Dons made the right decision to 'shut up shop' in the last few minutes to eat up the clock, they just executed it poorly.

A few key mistakes i saw:

• Danniher takes what should have been a match saving mark. Ideally he kicks it short to a loose man who's free to eat up the clock...if this option is not on there should have been a large pack formed down the line, instead Danniher was forced to kick to a 1v1. Then the Essendon player got out-marked in said contest which shouldn't happen.
• Buddy finds space on the end of the next kick and takes a contested mark of sorts - shouldn't have allowed that. He kicks a point.
• Goddard then inexplicably plays on from the kick-in and gets smothered - really poor decision.
• Despite flooding the area Sydney wins the clearance with a kick to the top of the square...ok sometimes you lose clearances but you surely HAVE to have a loose man in front of Rohan at the top of the goal square...you have 18 players in defensive 50, someone should have been there to help Gleeson standing in the hole.

Yep, don't disagree with any of that, there were a lot of errors, even on Goddard, there was no one for him to kick too. Our kick ins have been an issue for a while.

Too many made mistakes only ourselves to blame for that

 

[caboose]

Can't be bothered reading through every single page of the thread ... so apologies if this has been raised already.

But, re the rushed behind ...

My concern wasn't whether Kelly took it over the line and whether it was therefore a score or not, but whether the siren was blown late. If you look at Seven's clock (before it is removed from the screen at either 0:03 or 0:02 from memory), it appears that the siren is clearly blown later than it should have been. And that, in all likelihood, it should have been sounded even before Franklin got the kick away in the first place.

I've only looked at it a couple of times, so would be interested to hear if others think the same thing.

 

[JayJ20]

We're all well and truly emotionally invested fans on here, irrespective of how we process a loss like last night. I would actually go further and say we are over-invested Essendon tragics given we post on a site like this hours, and even days, after a match. Here's some more positivity just to piss off those that think we should all exhibit doom and gloom to demonstrate our bona fides. The players should, and will, learn a lot from that last 5 minutes, particularly as it was associated with something so gut wrenching. There are a set of young leaders at the club, including Merrett and Daniher, that will do all they can to extract as much from the loss that they can. It's not a pattern of behaviour for this side yet.

Agree with this. Worsfold did point out that we hadn't been in such a position this year. It's either a comfortable win or a comfortable loss by the end. I genuinely believe that we will learn from that.

At least it didn't happen in a final... Stewing on this for the rest of the off season would be much worse

 

[Halftimehero]

Still shaking my head

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Kelly should have punched the ball back in.

Anyone else see TBC get pushed in the back at final throw in? Not as bad as McGrath non-call but still umpire was right there.

 

[Jesse Custer]

First time in years that I couldn't bloody sleep last night over a game of footy. One half of me is proud of the effort, keeping Buddy goalless, and never giving up. The other half is still angry, being in a position to win and letting it slip. I'm torn I don't know how to feel atm. What I do know is that we are here, this club is on the way back. It's ok if we don't make finals this year for me because this year is about finding our feet and we are certainly doing that. It will be interesting to see what they take from the last few minutes, hoping that they will learn from that. I'm sure they will.

 

[Amazing Racer]

Reminiscent of the 99 prelim......we all know what happened the following year.

The boys only a week to wait to take it out on BrisVegas

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Closer to '96 Prelim. Same ground, Swans scored 13 points in the last two minutes to win by a point with kick after the siren

 

[Lethal]

After sleeping on it I'm still disappointed that we lost from that position.
Yet I'm so ****ing excited for the next few years, they are going to be so good everyone.

 

[Bennett.]

Lel even

No, definitely a bias

 

[MarkG]

Reminiscent of the 99 prelim......we all know what happened the following year.

The boys only a week to wait to take it out on BrisVegas

Wouldn't want to take Brisbane too lightly,

Reckon games like Saints, North, Carlton are all big danger games,

 

[Bennett.]

Every game is a danger game, it's just that our recent history shows us completely screwing the pooch in those ones that we have a better than even chance in

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Goddards Stantonesque mistake pretty much cost us that game. How a senior player can get a kick smothered from a kick in beggars belief.

We are getting there but just need a few more players.

 

[JETTA7]

We are building something special. No doubt about that.

 

[Gumby2Hurley]

 

[The Prosecutor]

I honestly think we'll go undefeated through to the end of the home and away season.

 

[Mr_McBoogerBalls]

I honestly think we'll go undefeated through to the end of the home and away season.

I like your optimism but I don't. Not cause we're bad or anything negative like that, just purely based on the equality of the comp this year. Any game can be lost or won.

 

[CBombers17]

I think the amount of wind people pump into both Francis and Laverde's sails is incredible. While each have potential for sure, Id like to see both Laverde and Francis performing at VFL level consistently before putting them in the senior side. It seems the more games that these two aren't playing the better their abilities seem to be inflated.

As for Colyer and Stewart, both are important parts of the team structure. Colyer was key to our third/fourth quarter comeback, picking up a number of midfield balls and kicking a great snap goal. His speed put together with the rest of the running brigade is what has other teams scared. Start to take out just one and you are reducing what is a sizeable weapon - our running fleet. As for Stewart, since his addition into the team it has made the whole forward line much more potent and his defensive efforts are better than anything i have seen from Francis so far. Last night Stewart's role was highlighted by McKernan not being able to completely cover Hooker's marking role in the forward line.

Gutted about the result and like many others was cursing some of the stupid errors made in the closing minutes, but then I thought about how they would be feeling themselves. Poor BJ. Yes he stuffed up kicking into the man on the mark, but seeing how passionate he is I can only imagine how much he is beating himself up ahead of what will be a tormenting week of review and media coverage. Being a glass half full person it is exciting to see where this group is going and the season is well and truly alive!

Special mention to Michael Hartley for another superb effort. I dont care if you are considered an attacking defender or not, based on his his previous effort tearing us a new one, holding Buddy goalless is euqivalent of kicking five yourself!!!

I wasnt looking to bag Coyler or Stewart but id argue that they were an important part of a side/structure that lost by a pont.

Its simply that IF we had a 6" 3 inside / outside bull type mid that can take a grab and is actually good in front of goal (Laverde has shown those qualiites) and an equally agile but marking forward to Stewart (Francis needs a tank but is a different prospect to most in the air) then we may be even harder to match up on than having 5 footers everywhere and a non high marking lead up forward.

I'm not blowing wind - ive seen enough, albeit it snippets from both those guys to see what they will bring - given they develop along the lines of most kids in an AFL system..

Edit: if we are going to win a flag at some stage we are going to need to have a better side than we put on the park last night - even if they were all in top form. Players will go and we've let better players go in the past than those mentioned to take the big prize.

I remember being upset when we let Scott Cummings go and look what came next..

 

[SherbertLemon]

Very excited for the future.

However I refuse to watch any football media this week.

 

[rumply]

I honestly think we'll go undefeated through to the end of the home and away season.

It's certainly a possibility, as Woosha has just commented on SEN, our clearance numbers are top 4 over the last month or so, & also highlights how well the Swans mids we're going for most of the game last night & yet the game was still ours for the taking. Opposition sides will need to be switched on to get over us.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

Still filthy after sleeping on it.

Lose to Brisbane and we don't deserve to play finals would like us to go on a winning steak.

 

[Eleven 38]

If we don't win the next 4 I don't think we can make finals.

 

[rumply]

Also haven't seen or heard much mention of the conditions last night - a heavy dew hit the SCG well before the game & as we saw, both sides had players slipping & sliding. The Swans have more exposure to that issue up there, which is quite common, so it's also another tic for our mob to still have been able to play with speed & accuracy, for the most part.

 

[Milanista28]

If our best form is sustainable and is implemented for the rest of the year we can win 7+ games from our 9. Destiny in our hands. Time is now though no more excuses.

 

[brutus76]

Gutted.

BJ what were you thinking?

Sydney were the better team and had they kicked straight would have won comfortably.

Kennedy was awesome as was Heeney but where was our skipper when we needed him?

Would rather miss finals than scrape in. Best keep mixing the team up as i din't think we've found our best 22 yet.

Definitely excited about the future even if Pops, Stants, Jobe etc all move on.