AFL Autopsy Round 16 08/07/2018: 16 Point loss to Collingwood

[essendon]

With season over and themselves to blame, now it’s forward planning, if we are serious moving forward, my list of players under review and more than likely shouldn’t be there or won’t be there over the new couple of years are:

Note, it’s not based on today’s game either, purely an opinion, don’t know about you, but I’m sick of not making finals and want to get back there ASAP and win finals

Goddard...past him....retire
Myers...has one year left on contract...and then move on.....thanks
Colyer...trade...thanks for your comeback
Green...no comment and simply no good and shouldn’t return in our team again
Leuenberger....trade....stick with and develop Draper instead
Ambrose....injury prone....over it....keep running PBs over summer around princess park...means nothin
Brown....good VFL player...no physical body strength and never going to get any better..thanks for 2016
McKernan....dumb footballer....depth player at best until we find someone better
McNiece.....VFL standard....not good enough
Dea......VFL standard...thanks for 2016
Long.....will he ever make it....or he is still there because of his legend dad
J Merrett.....thanks for your efforts....but VFL standard at best
Baguley.....hmmmm....warrior....always have loved your efforts.....but running out of time....

Laverde...concerned...injury prone...we are still waiting to see his best
Stewart....concerned....will he regain his form....or is he waiting for Joe Daniher to return to take second best defender...never been the same when he was our key forward and taking best defender
Francis.....have no idea....will he even stay or seek a trade again...would love to see him stay and dominate
D Clarke.....worried......may not be quick enough
Parish.....praying he regains his form


Almost half the list in question....it may seem harsh I know, but I’m trying to be realistic and sick of it if we are trying win a final after 14 years........

 

[Alfred E Neuman]

Thoughts on today:

Vline should run more than two carriages on trains from and to Seymour...especially when somebody spews in one of the two carriages!

Guelfi was good again, burst through a few contests. Still prone to bombing the ball.

That had to be Hurleys worst game, chalk it up to a nightmare. He has a rubber chest!

Long played an awesome game. A good link up option through the ground with good field kicking. Intercepted a few opponent inside 50s. Really impressed with the kid. Really happy with his inclusion.

Langford continues to build, actually using his body in the contest.

Lastly, David Myers on several occasions today and last week hovered in a contest and let a guy like McGrath burrow in with his head over it! David please!

Controversial view but i think the umpiring was better and we even got some ridiculous calls go our way.

What?!

 

[adsla69k]

In Woosha's presser did he talk about Goddards exceptional, incomparable first-rate ability to avoid contact.
Also my new barometer is how Hurley plays. If he is getting lots of UCM and slow to get back from the mark then I know we are ****ed.

 

[Andronicus]

Buckley gave the Pies a spray at ht wonder if Woosha did the same?

He tried, but they wouldn't let him in the Collingwood rooms.

 

[kaistar]

Hey fellas,
Thought you guys outplayed us today for the majority of the game but we were able to stick with you and then in the last quarter our quality players just took over. Pendels last quarter was as good as he’s been in a long time and potentially the best last quarter I’ve seen from an individual this season, was heroic. Reading through the thread, I’m not sure what the long hate is all about. I thought he was fairly impressive and looks a player. Yeah he struggled in big moments late but he’s only young and think it’s excuseable. Though I’m saying that, if I was a bombers supporter I’d be spewing. I find your list one of the most interesting in the entire league.
Think your bracket of elite players are really elite. Daniher is a gun, no denying it, terrifies me every time we play him.
Think you guys have a number of elite players...
Hurley
Daniher
Merret
Heppel
Fantasia
Smith
McGrath
Then some above average players:
Hooker
Zaharakis
Stringer
Goddard
Bellchambers

I think your recent issues are your first round picks. Parish is playing twos, Laverne and Langford haven’t offered much at all and Francis albeit is a gun, isn’t working at the club.

Think your scope for improvement is massive, as there are some real top tier elite players. For example in a top 6 team, tippa should be a fringe player, forward pocketer in my eyes, not someone that is rotating on the ball. And Saad cannot be relief upon as one on one I think he’s a real liability as a defender. Maybe a move to the wing is an option.

Just some input on where your list is at in my eyes.
Good luck for the rest of the season, the future is bright.

 

[Frazb]

Has the goddard 50 been discussed? Technically was it the right decision? Or shouldve simply been paid a free kick?

 

[Dons4days]

Colyer is not afl standard & I don’t think he ever will be.

 

[fishardansin]

What could he have done if he released the ball? Put his hand down and potentially break his wrist whilst not actually protecting his head at all. The side he was slung to was the side where his arm was pinned. 100% a free against Smith

He wasn't exactly slung and it was towards his free arm.

 

[AcuteWhistle]

Yes they were the difference. Get your hand off it.

Shortsighted & foolish way to view it.

 

[fishardansin]

What is your obsession with sprays?

Too much pr0n.

 

[ClokesShankedIt]

Good game - spent most of it thinking that the Dons would win by around 4 snags

Woosha needs to publicly call out the umpires. I have nfi what that 50 against Goddard was for. Imagine if that was a GF

 

[Ambrosia]

Given the 3 injuries during the match its hard to be too crititcal of the last quarter.

 

[MarkG]

Worsfold says that Hurley and Goddard are currently performing a role that is keeping Francis (who performs the same role) out of the team. They made a hard decision on Kelly last season despite him polling well in the B&F.

Perhaps the same hard decision now needs to be made on Goddard (33yo). Francis needs senior games under his belt, which will be achieved not by continually jogging around in the VFL.

You could see the pace difference between AFL and VFL with Longs game. Long (22yo) should be given another chance to adjust, as should Francis (20yo).

There were 2 incidents involving Goddard that hurt us badly including Cripps running through Goddard pushing him aside with ease and Goddards 50m penalty. Noticed Hurley also looked at Goddard several times hoping for assistance when defending.

 

[BrunoV]

Hard to know what to make of yesterday. It was a high quality match and the pressure was as good as anything I've seen this year.

It always felt like Collingwood was too powerful around the ball but then we dealt with that by shuffling the ball around by hand. We were better on the outside.

It was even and we had to play some of our best footy to be in front at late as Q4.

Frankly, we were not good enough to deal with the umpiring changing the momentum the way it did after we goaled in the early part of the fourth.

It's possible that the dam wall would have been breached anyway, and I'm not discounting that the Pies may still have won, but I have no doubt that the umpires killed us off. Had we been Richmond it might not have mattered because we'd have had the tools to go again but when we needed to be at the proverbial 110% the momentum change was too much for us to overcome.

I don't agree with all of the selected side but I don't think that preparation or selection cost us that game. It felt like we controlled most of the first three quarter and that only really happens when the planning is good.

Season is now over barring a miracle but we should not be chasing a miracle. We now have to make sure that we're getting a look at Francis, Long, Ridley, Laverde and other next gen players on the fringe of the side for the rest of the year.

Use the remaining games to learn as much as possible about the list. Long is a good example of someone that we learned more about yesterday than we did over the past two years.

 

[ant555]

Had to tag Sidebottom, when will we learn in regards to him always killing us

Do not really have anyone who tags which is an issue. No defensive midfielders.

 

[eDPS]

Do not really have anyone who tags which is an issue. No defensive midfielders.

Would have been a good task for Guelfi i reckon

 

[citizen-erased]

Blessing in disguise loss if the coaching panel take the opportunity now to play the kids and see what they can carry into 2019.

Ridley, Francis, Parish, Clarke, Laverde, Mutch.
Expect them all to be ins for the remainder of the season.

 

[citizen-erased]

Would have been a good task for Guelfi i reckon

Guelfi is ideal because he also contributes to the team as well, rather than just being a body out there to stop one opposition player.

 

[ant555]

I think what the game showed is that IMO what I have said since the start of the season is right. We lack two class midfielders. Yesterday we did okay for most of the game against them at the initial stoppage but because we use a mixed bunch of players that are not all natural in the position their positioning around the ground killed us. They got the midfield spread spot on where we tend to be too much see ball get ball and end up with players out of position or all on one side of the contest. It is not natural thing for the likes of Stringer , Wallla and Langford who are being used through the middle a bit. They have not spent most of their life honing that position. When the game was on the line to be won Pendlebury won two clearances . We did not cover him.
I think our guys will get better the more they play midfield but they will never have the natural instincts that others have who have a long period of playing the position. People say we do need need a player like Sloane but despite his age he possess everything we need in a midfielder. Plays inside and out. Knows where to position himself and can defend at a stoppage when needed.

I have virtually never been someone who uses umpires as an excuse but I thought they killed us at various important stages and not just with what they paid against us but the several high tackles missed inside our forward 50.

Overall it was a bloody good effort. The defence was well set most of the game and we left nothing in the tank.

 

[Squeaky]

You left out the 540 degree turn with ball in hand and arms free that was not paid holding the ball on the members wing Q1 (or2?)

EFC should cut the edits up & put it on a DVD for the AFL marked 'WTAF!'
It is going to be a boxed set!

Time stands still when Pendles has the ball - if that's the case, he held the ball for a week!

 

[ant555]

Would have been a good task for Guelfi i reckon

I know what you are saying but the player has to have the mindset and instinct to do it. Sure we could try running with someone but guys like Rusty and Pendles do what they do because they know where to set up , where to be around stoppages and exploit inexperienced midfielders when they get slightly out of position. You can be with them which we where a lot of the time but the split second our blokes watched the ball a bit they lost contact.
Right now I think Guelfi is best suited playing the role he is on the wing.

I will say the coach will have to change what he wants to do defensively and possibly find a run with player as we have too many who struggle with team defence. BJ tries but he is poor. If you look at Walla he spends a lot of time in no mans land trying to work out where he needs to go. Heppell gets caught out of position a lot. Langford can also get lost and Colyer does not run as hard in defence as he does when the field is in front of him.

 

[ant555]

Worsfold says that Hurley and Goddard are currently performing a role that is keeping Francis (who performs the same role) out of the team. They made a hard decision on Kelly last season despite him polling well in the B&F.

Perhaps the same hard decision now needs to be made on Goddard (33yo). Francis needs senior games under his belt, which will be achieved not by continually jogging around in the VFL.

You could see the pace difference between AFL and VFL with Longs game. Long (22yo) should be given another chance to adjust, as should Francis (20yo).

There were 2 incidents involving Goddard that hurt us badly including Cripps running through Goddard pushing him aside with ease and Goddards 50m penalty. Noticed Hurley also looked at Goddard several times hoping for assistance when defending.

Agree. On top of what you are saying BJ is no longer a strong contested mark and although he has lifted his effort by 100% he is simply an ordinary defender who gets caught out a lot. Even if Francis is not totally ready , which I actually agree he is not , at some stage you would think he will get a look in.
I will say that we can not really just drop BJ. That would be rather poor form given he is actually playing well. Maybe he need to be played up the ground on the wing again where he does not have to defend one on one as much.
Francis does have to improve on his second efforts though. he would have been burnt yesterday if he repeated some of his VFL weakness.

 

[DERO]

Great match, shame about the result.

We nearly beat 2nd on the ladder! No need to cry into the cornflakes over this one.

 

[Dave]

Good game - spent most of it thinking that the Dons would win by around 4 snags

Woosha needs to publicly call out the umpires. I have nfi what that 50 against Goddard was for. Imagine if that was a GF

For holding Sidebottom after he dished it off to prevent him from running on and getting it back. Was introduced a few years ago when it happened a lot. Hasn't been as much of it happening now but it was there.

 

[Dave]

We nearly beat 2nd on the ladder! No need to cry into the cornflakes over this one.

Yep. Had a crack, pressure was good, in the end ran out of legs and they were too good. It happens.

Had we played this way from the start of the season we'd be in a much better position.