Preview Round 16: Essendon v Geelong - MCG - Country Game Apparently - Saturday 29th June - 7:30pm

[Hird05]

Greatest need is probably Setterfeild in to help with clearance imo. Kelly's probably first man out of the 22. Prefer Menzies as sub over him.

Gresh has to come in and tend to agree Perkins probably the guy to make way although ideally he's best 22 of course.

If Cox or Langers are injured it makes selection easier.

Obviously can't play Draper, Goldy, 2mp, Jones and Caddy. Really hard to pick who misses I think Goldy if we are thinking about the future. Cats and Pies don't exactly have dominant rucks.

Ins - Setterfeild, Gresh
Out, Kelly/Cox/Perkins

 

[d-mac3276]

I noticed Scott in the presser made a fairly important remark. He said something along the lines of we are not a team who will smash anyone, we don't really get heavy scoreboard result for periods of dominance because we arnt a team who wants to run forward of the ball to receive a potential or actual fast break, wed rather keep our shape.

This really seems to ring true and answer alot of questions as to why we can't smash poorer teams, it may come into its own come finals time when the teams are all good and coming at us but I'd still feel more comfortable being able to put on some scoreboard heat when we are having our dominant periods.

I reckon it's probably a symptom of us being historically poor at stopping teams run ons or going coast to coast so its been a necessary evil, however I'd say as we become a better team with better foot skills we probably need to open up a bit, trust our mates to win contests and get some score separation while the going is good

Biggest problem we have is when we actually kick a goal we seem to cough one up back straight away...happens way too often

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I noticed Scott in the presser made a fairly important remark. He said something along the lines of we are not a team who will smash anyone, we don't really get heavy scoreboard result for periods of dominance because we arnt a team who wants to run forward of the ball to receive a potential or actual fast break, wed rather keep our shape.

This really seems to ring true and answer alot of questions as to why we can't smash poorer teams, it may come into its own come finals time when the teams are all good and coming at us but I'd still feel more comfortable being able to put on some scoreboard heat when we are having our dominant periods.

I reckon it's probably a symptom of us being historically poor at stopping teams run ons or going coast to coast so its been a necessary evil, however I'd say as we become a better team with better foot skills we probably need to open up a bit, trust our mates to win contests and get some score separation while the going is good

I wouldn't say it's a good thing if "keeping your shape" means letting the 16th team kick 92 points on you....

The simple truth is we just aren't a great team, we are a mid team. We are still very much developing in many key areas.

We still have only 1.5 wins against the current top 8. And we have played all but 2 of them.

 

[TheGrizz]

We got belted at stoppage clearances again, and that is 4 of the last 5 games where that has happened.

We need reinforcement in there, be it Shiel, Setterfield or Hobbs. I tend to think Shiel is in better form of the three but Setterfield is better for balance. Either of those two (and let Hobbs build form as No.1 mid at VFL level for a bit) would be fine, but we need one of them though.

We are breaking even often enough from centre clearance but we cant continue to bleed from general stoppage like we are and win games.

 

[mcgrath_truther]

I reckon Gresham comes straight back in.

Does he like playing Geelong?

wouldn't think so

 

[Skipper_]

View attachment 2028787
wouldn't think so

To be fair that’s probably the best win/loss record against them of anyone on our list.

 

[justlookingaround]

I noticed Scott in the presser made a fairly important remark. He said something along the lines of we are not a team who will smash anyone, we don't really get heavy scoreboard result for periods of dominance because we arnt a team who wants to run forward of the ball to receive a potential or actual fast break, wed rather keep our shape.

This really seems to ring true and answer alot of questions as to why we can't smash poorer teams, it may come into its own come finals time when the teams are all good and coming at us but I'd still feel more comfortable being able to put on some scoreboard heat when we are having our dominant periods.

I reckon it's probably a symptom of us being historically poor at stopping teams run ons or going coast to coast so its been a necessary evil, however I'd say as we become a better team with better foot skills we probably need to open up a bit, trust our mates to win contests and get some score separation while the going is good

Yep, this has been my observation all year and it's why I haven't been concerned about not smashing lower teams. There's a reason teams like Adelaide can smash WCE by 100 points but then go on to lose to an in form Richmond a week or so later. There has been a lot less mayo on our wins and a lot more to take out of our losses (obviously the Port game was different and we just got torched). It's been noticeable because it's the style of footy you see in finals that I've always felt Essendon weren't capable of. We've been winning honestly and it invites sides to challenge us, it'll smash a side if they don't turn up, which you can't say about the bottom sides when we've played them this year - it's only really happened once against the Doggies who looked genuinely unprepared.
Through the year there's been one rolling area of our game letting us down, be it scoring power, accuracy, defence, defending transition ... if it all gets clicking we'll be tough to beat.

I've watched a shitton of footy this year, and it's pretty much the first time I've ever thought we deserve to be at the pointy end of the ladder. That counts for zilch at round 15. But it's obvious that there is still a lot to get out of the team this year.

 

[Howard Moon]

Yep, this has been my observation all year and it's why I haven't been concerned about not smashing lower teams. There's a reason teams like Adelaide can smash WCE by 100 points but then go on to lose to an in form Richmond a week or so later. There has been a lot less mayo on our wins and a lot more to take out of our losses (obviously the Port game was different and we just got torched). It's been noticeable because it's the style of footy you see in finals that I've always felt Essendon weren't capable of. We've been winning honestly and it invites sides to challenge us, it'll smash a side if they don't turn up, which you can't say about the bottom sides when we've played them this year - it's only really happened once against the Doggies who looked genuinely unprepared.
Through the year there's been one rolling area of our game letting us down, be it scoring power, accuracy, defence, defending transition ... if it all gets clicking we'll be tough to beat.

I've watched a shitton of footy this year, and it's pretty much the first time I've ever thought we deserve to be at the pointy end of the ladder. That counts for zilch at round 15. But it's obvious that there is still a lot to get out of the team this year.

It's Gunna burn making top 4 then having to play Sydney away... Get the stuffing kicked out of you and the double chance dosent help

 

[MiguelM]

Cats appealing Danger suspension

 

[bommer16]

From dangers presser this morn I’m still 50/50 he plays. Didn’t say much.

 

[eth-dog]

Cats appealing Danger suspension

They always were

 

[mcgrath_truther]

To be fair that’s probably the best win/loss record against them of anyone on our list.

the 1/4 stat is 1 goal 4, which doesn't bode well for my boy, i think

 

[Godzke]

Kelly played in defence. Wing rotation was Cox, Jones and Duursma

Might not have started on the wing at centre bounces but felt like he played up the ground more.

 

[eth-dog]

Might not have started on the wing at centre bounces but felt like he played up the ground more.

Eh, mostly following his man. The other three played the wings during play and he was defensive side at most stoppages 30 metres down the line

 

[Vindicater]

Wright? Uh No.

I know I am in the minority on this one but I just don't see him taking us far into the finals. Would rather roll the dice with a forward who provides pressure and abit of chaos.

Draper is our forward/ruck of the future for mine.

 

[faible]

I noticed Scott in the presser made a fairly important remark. He said something along the lines of we are not a team who will smash anyone, we don't really get heavy scoreboard result for periods of dominance because we arnt a team who wants to run forward of the ball to receive a potential or actual fast break, wed rather keep our shape.

This really seems to ring true and answer alot of questions as to why we can't smash poorer teams, it may come into its own come finals time when the teams are all good and coming at us but I'd still feel more comfortable being able to put on some scoreboard heat when we are having our dominant periods.

I reckon it's probably a symptom of us being historically poor at stopping teams run ons or going coast to coast so its been a necessary evil, however I'd say as we become a better team with better foot skills we probably need to open up a bit, trust our mates to win contests and get some score separation while the going is good

We don't have a tonne of elite forward talent either, our i50 numbers are good for the most part (we're 4th for i50 differential) but we haven't been converting well. Some of that is reliable kicks like Wright and Langford being down, Stringer has been a bit down, and our smalls aren't necessarily high scoring threats.

 

[footyfanatic111]

Can relate.
My wife of 15 years and her entire family are from Geelong, wins have been way too scarce.

My old man is Geelong.
I apparently liked the cats until I was about 4 years old when my older brother then threw an Essendon jumper on me.

Now 33 years old and It’s been a world of pain ever since.

Getting the old man out of the house for this one, he’s not confident at all haha but for me some scars are hard to shake


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Dave]

Cats appealing Danger suspension

Good bloke

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Cats appealing Danger suspension

so they should.

 

[Pweter]

the 1/4 stat is 1 goal 4, which doesn't bode well for my boy, i think

If you look at his last 7 games for us he's kicked 2 goal 4 so you could argue his form against Geelong over his career stacks up to his form playing for us against any opposition recently.

Yay stats!

 

[BomberFan355]

Has there ever been a week where someone hasn't had Kelly as an out?

 

[MiguelM]

Has there ever been a week where someone hasn't had Kelly as an out?

The bye round!

 

[Pweter]

The bye round!

Nope, last week people were listing him as an out for this week.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

you dont see that often

 

[the PILL]

Will be interesting to see if we restructure our Fwd line a bit to get some sort of tagging role on Stewart.

The Cats have been struggling in a few areas notably but him getting shut down and not really being able to shake it off has really hampered them I feel.