Review Round 17 = Collingwood 80-92 Essendon

[Dead Eye Didak]

I went to the game last night and that was serious awful putrid sh1t we dished up. Reminded me of the uncompetitive games under Bucks.

We allowed a second rate team in Essendon move the ball without any pressure all night. Merrett is a class above with his foot skills yet we let him run amok all night.

Our back line looks in disarray - Moore, Frampton, Dean out positioned, out bodied, and out marked all night.

Our signature pressure game was non existent all night. At one stage well into the 3rd quarter we had zero tackles inside forward 50.

God it was awful to watch.

Our season is done and dusted. More injuries last night and we haven’t looked half the side we have been over the past 2 seasons. It’s been a magnificent ride with a premiership to show, for which I am eternally grateful.

The only shining light is I hope we have contributed to Essendon finishing top 4 so they can go out in straight sets in September and continue the unbeaten streak of not having won a final in 20 years


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I thought Dean was respectable, and then bizzarely gets subbed. Moore and Frampton were woeful.

 

[gouki88]

For someone who must be 70 plus years old you post like a child.

Are you Benjamin Button?

Could it possibly be the return of the mighty cloud shouter?

 

[Soaring Magpie]

North at least have Comben who is a gun.

I reckon an off-season with Leppa would improve Dean, Framps five fold.

It's such a waste not having Leppa helping our players.

The coaching setup this year hasn’t worked

 

[jmac70]

Could it possibly be the return of the mighty cloud shouter?

No. He could construct sentences.

 

[barrackers]

Basically the same stat as last week, slaughtered on the spread, not working hard enough to break from contests, same result.

View attachment 2039699

And just throw this doosy in as well. All of these are uncontested. WTF is going on with our desire to run?

View attachment 2039701

Sides play keeping’s off with a kick mark game, short or sideways kicks and slow ball movement against us. Hence they have much higher total & uncontested disposals and more marks. It wasn’t until the injectors got 70-80m from goal they launched quickly. It takes away our pressure game and stifles our momentum. Our zone defence relies on that pressure up field to be effective.

 

[jmac70]

Basically the same stat as last week, slaughtered on the spread, not working hard enough to break from contests, same result.

View attachment 2039699

And just throw this doosy in as well. All of these are uncontested. WTF is going on with our desire to run?

View attachment 2039701

Seems to be the blueprint for beating us.

 

[Kes1984]

I thought Dean was respectable, and then bizzarely gets subbed. Moore and Frampton were woeful.

I was surprised at the Dean sub choice. I was ok with the game he was playing.

 

[odoyle_rules]

Dean was having one of his best games, particularly that 3rd quarter. He was one guy actually putting in an effort, then gets subbed.....
I'm finding some of the decisions hard to understand this season....

Dean was terrible. Cannot defend on the lead - he’s way too slow. Unfortunately a trait that will mean he is not AFL level.

We need to shift of focus to young talent at undesirable clubs. If GWS can miss the 8 we should target them. North another… threat of moving to NT out there. WCE players are unhappy with their coach. Moneyball approach is our only way not to completely fall out.

Please do not throw away our 1sts!!! This approach does not work. Look at the Tigers!




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[Dead Eye Didak]

I was surprised at the Dean sub choice. I was ok with the game he was playing.

There were 10 other players that could have been subbed. Talk about a guy getting confidence then get subbed out. It was a stupid choice. Honestly l would have first looked at subbing out probably a Jaicos, Hill, Schultz, Moore, Frampton etc etc...before Dean

 

[No SPIN]

He did more in his short game time than the majority of the other 22 players outside Nick

Why he started as the sub is beyond me

Coaches have been making some baffling decisions around the sub

They don’t use it properly at all

What baffling decisions apart from Long on the bench?

 

[Kirby]

Basically the same stat as last week, slaughtered on the spread, not working hard enough to break from contests, same result.

View attachment 2039699

And just throw this doosy in as well. All of these are uncontested. WTF is going on with our desire to run?

View attachment 2039701

That was the game right there. Essendon’s desire to run and get numbers was the difference. That uncontested ball and resultant marking stats is all about workrate.

Posters here are so keen to pot individuals but they don’t see the big picture about why we actually lost.

 

[BuildEmUp]

Thats the first game from my perspective that i felt we played with a serious lack of pressure. They kept flashing up the Inside 50 tackle stats on the scoreboard as if to just take the piss out of us. The tackle stats also. I'd be a bit disappointed if I were Essendon. They really should have won by 8 goals. Not sure they are much chop either. I've been super proud of they way this team has battled the injury crisis this year. Unfortunately there has to be a point where it overwhelms and it seems that point has come.

Then again, who knows. They are just as likely to come out and win next week. Recent history has shown that you can't write this team off. Just when you do, they will surprise

pressure was below 160, lowest for the year

 

[Dead Eye Didak]

Dean was terrible. Cannot defend on the lead - he’s way too slow. Unfortunately a trait that will mean he is not AFL level.

We need to shift of focus to young talent at undesirable clubs. If GWS can miss the 8 we should target them. North another… threat of moving to NT out there. WCE players are unhappy with their coach. Moneyball approach is our only way not to completely fall out.

Please do not throw away our 1sts!!! This approach does not work. Look at the Tigers!




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So you thought his 3rd quarter in particular deserved to see him subbed over say a Moore or Frampton or even a Schultz or Hill?

 

[JLC]

We need to shift of focus to young talent at undesirable clubs. If GWS can miss the 8 we should target them. North another… threat of moving to NT out there. WCE players are unhappy with their coach. Moneyball approach is our only way not to completely fall out.

Please do not throw away our 1sts!!! This approach does not work. Look at the Tigers!




Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Agree, we cannot now decide to go to the draft after giving away our first for Schultz.

If we miss out on free agents then that is a massive balls up. Nick cannot be left to carry the load. He needs another partner in crime.

We now need to stay the course.

 

[Kirby]

Could it possibly be the return of the mighty cloud shouter?

I guess we will have to wait to see if he posts about being short yet tough, truck driving and being cuckholded by his neighbour.

 

[Roverjg]

Although I did not expect us to go back to back (so hard to do, more so when we were not a dominant team). I did hope that we would be deep in the thick of it at the end of the season.

The last two games, in addition to 7 more injuries suggests a finals campaign may be a bridge too far. Mihocek gone for the season. Cameron reportedly injured with ribs (with no ruckman available to replace him) and IQ injured. Our cupboards are bare. Furthermore our consistent pressure & running game of the past two seasons only comes only in fits & spurts and only for half a quarter here or there. Our injuries have no doubt played a part, as has the opposition having worked our how to play our system.

It was another night where our mids were starved of the ball. Where we couldn’t transition the ball out of D50 & and our forwards unsighted

I was going to suggest that we drop IQ to make a statement, alas the decision may have been made for us but without the impact

The zone defence can only work effectively with sustained pressure from the midfield. The opposition has it worked out. However it has Moore holes in it than swiss cheese. Surely when one can see the ball is coming towards a Bomber player that one can stop guarding grass and move towards an opponent? Too many times this season & particularly the past 2 weeks, our backs would not move towards their opponent until the ball was in the air on the way towards the player. Way too late… Moore & Frampton did not impact one marking contest with any physicality last night. On a night where the ball was constantly inside the Bombers forward line with our backs under sustained pressure Frampton did not get his first possession until just after midway through the 3RD QUARTER. At this point he had 86% game time

Each time Essendon went forward the had multiple options because our mids were not pushing back & our mids were guarding grass.

Our midfielders, whilst some are great individually, are not a good midfield collectively. They run one way. We are too aggressive & take off before we have won the ball. There is no defensive pressure. Too often, the opposition are able to run the ball out with little pressure. We definitely have trouble laying a tackle (to be fair this is problematic across the field)

Starting Long as sub was a poor tactical move when we knew Essendon’s midfield, particularly Merrett & Durden would get plenty of the ball.

Naicos was left to do it all by himself last night. 31D, 17 contested, 23 kicks, 12 clearances, 400mg. People were saying his game was poor by his low DE%. I say BS. DE% means it did not each the target or within 2m of it. DE% needs to be read in conjunction with TO. This is a direct turnover from possession. Out of Nick’s 31 possessions only 3 resulted in direct turnovers.

We had culprits worse than him. Sidey had 22 kicks for 7 direct turnovers, Crisp 15 kicks for 6, Maynard 15 for 5, WHE 16 for 6, Jaicos 8 for 4, JDG 7 for 4, IQ 4 for 4 & Frampton 3 for 2, Hill 8 for 3

Our forwards had no chance last night with the way the ball was kicked into 50. When we were going forward the Bombers had the great wall up as the mid’s & HF’s had pushed back to cover men & space. It is poor football knowing our forward line is small and yet we keep bombing it high towards the area 25-30m directly in front. The Bombers defence picked us off every time. McKay 11 marks, 8 ITC’s, Redman 6 marks, Martin 6 marks & Laverde 6 marks

Our forward pressure was non-existent & our forwards had no impact. Booby is a boom or bust. Great when things are going well but often unsighted. Schultz spent a lot of time defending at half-back. Hard to kick goals from there

Despite our success over the past two years and with Fly’s mentorship, we have not become a destination club. Why? Lack of draft picks is a major reason, but as a club we have always over-valued the worth of some of our players & at the same time under valuing others

We need to trade … out & in. Our needs are deep, our bargaining power not so. We need to get creative and quick. Nick needs help. Our midfield is one paced & one dimensional. The likes of McCrae are not up to it.

 

[barrackers]

Thats the first game from my perspective that i felt we played with a serious lack of pressure. They kept flashing up the Inside 50 tackle stats on the scoreboard as if to just take the piss out of us. The tackle stats also. I'd be a bit disappointed if I were Essendon. They really should have won by 8 goals. Not sure they are much chop either. I've been super proud of they way this team has battled the injury crisis this year. Unfortunately there has to be a point where it overwhelms and it seems that point has come.

Then again, who knows. They are just as likely to come out and win next week. Recent history has shown that you can't write this team off. Just when you do, they will surprise

Essendon’s issue is much the same as Brisbane’s. Neither have a high tackle or pressure game. Some bomber fans were celebrating their pressure against us, but overall they only had 13 more tackles than our disappointing 43. Of Essendon’s 56 tackles Caldwell and Shiel had 15 between them. At our best we’re having 70-80.

 

[Pedro]

pressure was below 160, lowest for the year

I don't know how they come up with those numbers, but you could see and feel it at the game. No pressure at all. Personally, I'm just going to put it down to a poor night which every team has now and again, because it just wasn't what we have come to expect from them.

 

[No SPIN]

I always said he lacked a bit of ruthlessness, great guy love him and everything he has done but I wish he had a bit more Malthouse to him

On SM-S928B using BigFooty.com mobile app

Unless you’re behind closed door you have no idea about his ruthlessness- smart Coaches have a different media persona to that within the inner sanctum

 

[Monco Matt]

That was the game right there. Essendon’s desire to run and get numbers was the difference. That uncontested ball and resultant marking stats is all about workrate.

Posters here are so keen to pot individuals but they don’t see the big picture about why we actually lost.

The desire for a footballer to run in a footy game is like the desire for a regular person to go to the gym on a cold day. Once you go to the gym and start working out then you can keep going on and on for an hour but wanting to start is the hard part. I feel this is what our players are experiencing. They just don't seem motivated to want to start the running. But if they did they would find it much easier to keep at it, to go on and on. If they did I am sure our results would improve even with the injuries.

 

[Dead Eye Didak]

Essendon’s issue is much the same as Brisbane’s. Neither have a high tackle or pressure game. Some bomber fans were celebrating their pressure against us, but overall they only had 13 more tackles than our disappointing 43. Of Essendon’s 56 tackles Caldwell and Shiel had 15 between them. At our best we’re having 70-80.

We had 30 tackles up to 3/4 time which l couldn't believe. That shows along with the high number of uncontested footy Essendoom had the lack of effort by our guys...

 

[barrackers]

I was surprised at the Dean sub choice. I was ok with the game he was playing.

Instead of subbing Dean I would have thrown ideally Moore, but perhaps Frampton forward. With Mihocek or Howe shifting back. Sense we wanted more run hence a tall being subbed though.

 

[Kirby]

I don't know how they come up with those numbers, but you could see and feel it at the game. No pressure at all. Personally, I'm just going to put it down to a poor night which every team has now and again, because it just wasn't what we have come to expect from them.

Yeah I was there and it was a really flat game with no intensity at all.

Even the bomber fans were quiet and didn’t get excited until the last few minutes when they couldn’t lose.

 

[76woodenspooners]

I can’t recall a season so cruelled by injuries, and the ongoing impact of those injuries.

You could be forgiven for erasing the nightmare of the Davoren years from your mind.

I reckon they were much worse. Running multiple investigations into why we had 4 ACL’s per season for multiple seasons. Sacking club doctors, sacking strength coaches. Presenting graphs at membership forums showing our incidence of soft tissue injuries was more than double the next worst team.

I think part of the reason it seems so bad at the moment is because it has generally been OKish in recent years. (We’ve been lucky apart from a period last year when nearly all our talls were out injured at around the same time - Cox, McStay, Dean, Cameron)

And so many debutants - must be close to a record for us (can’t be stuffed doing the research to confirm).

Similar to 2021 when we gave up on the season early, let our coach go, and pumped games into who we thought would be the next generation. We debuted:


Rantall (delisted)
Bianco (delisted)
Wilson (delisted)
Macrae (struggling)
Poulter (delisted)
McCreery (best 23)
Ginnivan (traded)
Henry (traded)
Tohill (retired)

I have faith in Fly getting the best out of this banged up, patched together group, but even he can’t produce miracles.

Yeah he can produce miracles.

The 2023 Premiership was a miracle. End of 2021 when we finished 17th and appointed a rookie coach, nobody would have fathomed how it could even be possible to win the Premiership in his second season - let alone giving it a red hot crack in his first. The arguments were about whether it would be 2025 or 2027 when we would be competing for silverware.

But this current situation we find ourselves in requires a different kind of miracle. Can Fly do that? Dunno, it’ll be interesting to find out.

One thing we do know for sure, we wouldn’t want anybody else at the helm.

 

[No SPIN]

This is going to be McFly's first big test since mid 2022 when we were scratchy at best. How does he turn around our team performances? How does he get the team back to its relentless ball hunting mentality? We need 5 wins probably to make the eight, big ask.

First big test was poor form leading into finals last year - and he smashed it.