Preview Round 17 - Essendon VS Collingwood, MCG, Friday 5/7/24, 7.40pm AEST

[BuffDog]

We feel so vanilla, particularly in the front half of the ground. Hind, Menzie, Guelfi, Gresham they’re ok but theyre ultimately ‘meh’ kind of players with little X factor.

Most of the X factor we currently have on the list seems to be toiling away in the VFL. The Davey twins, Caddy who’s been in and out, Tex who’s looked good at HB, Lual who’s shown something in the last few games and Roberts who seems to have both a bit of mongrel and class.

Now we cant play all of those players but surely we can mix up the attack with a bit of pace and chaos.

Vanilla might work in the sterile confines of Marvel, but it hardly works on a cold, dewy MCG.

 

[Howard Moon]

Some say we play better in dry conditions, I'd say the rain in the first half helped us to keep Geelong in check because they couldn't rebound through us quickly - we all saw what happened once it dried up

 

[Hird05]

Ins Caddy
Out 2mp, Goldy, Heppell, Perkins, Laverde, forwards coach, inability to hold a tackle, maggot umpires

 

[Hird05]

*Caldwell, Merrett and Durham can tackle.

 

[Bombers36]

Need to release Merrett from a tag - start him on the wing maybe? Manage Heppell & Goldy - both have been OK but time to bring in some youth - i.e. Davey, Hobbs, Caddy etc.. I'd like to see a few changes;-

OUT: Heppell & Goldy (both managed), omit - Perkins, Cox, Menzie
IN: Shiel, Caddy, Hoobs, ADavey, Kelly

Team;-

Lav McKay Kelly
Martin Ridley McGrath
Merrett Caldwell Duursma
Stringer Caddy Gresham
2MP Langford ADavey

Draper Durham Shiel

Bench: Guelfi Hobbs Jones Redman
SUB: Hind

Comon Dons..!!

 

[BomberManU]

How is Davey going in the VFL? He's exactly what we need, but is he ready for another run at it?

 

[Vindicater]

Davey up front provided the pace we need.

 

[cAsEy_18]

I know there are 2, but I’m confused if people have been watching a different Davey to me?

Quick? X-factor?

Based on what he’s done so far - he’s not any of these things.

 

[Runk]

We should rename ourselves the Essendon Afflecks.....this is literally us

 

[faible]

Are we a better team last year? As of now we haven’t beaten a single team in the top 8, and 7 of our wins have come from tight scrapes against the bottom 6 sides…. At least last year we knocked over GWS, Carlton and Melbourne from the final top 5/6…

I think we're playing a more sustainable and reliable brand of football. Not as boom or bust, which means less (at this stage) blowing away teams, but also fewer games we're getting blown away. A couple of our losses have seen us with much more i50s and scoring shots but poor conversion, which is much more fixable in the short term.

 

[Vindicater]

I know there are 2, but I’m confused if people have been watching a different Davey to me?

Quick? X-factor?

Based on what he’s done so far - he’s not any of these things.

I don't see x factor but Davey Jr is for sure quick and although he does not stick tackles his close down speed caused quite a few hack kicks from teams early in the season.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Ins Caddy
Out 2mp, Goldy, Heppell, Perkins, Laverde, forwards coach, inability to hold a tackle, maggot umpires

My God Caddy is gona be busy

 

[HirdsTheWord]

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We should rename ourselves the Essendon Afflecks.....this is literally us

Having hope will do that to ya.

Hope is a bitch of a thing.

 

[faible]

I don't see x factor but Davey Jr is for sure quick and although he does not stick tackles his close down speed caused quite a few hack kicks from teams early in the season.

Davey Jnr is definitely quick, I don't think he has the body strength to really cause chaos (yet) but he can close space. He's more outside midfielder / half-forward than a true small forward though, which is exactly what his draft profile said.

Jayden is the one that's meant to be a true small forward, but hasn't really shown any defensive work rate of note AFAIK.

 

[dank420_]

Some say we play better in dry conditions, I'd say the rain in the first half helped us to keep Geelong in check because they couldn't rebound through us quickly - we all saw what happened once it dried up

Weirdly out talls were marking everything in the wet and vice versa later on.

 

[sup3rfish]

Out - Menzie (omit), Draper (omit) Jones (inj)

In - Caddy, Shiel, Setterfield / Hobbs

Ridley, Mckay, Heppell
McGrath, Redman, Laverde
Martin, Merrett, Guelfi
Gresham, Wright, Durham
Langford, Caddy, Stringer
Goldstein, Caldwell, Setterfield / Hobbs

Perkins, Shiel, Duursma, Cox (sub again)

or Perkins sub for a reality check

 

[justlookingaround]

Some say we play better in dry conditions, I'd say the rain in the first half helped us to keep Geelong in check because they couldn't rebound through us quickly - we all saw what happened once it dried up

The periods of proper wet weather play were our best all night, I thought.

 

[bombreys]

Out - Menzie (omit), Draper (omit) Jones (inj)

In - Caddy, Shiel, Setterfield / Hobbs

Ridley, Mckay, Heppell
McGrath, Redman, Laverde
Martin, Merrett, Guelfi
Gresham, Wright, Durham
Langford, Caddy, Stringer
Goldstein, Caldwell, Setterfield / Hobbs

Perkins, Shiel, Duursma, Cox (sub again)

or Perkins sub for a reality check

Might be being a bit harsh, but I really want to see Perkins dropped. He reminded me of a spoilt kid on the weekend.

I’m still a huge fan and am close to certain he’ll be an important player for us going forward, but his body language/demeanor and just the way he played looked off. I’d love to see him earn his spot back after a couple of weeks in the twos

 

[Petrify]

Pretty clear 2 rucks is our problem.

 

[astrowizzle]

I think we can win. I want us playing on the edge again coz right now we are soft as butter. Maybe the pies play us back into form

 

[faible]

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View attachment 2035921
View attachment 2035923

Pretty clear 2 rucks is our problem.

Don't think you can play 3 ruck sized players (Wright, Draper, Goldstein) and expect to win, you're making massive sacrifices on groundlevel pressure.

 

[Shanghaistu]

I think we can win. I want us playing on the edge again coz right now we are soft as butter. Maybe the pies play us back into form

Normally we play them (and everyone else) back into form

 

[faible]

Last insipid performance we put in was Port, the next game we came out and beat the Dogs by almost 5 goals.

Let's see how they respond to the 2nd half meltdown.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

I think we can win. I want us playing on the edge again coz right now we are soft as butter. Maybe the pies play us back into form

makes one of us

 

[Mikevk123]

In- Caddy, Shiel, Hobbs
Out- Menzie, Jones, Goldstein

B- Cox McKay McGrath
HB- Ridley Laverde Redman
C- Merrett Caldwell Duursma
HF- Martin Langford Gresham
F- Guelfi Wright Stringer
FOLL- Draper Hobbs Durham
I/C- Shiel, Hind, Caddy, Perkins
Sub- Heppell