Preview Round 21 - Essendon VS Fremantle - MCG - Sunday 4/8/24 - 3:20pm AEST

[Rick Ross]

Are we tanking?

Playing players out of position
Developing the talent in the VFL
Selecting an unbalanced side
Using a game plan unsuited to the selected team

I ####ing hope all that is because we’re tanking…

 

[ant555]

Strangely I have not had an email this week asking if I would sell my ticket if I do not go.

 

[Kyptastic]

Don The Stat preview out now

 

[Raz Man]

Hopefully 35,000 at the game this weekend! That would be massive overs for mine..

 

[MiguelM]

Bench hope: Parish, Hobbs, Bryan, Roberts. Sub Davey

Reality: Parish, Wright, Heppell, Menzie. Sub Hobbs

Seriously, if we want to make a point, Heppell, Wright & Menzie not in the mix for mine. Parish gets a free pass for being underdone.

 

[NoWuckingFurries]

Excited to watch Menzies tear this game apart

 

[MiguelM]

Excited to watch Menzies tear this game apart

Is there 2 of them?

 

[Bjchan13]

B McGrath McKay Laverde
HB Redman Cox Roberts
C Durham Hobbs Duursma
HF Merrett Caddy Martin
F A Davey Jones Stringer
R Draper Caldwell Shiel
INT Bryan Langford Parish Gresham
SUB Kelly

 

[Nifft]

Are we tanking?

We'll know soon enough when we see the final team changes.

 

[nipst@r]

It's a PR squad. Expect those cut to be byran, roberts, hobbs and davey.

Think if byran plays we go the dreaded 2 ruckman plus Wright or make him a sub or some other dud move.

Be shocked if roberts plays, outside chance to be sub as well.

Kelly and heppel will both play.

 

[silk]

Is there 2 of them?

They'll play ruck.

 

[Blind Turn]

Hopefully 35,000 at the game this weekend! That would be massive overs for mine..

Hopefully 100 there and all Freo supporters. Essendon supporters don’t tend to bandwagon which would make a mass no-show all the more impactful as to how we were affected by last week’s team no-show. **** em, they owe us.

 

[Nifft]

Hopefully 100 there and all Freo supporters. Essendon supporters don’t tend to bandwagon which would make a mass no-show all the more impactful as to how we were affected by last week’s team no-show. **** em, they owe us.

I agree they owe us. And what they owe is unconditional effort. I can somewhat forgive lack of talent or IQ as it takes time to turn a list around.

But if the players and club want us to care then they have to show us that they care as well. And if there are some players that cannot put in that effort then they should be dropped for someone else who will. Stop being mister nice guy Brad.

 

[Milanista28]

Should we boo them when they run out? Throw scarves and boo like mad people

 

[MiguelM]

I agree they owe us. And what they owe is unconditional effort. I can somewhat forgive lack of talent or IQ as it takes time to turn a list around.

But if the players and club want us to care then they have to show us that they care as well. And if there are some players that cannot put in that effort then they should be dropped for someone else who will. Stop being mister nice guy Brad.

Exactly.

That third quarter last week when our effort should have been manic was abysmal. Sucked the life out of our supporter base. I can handle losses if the effort is there.

It is absolutely between the ears with this playing group IMO and up to the coaches to change the mindset. When we get behind the negative vibes take over and the whole team panics and our energy is gone. Opposition clubs then walk 10 feet tall and it becomes a training drill.

I get as a club expectation is an issue. Blues suffer from it too. Pies are more hardened but also have stronger on field leaders.

This is why I want Caldwell in the leadership group, leads by example, not just words like McGrath. Duursma too.

 

[Raz Man]

Should we boo them when they run out? Throw scarves and boo like man people

Absolutely not sir..that would be Carltonesque behaviour

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

Should we boo them when they run out? Throw scarves and boo like man people

Boo.

 

[hurlygurdy]

Going to buck the trend here. How many clubs haven’t had a run of poor form this season? It’s not what’s going on right now that has everyone melting, it’s what people think it means based on previous years. The question is whether we are better than that now and whether we can finish the season with some dignity. I’d actually back the players to do that, but it might not equal many more wins given the quality of the opposition. If we play (mostly) competitively from here on then I’m reasonably happy with the season. The 93’ dream was fun while it lasted but realistically I think our percentage throughout the year has been telling. We just didn’t want to know.

 

[fairbump_playon]

It’s hard to believe that there are still a few Essendon games to watch this year

Somewhere this week I started believing the season was literally over

 

[Petrify]

Roberts confirmed debuting

 

[DallasCrane316]

 

[Maxabillions]

Hopefully Archie for Heppell, Bryan for Wright and Davey for Menzie, Hobbs sub.

That would be a fair swing of the axe.

 

[cAsEy_18]

Hopefully Archie for Heppell, Bryan for Wright and Davey for Menzie, Hobbs sub

Agreed, but Kelly is in too (named on the field)

 

[MiguelM]

Agreed, but Kelly is in too (named on the field)

Kelly is good as a lockdown on opp smalls. Just don't go near the wing!

 

[Howard Moon]

Have we established who takes the 3 headed snake?

Treacy - Mckay
Amiss - Laverde
Jackson - Cox

Dosent feel like a super good set of matchups