AFL Autopsy Season done, thanks Swans

[Howard Moon]

The glaring thing for me, and it's about being a professional drilled outlet. We are a stoppage dominant team, so you'd think we would do everything we can to create more stoppages.

But no, anytime we force what should be a stoppage and reset we almost always let it dribble out or try some miracle handball out which leaves us totally exposed. I get tired of saying lock it in!

 

[mhill]

Don’t reckon list is that bad. Badly need a key forward. Me, personally think Darcy Parish

3

Darcy Parish

Age

27

Ht

180cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.4

5star

K

9.2

4star

HB

11.2

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

3.3

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

16.6

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

9.1

5star

M

1.4

2star

T

2.0

3star

CL

3.1

4star

D

22.2

5star

K

7.6

3star

HB

14.6

5star

M

3.2

4star

T

4.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

is what was our Brett Delidio. Cut him free and don’t worry about the price. Would also cut Jake Stringer

25

Jake Stringer

Age

30

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

8.5

3star

HB

4.4

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.5

4star

G

1.8

5star

D

8.5

2star

K

7.0

3star

HB

1.5

1star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.8

4star

G

2.5

5star

D

7.2

2star

K

4.8

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.4

4star

G

1.4

5star

loose. Reckon you will go up before you go down.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Bless you Foxtel, you saved my night.

 

[Happyskeret]

The forward press is nice and one of the reasons we get so many forward entries. The problem is though is you have 75% of players from both teams in the scoring zone. Then is no space for the forwards to lead to so they just stand there! At the moment we don’t have a forward who can consistently take a contested mark in our forward line in what seems to be a sea of players all the time.

I will give Draper some credit that his marking has improved a bit especially the last couple of weeks. I don’t mind the Bryan in the ruck and Drapes more forward move but you don’t want your ruck to be your main target.

On top of that we have periods where we just bomb it into a spot without really looking. Later on in the match the players started lowering their vision but a lot of the passes were shithouse. Roberts was sticking out like dogs balls as he was one of the few that was spotting up a target and most of his passes were pretty good.

 

[ant555]

Don’t reckon list is that bad. Badly need a key forward. Me, personally think Darcy Parish is what was our Brett Delidio. Cut him free and don’t worry about the price. Would also cut Jake Stringer loose. Reckon you will go up before you go down.

I think that is a good comparison.

 

[ant555]

The forward press is nice and one of the reasons we get so many forward entries. The problem is though is you have 75% of players from both teams in the scoring zone. Then is no space for the forwards to lead to so they just stand there! At the moment we don’t have a forward who can consistently take a contested mark in our forward line in what seems to be a sea of players all the time.

I will give Draper some credit that his marking has improved a bit especially the last couple of weeks. I don’t mind the Bryan in the ruck and Drapes more forward move but you don’t want your ruck to be your main target.

On top of that we have periods where we just bomb it into a spot without really looking. Later on in the match the players started lowering their vision a lot of the passes were shithouse. Roberts was sticking out like dogs balls as he was one of the few that was spotting up a target and most of his passes were pretty good.

The forward press worked for us in the first half. The Swans had issues moving the footy so what we need to fix is having some marking power or some smarter entries. The point where it fell apart was the three horrible turnovers in 5 minutes in the third quarter . After that we dropped our heads .
I think you continue to work the game plan so you fine tune it . The hard part is fixing a few personal issues. I think Caddy is suited to CHF. We need a FF . Draper can play some forward pocket.
We basically have to replace Stringer with a proper FF.

 

[Happyskeret]

The forward press worked for us in the first half. The Swans had issues moving the footy so what we need to fix is having some marking power or some smarter entries. The point where it fell apart was the three horrible turnovers in 5 minutes in the third quarter . After that we dropped our heads .
I think you continue to work the game plan so you fine tune it . The hard part is fixing a few personal issues. I think Caddy is suited to CHF. We need a FF . Draper can play some forward pocket.
We basically have to replace Stringer with a proper FF.

I do believe Caddy will be very good especially in a couple of years time. CHF for sure as he can move around the ground a bit. They aren’t helping him with some of those entries though. A few times I noticed they kicked it way too far over his head. For him to be playing as he is now is a credit to him.

 

[Orange crush]

Come in peace …. For all the whitebread on display last night, if you had a real marking option up forward you win that game.

Cut the deadwood and give Tex a 2 year contract

 

[sameolds33]

I think my biggest take away from tonight being at the game was that the Swans were actually really, really average. Which ... says a lot about us

I thought the same sitting at home on the couch. We wore ourselves out in the first half for no reward and then they strolled through in the second half. As predictable as night follows day...

 

[CBombers17]

No real fight after the ball bounced their way a few times early in the third. It was a fairly even decline across the board really.

We are one of the teams where any drop off in effort sees us instantly bottom 4 or 5 material.

We have some inbuilt dliemas in McGrath and Parish IMO and the form of Perkins, Langford, Stringer, Menzie (and others I've thankfully forgotten) has been alarming. Seems to be a pattern at the club. We find some players and others drop off a cliff. Hard to fathom really.

 

[Zach Package]

Without consuming any of the media it ends up being a 6 goal game and off the top of my head there were more than 6 instances where a certain scoring shot for Essendon turned into a Sydney goal due to an unforced Essendon turnover into the front half. 6 12 point turnarounds at least.

I walk away from that thinking it was one of the more complete 4 quarter efforts but the finishing was dogshit.

Swans are probably playing in a grand final and we at least halved them in all the metrics I look at.

Contested footy was very good, clearance was pretty good, Bryan and Draper smashed Grundy, kept the key talks quiet with very much a rag tag bunch of talls in the back half, more tackles and tackles inside 50. Blakey and Lloyd didn’t run riot out of the back half.

There is an obvious class gulf with Sydney having goal kicking mids coming out their clacker and Gulden and Campbell kicking absolute piss missiles inside 50 but I was pleasantly surprised, I thought that would be far worse.

 

[Happyskeret]

Without consuming any of the media it ends up being a 6 goal game and off the top of my head there were more than 6 instances where a certain scoring shot for Essendon turned into a Sydney goal due to an unforced Essendon turnover into the front half. 6 12 point turnarounds at least.

I walk away from that thinking it was one of the more complete 4 quarter efforts but the finishing was dogshit.

Swans are probably playing in a grand final and we at least halved them in all the metrics I look at.

Contested footy was very good, clearance was pretty good, Bryan and Draper smashed Grundy, kept the key talks quiet with very much a rag tag bunch of talls in the back half, more tackles and tackles inside 50. Blakey and Lloyd didn’t run riot out of the back half.

There is an obvious class gulf with Sydney having goal kicking mids coming out their clacker and Gulden and Campbell kicking absolute piss missiles inside 50 but I was pleasantly surprised, I thought that would be far worse.

Parker as well with the ability to go forward and kick goals. I thought he was the one that got the Swans going at the start of the 3rd quarter.

 

[Zach Package]

Parker as well with the ability to go forward and kick goals. I thought he was the one that got the Swans going at the start of the 3rd quarter.

Parker was very good, I like that role for him, reckon that is Perkins’ perfect role. Small forward who tracks the footy into the middle of the ground. Good template to look at.

 

[Squeaky]

Parker as well with the ability to go forward and kick goals. I thought he was the one that got the Swans going at the start of the 3rd quarter.

He did and it was annoying because he wouldn't have even been able to draw you a footy in the first half!

 

[sameolds33]

Parker as well with the ability to go forward and kick goals. I thought he was the one that got the Swans going at the start of the 3rd quarter.

The point of no return for me was Stringer's miss after the siren. Ripped the heart out of the team I thought

 

[Happyskeret]

The point of no return for me was Stringer's miss after the siren. Ripped the heart out of the team I thought

True. Start of the year I would have bet my house on him kicking that. Truth be told I was half expecting him to miss it.

 

[Vindicater]

What'd you see?

I've been trying to hit up some classics so watched 'Modern times' with Charlie Chaplin.

Was surprised at how much I laughed to be honest.

 

[ghostdog]

The point of no return for me was Stringer's miss after the siren. Ripped the heart out of the team I thought

Did but shouldn't have. That's how weak minded we are

 

[sameolds33]

Did but shouldn't have. That's how weak minded we are

I don't think it was being weak minded, I think it brought home how exhausted they were and there was nothing left in the tank. They'd worked so hard for no reward because their skills were so poor.

 

[Old man fletch]

The only positive to come from today is that with Dodo gone, we actually have a chance at eventually building an actually competitive AFL list.

We are genuinely about 6-7 years off that right now though, it's gonna take years to get rid of all the duds he's drafted and all the ****ed contracts he's given out.

On a related subject, is McGrath the worst VC in the competition? I watched him closely at the ground and while his disposal was predictably shit, what really stood out was how many times he was out of position and jogging.

If "lead by example" was a trait I'd look for in a vice captain, I would take a literal bag of shit over him because at least it might stick to a player.

Is a leader of rot at the club. When we were up and going earlier in the year, he was gut running back to defend. In the games where we started to slip, his old habits reared their ugly head.

Zach desperately needs leaders around him who are ruthless in expectations of minimum standards

 

[Wahooti Fandango]

I've been trying to hit up some classics so watched 'Modern times' with Charlie Chaplin.

Was surprised at how much I laughed to be honest.

Great film! Have you seen 'The Kid'? If not, check it out.

 

[Call Me Cake]

We've had numerous positives this year,

• Durham showing signs
• Caldwell stamping authority
• Caddy being the gem I thought he'd be
• Roberts not playing like an 18 year old
• Less frequent blowouts/closer games
• Selection integrity/not afraid to drop
• Self-driven comebacks
• Sheedy and Dodo stepping down
• Heppell realising it's time
• Draper somewhat maturing
• Ending on more premierships points

All of these will contribute to our development, culture and belief in the coming years. Yes there are areas to fix and some to cull but there have been improvements made.

Need to unite, be realistic with our expectations, notice the positives and stick fat.

 

[bombreys]

We've had numerous positives this year,

• Durham showing signs
• Caldwell stamping authority
• Caddy being the gem I thought he'd be
• Roberts not playing like an 18 year old
• Less frequent blowouts/closer games
• Selection integrity/not afraid to drop
• Self-driven comebacks
• Sheedy and Dodo stepping down
• Heppell realising it's time
• Draper somewhat maturing
• Ending on more premierships points

All of these will contribute to our development, culture and belief in the coming years. Yes there are areas to fix and some to cull but there have been improvements made.

Need to unite, be realistic with our expectations, notice the positives and stick fat.

We’re the 2nd most unchanged team in the comp…

 

[JayJ20]

We've had numerous positives this year,

• Durham showing signs
• Caldwell stamping authority
• Caddy being the gem I thought he'd be
• Roberts not playing like an 18 year old
• Less frequent blowouts/closer games
• Selection integrity/not afraid to drop
• Self-driven comebacks
• Sheedy and Dodo stepping down
• Heppell realising it's time
• Draper somewhat maturing
• Ending on more premierships points

All of these will contribute to our development, culture and belief in the coming years. Yes there are areas to fix and some to cull but there have been improvements made.

Need to unite, be realistic with our expectations, notice the positives and stick fat.

Will they though? So often do we have a breakout year and then said player falls away badly the following year due to form or injury.

Parish, Wright, Redman, Martin in defence, Ridley, Langford, Fantasia, Daniher, heck even Laverde and Stringer after the 2021 season. McKay lasted half a year. Perkins, Reid and Cox haven't even started.

I'm hardly as optimistic because usually when players breakout at Essendon, others regress. There's a deep cultural issue that's difficult to rectify. Natural development is not enough to improve us.

 

[Call Me Cake]

We’re the 2nd most unchanged team in the comp…

A little misleading.

It was mostly because we were in the top four for 9 weeks/top 8 for 14 weeks and we didn't have many injuries. Naturally if you're winning and fit, you're rewarding the side/trying to remain unchanged for consistency and you're not trying to cover injured players compared to other teams. We were also pretty young on raw average age bar Heppell/Goldy/Shiel and thus most of our youth had already had their debut.

The (mostly) selection integrity/dropping players eventually came to the fore a little more in the 2nd half of the year when results and fitness wasn't going our way in the form of Wright/Heppell/Perkins etc; which allowed us to play Caddy more consistently and debut Roberts/keep him there.

Will they though? So often do we have a breakout year and then said player falls away badly the following year due to form or injury.

Parish, Wright, Redman, Martin in defence, Ridley, Langford, Fantasia, Daniher, heck even Laverde and Stringer after the 2021 season. McKay lasted half a year. Perkins, Reid and Cox haven't even started.

I'm hardly as optimistic because usually when players breakout at Essendon, others regress. There's a deep cultural issue that's difficult to rectify. Natural development is not enough to improve us.

So often do people revert to the last 20 years for the Bombers whenever something isn't going amazingly when truth be told we are so far removed from that period that there is no point to use it as a reference. The amount of off-field changes we had to make post 2022, including a new coach which was truly from the outside/wasn't brought in to salvage a club from a saga and lessening off-field drama, meant that we were coming from pretty much the most clean slate than we ever have. Then you factor in that the players we brought in without sacrificing our draft hand (and hence Caddy + this year's picks), meant that they would have needed a year to gel as a team.

As for Perkins, Reid and Cox, I think we've all understood that the 2020 draft was the worst ever (for obvious reasons) and there aren't many picks of that year (even in hindsight) that were much better. Reid's issue has never been talent/ability, it's always been fitness/the need to get his body stronger, with Perkins being the most likely to come good. Hopefully with him being dropped it'll drive him to push himself harder. If we can get at least one of those three to become a consistent role player then that's as much as we could ask for tbh.