Opinion We need to move back to the MCG

[MiguelM]

We play there 8 times this year. 9 times last year Not like it is a situation where it is maybe 1 or 2 . If you not not learn to play the G in 8 or so games every year then you are basically a crap side. Nearly every time we play there it is a 60k plus crowd. Sorry but this is the biggest Furphy thread on BF.

^^This

Plus, we have a training oval the exact dimensions of the G.

Moving back would not help at all IMO. Fake News

 

[Dan26]

^^This

Plus, we have a training oval the exact dimensions of the G.

Moving back would not help at all IMO. Fake News

It's not about the dimensions of the ground. In fact I think having two training ovals with dimensions for both the MCG and Marvel is a waste of time. It's a total irrelevancy and makes no difference to performance

To me, it's more about getting out of your comfort zone. We play about as many MCG games as Hawthorn, but their non-Marvel games include difficult windy and cold conditions in Tasmania. Geelong's non-marvel games include cold, imperfect conditions down at the Cattery. These do far more for hardening a team up than having several softs kills under a cuddly roof every year.

At what point do the Marvel teams lack of premiership success become less a statistical oddity and more of a factual performance issue that can't be ignored? After 10 years? After 15 years? It's now be 23 years. Or never?

 

[MiguelM]

It's not about the dimensions of the ground. In fact I think having two training ovals with dimension for both the MCG and Marvel is a waste of time. It's a total irrelevancy and makes no difference to performance

To me, it's more about getting out of your comfort zone. We play about as many MCG games as Hawthorn, but their non-Marvel games include difficult windy and cold conditions in Tasmania. Geelong's non-marvel games include cold, imperfect conditions down at the Cattery. These do far more for hardening a team up than having several softs kills under a cuddly roof every year.

At what point do the Marvel teams lack of premiership success become less a statistical oddity and more of a factual performance issue that can't be ignored? After 10 years? After 15 years? It's now be 23 years. Or never?

Turn the sprinklers on at training.

I think it is more we play "pretty" footy and don't adapt to the wet. Plus we pick all our talls who lack marking ability in the dry.

We had 30 more handballs and lots more uncontested possessions against Dees. too much possession in the wet.

That we had 7 more inside 50s shows our forward line is broken too.

nothing to do with playing under the roof IMO. You can train for those conditions. Wonder if we go indoors if it is raining at the hangar?

 

[eth-dog]

Turn the sprinklers on at training.

I think it is more we play "pretty" footy and don't adapt to the wet. Plus we pick all our talls who lack marking ability in the dry.

We had 30 more handballs and lots more uncontested possessions against Dees. too much possession in the wet.

That we had 7 more inside 50s shows our forward line is broken too.

nothing to do with playing under the roof IMO. You can train for those conditions. Wonder if we go indoors if it is raining at the hangar?

Nah, been there for a catch up with a mate on a wet training day and they were out there.

 

[MiguelM]

Nah, been there for a catch up with a mate on a wet training day and they were out there.

Well if there are training in the wet then they should be able to transfer that to game day wherever they are playing.

We haven't matured enough to be tough in the wet just yet.

 

[Phone]

I would say most voting for the MCG do not live North of the city or do not go every week.

or are mcc members

the 7/4 spilt is fine as long we never ever play a home against the Demons at the MCG again. that's not something we should be cratering for

 

[NAB777]

Why Matthew Lloyd thinks Marvel Stadium home games aren't good for Essendon

Matthew Lloyd believes playing the majority of home games at Marvel Stadium is actively hurting Essendon’s ability to be successful in finals. The Bombers have recently lost wet weather games against Geelong and Melbourne at the MCG, while they’ve had more success this season under the roof at...

www.3aw.com.au

 

[Dan26]

Well if there are training in the wet then they should be able to transfer that to game day wherever they are playing.

We haven't matured enough to be tough in the wet just yet.

Why havn't we matured to play in the wet at any time since the late 90's then?

Our decline started in 2002 after after our great 2000 side gradually started to dissipate.

In round 5 of 2002 we played Collingwood on a sodden Anzac Day. Perhaps the wettest footy day in the last 25 years and we were annihilated 66-33. That was really the first time we have played in the wet since moved to Marvel Stadium. It hasn't got any better, as the years have gone on. Why would we suddenly improve in the wet now, when havn't been any good for nearly 25 years?

 

[MiguelM]

Why havn't we matured to play in the wet at any time since the late 90's then?

Our decline started in 2002 after after our great 2000 side gradually started to dissipate.

In round 5 of 2002 we played Collingwood on a sodden Anzac Day. Perhaps the wettest footy day in the last 25 years and we were annihilated 66-33. That was really the first time we have played in the wet since moved to Marvel Stadium. It hasn't got any better, as the years have gone on. Why would we suddenly improve in the wet now, when havn't been any good for nearly 25 years?

Nothing to do with being at Marvel though IMO.

We beat Melb in the wet in Gather round last year too.

Our games at the G are often big games against big clubs, When was the last time we played Pies/Blues/Tigers or Cats at Marvel? That is a bigger reason why we fail IMO.

 

[ant555]

Of course none of this has anything to do with the quality of our list and being an average side

 

[Clark G]

or are mcc members

the 7/4 spilt is fine as long we never ever play a home against the Demons at the MCG again. that's not something we should be cratering for

Not saying I agree with it, but hosting Melbourne at the MCG allows Melbourne to make up a game there in place of selling a home game to the NT.

 

[Clark G]

Why havn't we matured to play in the wet at any time since the late 90's then?

Our decline started in 2002 after after our great 2000 side gradually started to dissipate.

In round 5 of 2002 we played Collingwood on a sodden Anzac Day. Perhaps the wettest footy day in the last 25 years and we were annihilated 66-33. That was really the first time we have played in the wet since moved to Marvel Stadium. It hasn't got any better, as the years have gone on. Why would we suddenly improve in the wet now, when havn't been any good for nearly 25 years?

Not saying Essendon are great in the wet, but the whole perception of Essendon being bad in wet weather seemed to start from that game. In 2000 Essendon won wet weather games in Sydney and Brisbane from memory. And no one seems to remember winning the Anzac Day game in 2004 when it rained during that game. I prefer the MCG and would like Essendon to play most if not all home games there. But that is more so that more fans can watch the team. Simply moving there isn’t going to turn the club into premiership contenders.

 

[Clark G]

Nothing to do with being at Marvel though IMO.

We beat Melb in the wet in Gather round last year too.

Our games at the G are often big games against big clubs, When was the last time we played Pies/Blues/Tigers or Cats at Marvel? That is a bigger reason why we fail IMO.

I don’t think Essendon have ever played Collingwood, Carlton or Richmond at Marvel for an official game (pre-season/practice games don’t count). Have played Geelong at Marvel before.

 

[windyhill]

or are mcc members

the 7/4 spilt is fine as long we never ever play a home against the Demons at the MCG again. that's not something we should be cratering for

Essendon are second behind Melbourne for MCC support. Was one of the reasons why they ended the original MCG deal to move to docklands.

 

[Dan26]

Essendon are second behind Melbourne for MCC support. Was one of the reasons why they ended the original MCG deal to move to docklands.

Wouldn’t having the second-most MCC members be a reason to NOT move to Docklands?

 

[windyhill]

Wouldn’t having the second-most MCC members be a reason to NOT move to Docklands?

No mate, they were hoping to get EFC/MCC to drop their membership. Again, it was only one reason as to why they shifted. I liked the original deal where EFC could look at every other clubs deal to make sure no one got a better deal than us. Nice to be the big dog looking at car#tons deal. Very amusing.
Asking Ess, mcc members to drop their mcc, huge mistake. This was remember, the bullfrog president at the time, McMahon, who was a bully of a bloke.

 

[Agronomus]

Its a Furphy.

No it isn't

 

[b1k7]

Of course none of this has anything to do with the quality of our list and being an average side

How much of our list needs to change to be a top 4 team? Is half the side we field each week good enough to be the part of our next premiership tilt? Or are we just one or two players away from being good?

 

[ant555]

How much of our list needs to change to be a top 4 team? Is half the side we field each week good enough to be the part of our next premiership tilt? Or are we just one or two players away from being good?

Depends if some of what we have actually take another step but I think we are short a KFP , some small forwards . The rucks have to step it up and we need some speed and skill from half back.

 

[ant555]

No it isn't

It is. We are not a poor side because we play games at Marvel. We are a poor side because we ****ed ourselves with the saga and have had some average list builds, several coaches and for a while limited resources put into development. It has nothing to do with the MCG. Good sides just win. There is no magic wand in playing 15 games at the MCG.

 

[Saucy]

It is. We are not a poor side because we play games at Marvel. We are a poor side because we ****ed ourselves with the saga and have had some average list builds, several coaches and for a while limited resources put into development. It has nothing to do with the MCG. Good sides just win. There is no magic wand in playing 15 games at the MCG.

What about the 10+ years before the saga, where we were equally shit. The move from the G absolutely had a negative effect on us. Same thing happened to Carlton.

 

[eth-dog]

What about the 10+ years before the saga, where we were equally shit. The move from the G absolutely had a negative effect on us. Same thing happened to Carlton.

Made a GF, two prelims, a Semi before Sheeds got greedy and tried to top up? Like 2005 and 2006 were shit because we brought in mature agers who were cooked or no good (Heffernan, Zantuck etc). Then we cut a whole heap of mature aged players and started a rebuild.

I don't see how moving to Docklands affected our club topping up at the wrong time instead of embracing a rebuild.

 

[boncer34]

What about the 10+ years before the saga, where we were equally shit. The move from the G absolutely had a negative effect on us. Same thing happened to Carlton.

Think Carlton breaking the salary cap hurt them more.

 

[ant555]

What about the 10+ years before the saga, where we were equally shit. The move from the G absolutely had a negative effect on us. Same thing happened to Carlton.

We were a side on the slide. Last two GF we played in we also played home games at Colonial.
Good sides win anywhere. We have not been good since 2001 .

 

[Dan26]

It is. We are not a poor side because we play games at Marvel. We are a poor side because we ****ed ourselves with the saga and have had some average list builds, several coaches and for a while limited resources put into development. It has nothing to do with the MCG. Good sides just win. There is no magic wand in playing 15 games at the MCG.

I never said it was about playing more games at the MCG. In fact I've specifically noted that Geelong play there less than us and Hawthorn about the same as us.

It's about the number of games we play at Marvel.

Yes, logically it "shouldn't" matter which is your argument. Yes, I agree logically it shouldn't, but it does and has. In my opinion, it's cultural. We were the biggest and the best, then we moved to a stadium which put a limit on us, which said - without words - that we didn't care about being the biggest and best club. That's how I felt about the move all the way back in 2000 and I think I have a pretty good radar for these things. It just didn't feel right.

In terms of culture it's a hard thing to argue, because culture can't be measured. But imagine the frog in boiling water metaphor, and the frog represents our culture. Basically, the frog doesn't leap out of the water the hotter it gets because it happens so gradually that it doesn't notice. The club makes some bad decisions (the move to Marvel) some other dominoes fall, in response to that and the water gets hotter and hotter and before you know it our culture is stuffed and no one saw it coming , just like the frog.

I brought up earlier the record of non Marvel teams over the last 22 years (14 flags) and marvel teams (one fluke flag from 7th). And I asked at what point does that stop being a statistical oddity and it actually starts being something real? It's surely a big enough sample size now to show that it's not a statistical oddity.