A few minutes into the game I said to my partner I didn't think we were switched on. The telltale sign is numbers around the contest, and at this Essendon* belted us.

It wasn't our 'bottom six' that cost us, but the leading players were not on song.

When firing, we have possibly the best mid-field in the competition, but we were thrashed when the heat was on, and Essendon* played damn well.

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

I love attending games live because you get to see a view of the game that is unique to you and
 because some of the comments i have read dont seem to be about the same game i saw!!

We lost this game rather than Essendon* won the game!  Thats good and the bad news.

We missed some easy set shots in the 1st and early in the 2nd qtrs, lucas and waite missed sitters. We should have been 2 goals up, instead we were level and this gave the dons the belief. They executed their game plan well to pressure us and play keepings off or very fast counter attack footy.  As we continued to miss the easy shots we began to panic. And started to turn the ball over. This then gave the dons even further belief, and they continued to execute well.  The last 15 min of the I love attending games live because you get to see a view if the game that is unique to you and because some of the comments i have read dont seem to be about the same game i saw!!!

My observations
We missed some easy set shots in the 1st and early in the 2nd qtrs, lucas and waite missed sitters. We should have been 2 goals up, instead we we level and this gave the dons the belief. They executed their game plan well to pressure us and play keepings off or very fast counter attack footy.  As we continued to miss the easy shots we began to panic. And started to turn the ball over. This then gave the dons even further belief, and they continued execute well.  The last 15 min of the second qtr was our poorest, and the dons to their credit capitalised.

I thought in the 3rd we worked much better, i thought simmo was excellent. But like waite, despite actually playing well, easy goals were missed. This again creates internal pressure, we start to fumble and the dons play smart counter attack footy. Trying to isolate our slowest defenders. players lacked the courage to take responsibility to kick the goal.

In the last when Essendon* could not sustain the pressure, we began to kick easy goals, but we were coming from too far back. That coupled with the individual brillance of j watson was enough to see the bombers win.

I disagree with with the view, we took it easy. I think we suffered from the lack of intensity from the previous games, and then did not adjust. 

Yes carrots and armfield were missed. I think they would have influenced the game. We would have overwhelmed them in the clearances and we would have matched up with their fast forwards much better. 

I would like us to learn how to nutralise a team when it is not happening for us, so we can be close at 3 qtr time. Then we play to our strengths and win most last qtrs.

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

Teams have off days ... it happens.

My concern re: premiership is with our goal kicking. We seem to have quite a few guys who
have "on" and "off" days in front of goal. This seems to be a state of mind thing and I'm not
sure that there's much we can do about it, (unless Jimmy Bartel would like to share some of
his secrets). At least Eddie dobbed a few set shots today.

I will be very upset if McLean gets dropped. I would suggest that the guy deserves at least
three games to have a chance to get up to speed. Dropping anyone after one match is ridiculous.

I am sure if carrots was injured BEFORE the game we would have selected and planned for stanton better. We did not have this option and we did not have the personal to adjust.

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

The same thing happens everytime we play Hawthorn. Only, this was pretty @#$%&! far from Hawthorn. I shudder to think what they would've done to us today.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

We lost it by a fair way.. and i get what youre saying when you say they didnt win it..


You have to cal it for what it was.. they smashed us.
They smashed us in the clearances.. and it flowed through the game ...

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Only have to see what Hawthorn are doing to West Coast right now - if we put up the effort we put up today against Hawtorn we would have been smashed.

The premiership market odds will be rightly readjusted.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Smashing them! Sort of.

Hyperbole and hindsight from you there Gerry. We all love to be passionate about our boys but this is the wrong end of it, and lacks a few qualifying statements.

If we can get Brock fit, he will be an immense asset to our midfield unit and the team. IMO he seems to be on track to get back to his best, but we need to be patient. I know you saw some pre-season footy and know that you probably thought better of him then than you do now. I think he needs up to a month to hit his straps before we can make an informed assessment as his time in the VFL has probably hindered his ability to come up and impact an AFL match.

My love, if there is any such strong emotion for Brock, is very much conditional.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Whilst there were few positives today, I did like Henderson's game.

He's still young, so it will be interesting to see him in a couple of years.

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"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde

Come round 1 i had no idea how we would play. Our preseason form had been "unreliable" to base an opinion on.

Having watched our games and Essendon*. What i was most interested in seeing was how the blues would handle a team that was contesting better and longer than the previous 3 opponents. The dons sustained the pressure for 3 qtrs, and we did not match their intensity. Come finals time this is what we need to handle 3 or 4 weeks in a row. We failed today. The challenge to the group is to prove they can sustain the level required for 4 qtrs and game after game. We need to beat freo next week to show we have the necessary character to win a premiership. I must admit i am yet to be convinced. We look more like flat track bullies than geniune hard edged winners. I hope i am wrong.

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The glass is neither half full nor half empty. Rather the glass is twice as big than required.

This is the thing that irks me the most now that I think about it. We were manhandled and intimidated by @#$%&! Essendon*! This is a team who at the best of times are soft and loose, and to compound it were missing quite a few key players, with others (ie Hurley) not doing much. So essentially, we were frightened by a bunch of fringe players, kids and squibs. This is the most aggravating thing.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

We have at least one 'passenger', probably two, even on a good day. The trouble is, quite a few others are up and down like yo-yos. They need an ideal match up to perform, is my best guess.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

*clears throat*

I don't really care what names are involved; I will leave you with a week to think about your behaviour tonight if you continue to attack posters once your inane curiosities have been satisfied.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Good news is that according to Ratts both Laidler and Yarran should be OK for the Freo game.

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TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

No he won't. Never play him again - full stop

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end of message

- The Duke, Internet Forum Poster

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

taking personal jabs jim?

_________________
*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

I'm pretty sure people come after me with the verbal equivalent of a machete if I post opinion as fact.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

yeah but you cant mod on one hand with a big stick telling people not to do what you just then did

_________________
*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.