Pros:

Kept fighting the game out. Actually controlled more of the game than the opposition.
Really liked how we played Cuningham out of the goal square. Was dangerous and classy.
Weitering, Martin, Cripps and Samo were superb. Particularly impressed with Samo, given he's barely played in preseason.
Great to have Docherty back. (Even if he looked a little rushed at times.)
Murphy and Casboult were good. Casboult really has become a valuable and consistent player in the last 12 months.
Newnes really surprised me.
After being smashed early, Jones was pretty good.
Actually really liked McGovern's willingness to jump at the ball, and his aggression against the opposition. Just needs more game time.

Cons:

Any chance we could start a game under Teague with sufficient intensity?
Couldn't match Richmond's aggression. They tackle to hurt, unlike us. Number of our players early seemed a little spooked by the pressure. Fumbles, hurried disposals, smothered kicks, etc.
Be nice to actually get through a season opener without losing players early in the game to injury.
Need some pace in defence or small forwards are going to have a field day against us.
Too many non-contributors. Like Newman, Gibbons, Setterfield and Dow.

He is not playing to his potential. Needs a long spell in the VFL and hope for the best.

OK ...... the suspense is over. Who's going to start the Post Match Discussion thread?

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"IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE, YOU'RE PREPARED TO FAIL" - Mark Spitz

Some awful calls by the umps early set them up.
2 rucks vs a second tier Ruck for most of the game.
Missing our 2 best key forward’s and best small forward.
We did pretty well against a full team of last years premiers.
Yes we still have work to do but we’ve grown.

The fact is it was always going to be a stretch with outs we had.
Imagine Richmond with no Riewoldt no Lynch and no Rioli.

If we get smashed with a full team that’s 100% fit then I’d worry.

I have been down on him for a long time. He is technically in our best 22 and far from our worst but I think his decision making and skill execution last year was often very poor with a few flashes of brilliance thrown in. He isn’t bad enough to drop and if a person is glass half full they can definitely mount a case in his favour but he upsets me a lot.

Don’t know bout drawing a line through him totally, but looking like a big stuff up by SOS at this stage.
Bring in o Brien or Philp for him next week.

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

I would have locked dow in for 200 games after year one. Can’t work out what has happened to him.

Not one blues fan would have backed him to kick either of those simple set shots. And some of his efforts in the contest when he really had to go hard weren’t good enough.

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Go Blues

A respectable result in the end but very average early.

Skills are not up to scratch and will continue to cost us if not fixed.

Martin, Cripps, SPS, Weiters, Doc and Levi good. Jones worked back after a tough start. Thought Fish and Jack were more than serviceable.

Dow and Setterfield very disappointing. 13 touches, 0.2 and no impact between them. Dow can’t play anywhere but midfield and he’s not good enough to break into the midfield full time. Didn’t see him at one centre bounce. Setterfield too slow and no skills. Very concerning

Anyway, on to next week (if it goes ahead). Time for TDK

My two bob:

Pros
Weitering- holds T.Lynch not only goalless but markless also. Exceptional.
Martin- skilful and hard, perfect mix.
Cripps- beast mode, rallies the troops
Docs first game- like riding a bike, smart player
Casboult- workhorse, mammoth effort.
SOS- team player, stat line didn’t do his effort justice.
SPS- need more with his composure

Cons
Lack speed in defence.
Too many passengers. Setterfield, Dow, Cunners, gibbons, gov, Newnes..... didnt contribute enough full stop and when they did often hurt us not the opposition.
Hardwick whinging bout umps, I thought a lot went their way.

I think we just played the most potent attack in the league, we will measure up well against most teams.

A slightly different angle.

Everyone is complaining how badly the team with notable exceptions played.

Arguably our best 3 forwards in Harry, Charley and Eddie were not playing.

Kreuzer our only ruckman out in the first quarter.

We were beaten by the current premiers by only 24 points.


Not so bad is it?

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"Get ready, Teddy - you're on": Ron Barassi half time 1970 Grand Final

Those 4 late 2nd qtr goals hurt bad after we had the best of that qtr for much of it.

I thought Newnes was easily one of our better contributors.

As for the game, playing Walsh as a forward, WTF was that about?
Bring in Williamson and drop Newman. What happened to Lang? Apparently he had a good pre-season.
As for defensive kick ins, why do we continually give it to Newman or Simpson who repeat the same mistakes over and over. give the job to SPS or Doc. I'd love to see a stat on how often Kreuzer goes down in the first quarter of games. Time to move past the big fella.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Still too many soft-minded conditional players and too few committed players.

We're no good until that changes.

Too few carried the team, again !

And hopefully that’s the end of Kruser and the club can finally move on without him , the most frustrating player I have ever witnessed at Carlton , ( we gave up josh Kennedy for him ,say no more )

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#sayerscouldbetheman!!

:thumbsup: :clap:

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Lost at the selection table.

Last 3 years, we've played Plowman in the season opener without an obvious matchup. The extra small defender in Stocker or Williamson certainly would have come in handy tonight.
Not sure what they saw in Dow's pre-season form over O'Brien's.
McGovern over Kennedy or De Koning?

3AW Kruz suspected fractured/ broken fibula.

Saw enough from McGovern that he'll be ok this year. Was charging at his pack marks last night, as he used to with Adelaide, just didn't hold them like he used to. With a game under his belt that could well change.

Stick a fork in him.

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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

Last night was a bit depressing.

No more "honourable" losses for this team.

Losing is not good enough!

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Wisdom tells me I am nothing
Love tells me I am everything
Between the two my life flows