One big positive for me: versatility.

Jamo showed that with a bit of work he could be a viable option to throw forward and create headaches when needed.

Jamo, Hendo, T-Bird all able to be switched back and forward.
Not to mention Gibbs and Yarran.

this surely is a good sign

The way they monstered our midfield, I can't say that confidently.

I think though, get us on the MCG and it's game on molls.

_________________
T E A M

tbh i am sick and tired of trying to get positives from almost beating a top 4 side. the facts are we were torched in the heat of battle in the first half. we coughed the ball up under pressure & subsequently they kicked goals. i think all last night did was show that were a fair way off really challenging.

Whatever defensive tactical tweak we made with 10min left in the second we should bottle. We were incredibly tight from that point on.
We were very difficult to play against from that point on. Hawks only scored 26pts from that point on while we outscored them with 56.
Shame about the first 40 minutes but we will learn a fair bit from that.

I dont think we will see too many games from Judd at that standard. I reckon they are training him up for the finals. He didnt look too distressed mentally last night but he did look to be labouring physically. He probably ran half a marathon through the week. By finals i predict him to be in tip top condition and getting over the ground with ease.

Ratts will have plenty of examples to draw on this week to let players know the difference between working hard and not and how that effects the scoreboard.

We are still well placed. A tall forward will help come finals time. Carlos has a big chance this week to put his hand up.

Very very disappointing, again another brave LOSS to a top 4 team.
Reflects on the players and the coaching staff that in our biggest yardstick game in years we were insipid and woeful in the first half
Still haven't solved our in and under needs. Lewis, Mitchell, Sewell to big and tough for us. Ellard is a good battler but ordinary last night and nowhere near the HAwks in and unders.
TBird was terrible, gave nothing up forward. He is not a forward. He is a third medium tall defender. He is slow, not tall enough to outmark defenders as a forward in a pressure game. He is battling with Laidler and Duigan as 3rd medium tall back and is well behind them. Setanta cops a lot of stick and may only be marginally more effective, but his recovery and pace and agility are miles ahead of TBird and he is 200cm so at least can force a contest
Warnock was okay in the second half but we weren't reading the tea leaves when we decided that the future was bean pole knock ruckmen who can't take a mark to save themselves. Enough with the potential. Max Bailey and Zac Clarke have played about ten games between them yet Warnock couldn't exert any physical pressure on them. He is better than Mark Blake, but similar. Not sure why he was worth two draft picks but Freeo were big winners, they have replaced him with a young ruckman who is a better mark, quicker, more agile and not far behind as a knock ruckman. Warnock should be dominating Max Bailey, if he can't, how will he go against Cox. He wasn't terrible last night, but he was disappointing.
Big K will take time, but he is a ruckman not a forward. Might be time to see how he goes with longer stints in the ruck.
AJ is a scrubber but he has played two excellent games. I love Army's pace and endeavour, but his kicking lets him down.
Great to see Jammo get through, and Hendo was very good. He and Jammo are our key defenders, leave them there. Don't want us to take Hendo from a promising defender to an ordinary forward. Leave him in defence he is developing really quickly.
I'd consider playing Big K predominantly in the ruck with Setanta as back up. TBIrd out, maybe Davies. JR in, and maybe Tuohy.
The current lineup needs some change. This was our dress rehearsal for the finals and we failed. Something needs to change.

I think it was a dysfunctional forward line that didn't help the cause in the first half.

We know we can out run them over four quarters, its just a matter of us wanting to win the game from the start instead of taking the safe options.

Agree on this. A big risk against the Eagles though.



We failed from around 10mins into the first through to half time. Better we learn that lesson now and look to address it.

I never had us winning this game and the first half confirmed why, but the second half mentally could be worth it weight in gold for our confidence against this mob. The Hawks may have taken the foot off a bit in the third, but had no chance of putting it back on once we took the game on.

Cannot believe some of the criticism of Carrazzo on here today. He played on Mitchell for the whole first half and completely shut him out of the game. Also ran his guts out to create options going the other way and racked up 18 possies himself by half time. Cowardly? If you're going to criticise players for their output Jimmae, at least have something to back up the assertion.

Carrazzo is no wimp, but he did pull out of a contest at one point. May have been poor judgement rather than being sacred. It happened in front of us on the non Medallion wing

_________________
T E A M

Just not up to it at the end of the day.... 5th on the ladder just about sums up where we really are perfectly...

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

jim, your obsessive abuse directed at Ellard is beyond ridiculous. One thing no-one would argue with is his courage. Yes he was ineffective in the 1st half but so were a lot of others.

great game from Simmo and to think the little fella couldnt rack a possession in his first 3 games of AFL

apart from lacking mental toughness consistently it appears our biggest problem is we just don't know where to play some of our guys. We are not settled.

Kruz
Thornton
Jamison
Henderson
Sentanta
Waite
Warnock
Hammer

Now I appreciate some are injured, but I would hope by round 20 plus we would be able to have our FB, CHB, CHF, FF almost locked in.

We dont know where some of these guys should go, flexibility can confuse the situation as well.

_________________
Supporting the Blues No Matter What

I thought he was poor in the first half. His miss for goal 25 m out on his preferred side in the 1st quarter, was not acceptable...

I hope we get the Hawks twice next year too and think we will.



Add in Walker to the midfield as well.

Once we get a marking forward consistently in the side the versatility of the rest of the team will be a HUGE asset.

Woke up this morning and still gutted. That first half.....

Assuming we will not repeat that again, and will play comitted football like in the second half for a full game, imho the one thing we are crying out for is a legitimate tall forward target. Unfortunately Kreuz and Warnock are just not cutting it in that area at the moment.

What I would give for a fit and firing Waite at the moment.

If he's not available, what do we do? Is the Big Irish are realistic option with Kreuz to ruck? Don't believe Warnock is giving enough around the ground.

_________________
We are on our way back...

sigh.


Nice day though.

was that a dream yesterday?
it was weird....Jammo superstar was a forward,players kept kicking to Hawthorn, and kicking out on the full, and kicking points...or the post
then...
they played like Carlton and that was good...
and then...
I dunno
woke up, and realised..it's ok...
we haven't played in the finals yet..
just a weird dream.
must stop eating oysters methinks.

_________________
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.”

If there was ever any doubt on Thornton that should be erased now, he was simply terrible. One touch to half time. Falls over at maybe the most crucial time. Punches out of bounds when he was under no pressure and should have marked.

Poor players get exposed in big games. Armfield some horrible turnovers, skills just not good enough under finals like pressure.

Blues once again fail on the big stage against a top gteam, did nothing but prove again we are sandpit bullies.

Assuming Eagles finish fourth, in 2011 we would have lost to all top 4 teams, Pies twice. You can make all the excuses you want. Waite injured. But hey Hwaks have 2 proven fwds, one goes down the other still stands.

Lack of a quality fwd (the only one we have is brittle at best) and rucks who are incapable of taking a mark is our structural flaw.

Only good thing to come out of 2011 in terms of KPP is Hendo developing down back.

Ratten says he knows where the list is at, I suspect what he is saying is we need to find a KPP fwd. Media talk about how CFC have best conversion inside fwd 50 but reality is a midget fwdline aint going to win you finals. You need a big strong fwd who will provide a target, doesn't need to mark it every time, hell doesn't even have to kick bags every week but needs to provide a contest.


This is what you need for finals footy !!

Just why we hardly ever kicked to Kruezer last night baffles me. We just kept going to small fwds or undersized Walker.

Ratten, you need to develop a fwdline and structure that will win finals footy or your ass might be on the line if we lose our first final bec we keep kicking to midgets.

Waite is the remaining piece of the 2011 puzzle. Setanta is the other option.

One thing I noticed was that we're still a "small" team despite blokes like Murph, Jamo, Yaz beefing up. Hawks all have those tank-like torsos, ditto the Filth.

John Barker is the fwd coach?

_________________
"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.