OK Here is the scoop kiddos.
Reasons we lost:1.
Essendon* dominated the ruck. If you use the Pies match last week as the contrasting example, we dominated hit outs and (in particular) hit outs to advantage. Against the Dons, we did not have first use of the footy out of the middle and the midfielders were forced into being reactive.
2.
Essendon* scored on most F50 entries. I am not 100% sure on why this occurred, but it seemed to me that when coming out of our F50, the Dons had a much easier time bringing the ball up the ground, particularly through the middle. At the end of the day, we can say for certain that there was not enough pressure on the man in possession of the ball and the zone did not work. Fix those two issues and they would have scored 20% less.
3.
Individual ball use was poor. This is something you can't flick a switch for. For whatever reasons, the ball did not go forward with accurate kicking enough. There were one or two passages of play where it did happen and we scored. The rest of the time, we were behind on the scoreboard and feeling the pressure which caused too many kick-and-hope moments. Also, Essendon* did very well to get players to the contest. It seemed like they always had an extra man around the ball when it was in dispute. This obviously creates more pressure on a player if they do get clean enough possession to get a kick away.
NOW, on to the crying and moaning I hear.
Harden up folks. Things didn't go right today and although many of the criticisms I have read have been justified, the attitude of some supporters disappoints me more than the team performance. There is a big difference between sharing an observation about a problem or your disappointment in a loss, and trying to drag everyone down to your level of misery and pessimism. If you think you are doing the latter, perhaps you need to go for a long walk and visit a petting zoo or something. Goats are very therapeutic.
We are 3-1. One week at a time people; don't all throw your towels in just yet!
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