Indeed I did. Another player who performed well in the first half; I think he, Kerridge and Whiley had 40 possessions between them, teaming up well around the stoppages and making Tutt look competent.


Wasn't counting Jaksch, but I count 9 including the rest of those, as well as Plowman, Sheehan, Armfield and maybe Cuningham. Jaksch could well come on, Cuningham might not, but the other 8 have shown a clear ability to match it at AFL level when fit.

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

Not worried.......... its a february game, so not reading much into it at all. just happy we got through it with no injuries and everybody gave it a crack.

_________________
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

135 Hawthorn vs 78 Us in rotations (Approximately) explains the second half drop off.

Preparing them for 90 in season proper
Good conditioning

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

That'll do it. The sum total of bringing off Whiley for C.Curnow, Gorringe for Jones and Dick for Byrne probably hurt our ability to run out the match as well.

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

Agreed!!!!

_________________
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

So many worthy posts in this thread. It's a @#$%&! practice match against the reigning premiers in tasmania in @#$%&! February you miserable cauliflower.

_________________
dane's trolling again

It only took Kerridge 1 NAB Challenge game to put in the type of effort that Troy Menzel couldn't muster in 3 seasons.

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

I thought Blokehurts looked like he has tried to replicate Menzels flowing locks...swoon

_________________

Yup......

i don't know what some of you folk
were expecting...!

for starters...no injuries...that's great...!

secondly...not exactly our best 22 out there...!

thirdly...we were playing the reigning premier's...!

fourthly...the Gaffer was happy...played to the
new interchange rules so there were some tired
boys out there...!

and another thing...wasn't that our first practice
game for the year...?

come on guys...it's going to be a tough year
out there...we're not that stupid are we...?

lets sit back and take what we each can...enjoy
the kids...and watch our team grow in stature...!

if we're going to be happy with 6 wins...that's a few
losses there by my equation...!


kindest regards tommi

_________________
that'siti'mnotchangingthistagain......!

Great post, Tommi. I think Bolton will rolling out similar sentiments all year.

I liked the look of our experienced recruits. Kerridge, Wright, Phillips, Lamb etc. Nothing amazing but solid citizens which is what we need at this point. It's like somebody has actually started planning these things....

Thought Whiley might be related to this guy:

I like tommi's take on this.






I also like the cut of the gaffer's gib too.

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

Winston Churchill

So did we win?

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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

Brilliant! Great to read.

Reckon Whiley's Dad is this infamous legendary 'actor' from the 70s and 80s who some of you may recognize lol

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Pros:

Good early.
Really liked our defensive organisation. It looks like our days of leaking large scores is finally over.
Won the ball pretty well at the contests, like we usually do.
Someone else mentioned quick defensive rebounds after a turnover. Liked that as well.
The Carlton support in the crowd.
Kerridge, Boekhorst, Docherty and Tuohy.
Casboult. Actually dropped quite a few marks he could have/should have taken.
Wright looks like he'll be solid.
Nice to see Thomas contribute.
Lamb and Phillips showed glimpses.
Whiley looked more comfortable at the level than he previously has.
Neither Byrne nor C. Curnow actually did much. But from brief flashes, they're the 2 that really excite me. Just look they're built for AFL. Curnow seemed to be able to find space in our forward line that no one else could.
Nice to see Graham get a couple of goals. Just wish he'd find a way to get more ball.
I liked Jones willingness to tackle and pressure. Less impressed with his marking efforts.

Cons:

Skill level. But there's nothing really surprising there. Least skilled list vs. most skilled list.
We're going to really struggle to kick a score over the next few years. But we're basically rebuilding our forward line from scratch.
Out-muscled. Out-tackled. Struggled to hold or break tackles. Partly that's what happens when you have a younger list. But thought our intent could have been stronger.
Marking contests. Outside of Casboult, we seemed to consistently 'lose' the 2-1/1-2 marking contests. Found the umpiring pretty frustrating at this point. Hawthorn seemed to be allowed to make considerable amount of contact. And we didn't seem to be allowed to make any. But obviously we need to get a lot smarter and better at his area of the game. It was here and in the tackling contests that we lost the possession game. Couldn't keep or neutralise it when we had it. Couldn't neutralise or get it back when we didn't.
Goal kicking. It wasn't awful. But as usual, we ended up with similar amounts of scores, but still lost comfortably.
Umpiring interpretation. The scourge of head ducking looks likely to continue. And lots and lots of holding the ball/dropping the ball/throws were let go. If these are trends. They're going to drive me a bit bonkers.
Would like to see Gibbs find/make more space with the ball. We're not getting the most out of his elite skills, when he just scrubs the ball out of contests.

watching Boltons press conference just rams home clearly what a disaster the Ratten and Malthouse appointments were....

The number 1 skill a coach must have is communications skills....

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O say does that star spangled banner yet wave.

What are you trying to say Dane?

_________________
O say does that star spangled banner yet wave.