Essendon's Depth

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Sheik Mathious said:
Most skillful player?

That's a concern. What's Rioli what to? Is he injured? :confused:
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Got a little knee niggle - if it'd been a H&A, he would have played.

People snicker at the level Bombers fans rate him at, but ask Port Adelaide fans what Rioli can do in a half.
 
IF you think Essendon is bad now, think ahead to 2 years time, when Hird and Fletcher etc are retired.
Then they will be well and truly knackered.
 
celtic_pride said:
IF you think Essendon is bad now, think ahead to 2 years time, when Hird and Fletcher etc are retired.
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Who's the etc there, celtic_pride?
The only other retirements will be Allan, maybe Murphy, and whoever we delist.

Despite that, I have to admit that it'll be impossible to replace Hird, and very tough to replace Fletcher (given that nobody on the list looks capable of playing FB to a decent standard right now). FB will, however, be the only real problem in our team balance two years from now.
 
nonchalance said:
Who's the etc there, celtic_pride?
The only other retirements will be Allan, maybe Murphy, and whoever we delist.

Despite that, I have to admit that it'll be impossible to replace Hird, and very tough to replace Fletcher (given that nobody on the list looks capable of playing FB to a decent standard right now). FB will, however, be the only real problem in our team balance two years from now.
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Still 15 years away from the next Hird
 
Longy413 said:
Minus Hunt and Henneman there is a lot of quality there. Rama is top shelf. Alvey needs a year to get over his knee, had a 390 possession season at the Dogs. McVeigh is a good footballer. Hille is still learning (see Luke Darcy), took up the game at 17, has torn games open against quality opponents. Ben Haynes is a good depth player, has done some good things but I don't think he is in our best 22. Zantuck has played some very good footy at AFL level. Cupido is a 40 goal forward. Thomas will be a player. McPhee and Welsh are top shelf. This is Bullen's year, he has played some good games but needs to do more. Richards has been kept out of the side by Lucas, Lloyd, Wellman etc, this year is his chance. Lovett-Murray played 18 games, and averaged a goal a game, given his lack of game time that is a good return. Lovett should be on the list, has a lot of quality. Make or break for Winderlich and Reynolds, they both have redeeming qualities but they need to put their hand up. Laycock is a gem. We all know the Johns story.

Adrian Wilson is one player I really like. Silky skills, hard at the ball. Unfortunately suffers from a beat of Dean Rioli syndrome. I can see him playing senior football this season once he gets his body right.

A lot of these guys have suffered by a lack of genuine opportunities or injuries (Johns, Reynolds) and I guess you can read a number of things into that. Reynolds, Winderlich, Hille, Laycock were always going to be long term prospects. But having seen all these guys at VFL level, there is a lot to like about most of them.
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You may well be right Longy413. But your post is more optimism than anything else.

The midfield. (Ie: The problem)

Time to step up…..

Rama: We can forgive him for 2004 because of his injuries. Disposals dropped from 17.0 to 13.5. Even toward the end of the season struggled when on ball and I'm pretty sure he was used in a negating role in the finals.

Alvey Has had some pretty serious injuries. 10.4 disposals a game. Down from 16.0.

McVeigh 14.4 Disposals a game. Not good enough. Needs to do a lot more.

Haynes 22 years old. 13 Disposals a game. Not good enough

Bullen 37 games and 10.4 Disposals a game for 2004.

Lovett-Murray I know he is a forward. 8.8 Disposals a game.

Winderlich 6.3 Disposal a game

Reynolds 7.7 Disposals a game



Cupido 5.83 Disposals a game. Even after the injuries he has had he needs to do more.

Can Play……

Adam McPhee: I have already said is a gun. 17.24 Disposals a game.

Andrew Welsh – Will be a very good player. 16.32 Disposals a game.

I can't see any of these kids stepping up.

Jon McCormick won more of the ball than these blokes.

And they should be!.
 
Sheik Mathious said:
You may well be right Longy413. But your post is more optimism than anything else.

The midfield. (Ie: The problem)

Time to step up…..

Rama: We can forgive him for 2004 because of his injuries. Disposals dropped from 17.0 to 13.5. Even toward the end of the season struggled when on ball and I'm pretty sure he was used in a negating role in the finals.

Alvey Has had some pretty serious injuries. 10.4 disposals a game. Down from 16.0.

McVeigh 14.4 Disposals a game. Not good enough. Needs to do a lot more.

Haynes 22 years old. 13 Disposals a game. Not good enough

Bullen 37 games and 10.4 Disposals a game for 2004.

Lovett-Murray I know he is a forward. 8.8 Disposals a game.

Winderlich 6.3 Disposal a game

Reynolds 7.7 Disposals a game



Cupido 5.83 Disposals a game. Even after the injuries he has had he needs to do more.

Can Play……

Adam McPhee: I have already said is a gun. 17.24 Disposals a game.

Andrew Welsh – Will be a very good player. 16.32 Disposals a game.

I can't see any of these kids stepping up.

Jon McCormick won more of the ball than these blokes.

And they should be!.
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I agree with what you are saying. There is every reason to be optimisic about Adam Ramanauskas, he is a quality player and yes you're right he was used mostly at half back last season. But that was as a means to ease him back into the game.

Mark McVeigh has only played a couple of games as a midfielder. Mostly as a stopper. 14 possessions a game for a guy who has played 95% of his games in either a back or forward pocket is a good return. His games in the midfield were very good, once again a reason to be optimistic.

I like to think Cupido will get back to his 2003 form. He is looking fit, he kicked 39 goals in 2003, I don't care how many possessions he gets a game if he can do that again. Two goals a game is a great return.

I don't rate Lovett-Murray as a player, he is handy. No more, no less. Couldn't care less if he never got another game.

Haynes and Bullen have suffered from a lack of game time. I know this frustrates a lot of Essendon supporters. If you looked at those returns in a % of ground time they probably look a lot better than at first glance. Bullen has played mostly as a tagger, Haynes mostly at half forward. I agree they need to do more to demand a position, but they have both demonstrated they can get the footy. 13 possessions a game for Haynes isn't a bad return when he is coming off the bench to give another midfielder a rest. Likewise for Bullen. If Haynes is getting 13 and swapping with Murphy who is getting 20 its not a bad return.

I don't know what it is about Mark Alvey, but I rate him. I think he is a quality ball winner with very good skills. He struggled last year badly, but inbetween he also did some good things. Make or break for him this year no doubt, but at his best Mark Alvey is a very good footballer.

Winderlich and Reynolds are kids. Both had injuries. Reynolds two years of Glandular Fever. Winderlich's games have been as a back pocket, beat Leon Davis and then looked very good against Hawthorn before he was hit by Chance Bateman. Both need to lift and improve, but that's just a natural expectation of kids who have been in the game for a couple of years, not optimisim. Jon McCormick was given a lot of ground time, these guys weren't.
 
Essendon will have issues when Lloyd, Hird and Fletcher hang up the boots, but they have time to recruit and develop replacements. Once the side gets to a point they are not AS competitive they will start to look at some much better picks, until that time I think they will be very competitive.
 
Tas said:
Essendon will have issues when Lloyd, Hird and Fletcher hang up the boots, but they have time to recruit and develop replacements. Once the side gets to a point they are not AS competitive they will start to look at some much better picks, until that time I think they will be very competitive.
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We will never cover a player of Hird's stature. Impossible. Positionally we could and maybe starting to do that this year, with other players expected to step into his midfield roles.

Fletcher turns 30 in late June. Has probably a couple of years left. With Bradley coming on stream to play at CHB, it will ease pressure on Fletcher somewhat.

Lloyd is only 26. He conceivably has 7-8 years left. It is likely that when he hangs up the boots, we will have easily passed 1000 goals, and would be likely to have passed 1200 goals. Who knows what the side would be looking like in 2012/2013.
 

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Tas said:
Essendon will have issues when Lloyd, Hird and Fletcher ...
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How old do you think Matthew Lloyd is? Hird and Fletcher will be long retired before Lloyd considers hanging up the boots. And who's to say there isn't a young Hird and/or Fletcher on our list already. You never know when a player will take a phenomenal step up. Adam McPhee went from zero at Fremantle to an EFC Best & Fairest winner in the space of 2 seasons, and IMO he can still improve.
 
topdon said:
How old do you think Matthew Lloyd is? Hird and Fletcher will be long retired before Lloyd considers hanging up the boots. And who's to say there isn't a young Hird and/or Fletcher on our list already. You never know when a player will take a phenomenal step up. Adam McPhee went from zero at Fremantle to an EFC Best & Fairest winner in the space of 2 seasons, and IMO he can still improve.
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From what I've seen of Mc phee ,he's back to zero. :D
 
celtic_pride said:
IF you think Essendon is bad now, think ahead to 2 years time, when Hird and Fletcher etc are retired.
Then they will be well and truly knackered.
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You can't possibly predict how Essendon will go in 2 years, a lot of things can happen in that time, not just retirement but recruitment.

With all this talk in different threads about how we are so bad and got a long season ahead of us is more in hope and wishfull thinking. like a lot of vultures fighting over a carcass.
 
This is our team for this week's game against Richmond:

2. Ricky Dyson
3. Aaron Henneman
4. Jobe Watson
6. Angus Monfries
8. Jason Winderlich
10. Mark McVeigh
11. Damien Peverill
13. Damian Cupido
15. Mark Alvey
16. Kepler Bradley
17. Paul Thomas
20. Ted Richards
22. Tristan Cartledge
23. Mark Bolton
24. Brent Stanton
26. Jason Laycock
27. Matthew Allan
28. Justin Murphy
29. Joel Reynolds
30. Sam Hunt
34. Henry Slattery
36. Ty Zantuck
37. Marc Bullen
38. Jay Nash
39. Ben Haynes
41. Andrew Lovett
42. Nathan Lovett-Murray
43. Dean Rioli

A few will miss out, probably Rioli won't play again.

Hird, Lloyd, Fletcher, Lucas, both Johnsons, Solomon, McPhee, Rama, Hille, Welsh and ofcourse Johns are not playing. Richmond will probably be close to full strength. Go bagg us if we get beaten again.
 
don4eva said:
Would be interesting if we won, probably wouldn't see a richmond supporter on here for 6 months
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If we lose, expect to see an abundance of Richmond for the 8 posts next week, to take over from the Carlton for the 8 posts of this week.
 

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