Essendon 2021

Presti35 · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:20 pm

I'll start of by saying that I believe that this team is on the right path and yeah, I'd rather be 8th on the ladder than 17th when the season ends. That and they should be in a position to go a bit further in 2022.

I'm just hearing a lot about how great their season was.

After WCE stuffed up, they snuck into the 8 and sealed their spot on the last day of the season.

Looking at their year, they won 11 games. More often than not 11 wins wouldn't get you into finals. Those 11 wins came against; North (twice), Collingwood (twice), Gold Coast, Adelaide, Hawthorn... thats the bottom 5 teams. Their other wins; Freo, St Kilda, WCE... thats 9th, 10th and 11th. And one team in the top 8 Bulldogs.

Now for years I've been told how we never beat anyone, or anyone in the 8 or how we're just "making up the numbers" when we finish inside the 8. So why is this different?

They were belted a few times during the season and yesterday in the Elimination Final where they failed to kick a goal in the second half. So, really, how good was their season? 5 wins better than ours I guess.

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

For starters, Matthew Lloyd didn't want them to make finals. He reckons it risks making them think they've made it. Their 2nd half against the Dogs probably guards against that. (On Footy Classified a week or two ago, it got quite heated! Lloyd felt insulted by Caro. He thought she was making sarcastic comments about this opinion.)

And it was noted early in the season how there was only one or two wins separating Collingwood and Essendon but the mood was totally different at the two clubs.

The difference is they are young and on the rise. They didn't sell the farm to try to keep Big Joe. That was a win-win for Essendon and Brissy. (Brissy are good at injury management and rehab, unlike Collingwood. Big Joe has played more games for Brissy than he did in his last 3 years at Essendon.) They also lost a couple of other players. That gave them a good draft hand. They used it well.

And Stringer, according to Lloyd, has been the most Dusty-like of any AFL player in the last 10 weeks.

think positive · Side By Side Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Location: somewhere

stringer is a total asshole and they are still druggies in my mind

piedys · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:34 pm

Pies4shaw · pies4shaw Joined: 08 Oct 2007

Stringer isn't much of a footballer. Compare his stats during the season and his stats in finals, at both clubs. He looks like he could be anything - quick, powerful, beautiful kick and wonderful skills. But only until some heat is applied. He's exactly the sort of player you don't want in your team as you're trying to compete at the pointy end.