Its taken me 4 days to final get some courage and find some inner peace to write this.
John Worsfold said he had not seen such a bad performance from us since the 2016 season of the top up players.. Well guess what John I haven’t been so angry and disappointed with a performance since the 2015 season. At least in 2016 we had a reason why we were so bad.
That first quarter the bombers couldn’t even get the ball, they were 1.8 to our 1.0. It could or should of been all over. This was not the same Bulldogs we had watched in the 2 previous rounds, they were hungry and had a point to prove. It is amazing how when a team gets smashed in the media all week, they always seem to come out and be a completely different outfit all together. I had not seen them pressure and tackle like this since the 2016 finals series. Credit to them and Luke Beveridge if they bring that intensity they will beat a lot of sides as they have a lot of quality players.
The final scoreline of only a 21 point loss was comical. The Bombers should of loss by 50-60 points but they kept missing and kept the bombers in the game. Essendons late charge in the game in the last quarter was encouraging but it was too little too late. It could of been different when Daniher marked 12 meters out almost directly in front with 5:30 mins left on the clock and 16 points down. Josh Green then ran past him calling it for it and then Daniher tried to handball to him and made a meal of it. Which the bulldogs went straight down the other end and ended the Bombers hope with a goal. DIABOLICAL !!! What were they thinking !!!
Who is this Essendon team we are watching ? This is not what we were expecting to see 3 weeks ago before the season started.. So many players just didn’t turn up this week to play, so so many passengers. The modern day game proves you are off by 10% against anyone, you will get found out. Just like they were on Sunday.
Enough is enough .. LIFT !
Interesting talking point through out the game and the week has been about Cale Hooker again, when he went back in the last quarter he stopped the hemorrhaging of marks inside the bulldogs 50 and scoring shots. That is as well when the bombers made their come back. What do they do with him ? Does the All Australian defender go back in defense or does Worsfold stick to his guns and leave him forward. My opinion he needs to stay forward he straightens the bombers up so much and frees up Daniher and Stewart. But what I do believe is, please do not wait to the last quarter before you move him if you are getting destroyed like they were. Move him earlier. He is not like Jake Carlise who will have bad body language and look like he would rather be at Byron bay catching some surf. He is all about whats best for the club and plays with his heart on his sleeve. Even when he was banned for a year he was one of the first to come and sign his contract and commit his future to the club. If I was to get any player from Essendons number on my back it would be his. Purely based on the fact that he bleeds red and black. Next time you see him kick a goal, have a look how much it means to him. He thumps his hand on his emblem. Even when he gets beaten by a forward while he is in defense have a look how frustrated he gets.
Hopefully this week some players can take a page out his book and show heart like Hooker does. If they do they shouldn’t have problems disposing of Port at Etihad.
Please can the real Essendon stand up this week, the one that doesn’t concede record marks against them, the one that moves the ball around freely and laces out passes to their forwards. The Essendon that their midfield tracks back and doesn’t always look to run forward and not back. The Essendon that their defense can actually wins some one on ones other than Michael Hurley.
Lets hope they can do what they did to Port the last time they visited Etihad against them. The game was over at quarter time.
ROUND THREE
