The Soaring

Recap:

Essendon 4.6 7.11 11.4 16.17 (113)
West Coast 4.1 6.6 9.11 13.13 (91)

It didn’t surprise me that during the telecast the commentary team told us that Essendon’s record vs. the Eagles at the Telstra Dome: 12-0.

I don’t know if I heard that right and certainly haven’t verified it, but it certainly doesn’t surprise me.

Last night we managed to keep that perfect record in tact with another game that went right to script. An absolutely winnable, morale-boosting game lost through our own deficiencies. And wasn’t it painful to watch.

I really should at this point tell you who tried hard and who shows promise, but right now I’m beyond that. It gets a bit tedious after a while. So I’ll just tell you why we lost instead:

• We really miss Kerr. Not the reason we lost, but it is one of them. We just don’t have anyone as dynamic as him in the midfield and when he’s out we notice.
• When Lynch is your leading possession winner, something is wrong. I believe that all-time our record when the Big Unit leads our disposal count we are 0-for. Just a guess.
• We really need to sort out our fitness. Far too many injuries to key players. The competition is far too even for us to manage without key players, particularly if their absence is avoidable. Our ambition as a club is to be the best - so let’s not settle for less in our injury prevention etc.
• Our side is far too one paced. We have far too few players who can provide a burst of speed to break the game up. I’d love a Leroy Jetta in our side. There is no doubt we need to get an indigenous infusion into our list at the end of the year to change things up and not simply have a list of plain vanilla flankers.
• We have the worst forward line in the competition. I don’t think our parts (players) are all that bad, there is some hope there. But the way we go forward is lamentable. I want to scratch my eyes out when I see a beautiful passage of play from half back botched with a high bomb of a kick to a 2 on 1 contest, or to Wirra one out with a larger defender, or towards the behind post, or to the opposition’s loose man. You get the idea. Seriously, we need some sort of plan down there otherwise all us fans are going to go mad.
• We need to sort out some of our players kicking skills. It’s better than it has been - but even without whipping boy Chad Fletcher we had some howling clangers again.
• We also need to up our skill level in front of goal. 13.13 is barely acceptable - but we had 5.1 on the board to start the game and way too many of our misses were gimmes. If we’re rebuilding we need to maximise our return on effort because we don’t have the Judds / Cousins to bail us out as in previous years.

If there was one thing we got last night it was effort. Well done boys. It was an improvement compared to the Magpies and Blues games (amongst others). We appreciate it. But against Essendon we want more - we want blood and a win! Everytime.

I liked the signs we saw in McNamara’s game - love his attack on the footy - although he needs to improve his kicking. Embley was good - but he too needs to sort out his finishing. Ditto Hunter. Glad to see LeCras back and working his way into some touch.

I reckon we have a find in Ryan Davis. He faded a bit after a strong start, but I love his run and his willingness to back himself in. He will be a very good player.

Wilkes is also a find. I like to watch some of these guys after a couple of games, getting up week after week and Wilkes is a good addition to our team. Good to see him take a nice mark and goal. I like the fact he has good hands and is (usually) clean with his disposal.

Cox was beaten by Hille (HILLE??) but I think he’s carrying another leg injury and notwithstanding that is still our best player over the year so far. Glass = injured again and needs a rest. Seaby was poor and is really needing to find some form quickly as he’s going backwards.

I’m sure we’ll see 3+ changes to the side for next week (Geelong!) and probably re-discover some of the same problems. I’ll still turn up and cheer them, I just want to see effort (check) and some signs of improvement in our game. We’re still getting there. And we’re closer to Rich.