VFL Round 5

[masoncox]

Done
Scores 11-19 to 13-19.
Dons win.
Gee turnovers killed us.
If anybody thinks that Begg
can replace Cox this year is an idiot

[masoncox]

[thesoretoothsayer]

[masoncox]

[masoncox]

I thought Jiath did well.
I believe he will be a good AFL player in the next few years
He has a football brain and he doesn't shirk the issue.

[Pies2016]

Only watched the last quarter. What is painfully obvious is that we have absolutely ZERO presence in the air. Doesn’t help with the likes of Eyre, Krueger, Steene and Sofranidis all out but we simply can’t win an aerial contest to save ourselves.
Crocker had a mare kicking one 1.4 and Sullivan missed a couple mid range shots on goal in the last that he would like again.
Earlier posts suggest we fumbled and turned the ball over all too easily. That didn’t change in the last quarter either.
Another observation is Collingwoods lack of senior leadership and experience on the ground. Markov was our most experienced on-field leader in todays game. Conversely, the Bombers were well served with the likes of Shiel, Guelfi and Weideman as in-game leaders.

[Jezza]

Thanks for the updates, MC

FT = Essendon 13.19.97 defeated Collingwood 11.19.85

Goals: Johnson 2, Hutchinson 2, Carmichael 2, Sullivan 1, Richards 1, Macrae 1, Lane 1, Crocker 1.
Disposals: Macrae 31, Lane 23, Long 22, Sullivan 21, Dean 21, Johnson 20, Ryan 18, Jiath 17, Bytel 17.
AF Points: Macrae 125, Long 116, Johnson 94, Lane 93, Sullivan 87, Dean 83, Ryan 76, Carmichael 73, Crocker 72.

[Jezza]

Clearances: Macrae 6, Sullivan 5, Long 3, Sparkes 2, Purcell 2
Tackles: Long 11, Sullivan 5, Macrae 5, Purcell 3, Parker 3
Marks: Ryan 9, Lane 8, Johnson 8, Crocker 7, Macrae 6

[Magpietothemax]

From reports I have heard, AJ played a much better game today.

Here's to AJ, and hope he backs it up next week.
He is the joker, a card in the pack with untapped value. Who knows what he has up his sleeve.

[Dark Beanie]

Match replay:

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1117497/vfl-match-replay-r5-collingwood-v-essendon?videoId=1117497&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1714190848001&references=AFL_MATCH:6344

Mini match:

https://www.afl.com.au/video/1117223/vfl-mini-match-r5-collingwood-v-essendon?videoId=1117223&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1714190785001&references=AFL_MATCH:6344

[The Black and White Lion]

AJ looked ok but let's go over the main points. As Magpietothemax indicated, AJ needs to back it up, get some consistency and then build from there. Today was a good first step but he wasn't able to mark when it mattered in the last. He did kick a clutch goal from a free kick 20m out on a 45degree angle which was good however.

The ruck and mids got smashed again. Some good individual efforts throughout the day but just struggling against bigger bodies, speed and transition.
Macrae was ok and got a lot of it without being damaging as usual.
Sullivan sparked early in the last with 5 or 6 great efforts but capped it off with 1goal 2points all gettable from close in front. What ifs and could haves.
Ned Long looked good but took too long to dispose and was caught out on transition a few times
Begg got smashed again in the ruck. He's undersized, our fwd line is undersized and so is our back line. He's the tallest in the team at 197cm but he's a key back in my mind or a 3rd fwd ruck. I think he's being played out of position. He's very competitive after the bounce which is a great asset but no good if the ball is already going the other way because you're ineffective in the ruck
We are in desperate need of a VFL quality ruck, preferably one with some height. Purcell is a poor back up IMO.

My view of Allan's prospects is waning. Watching him a bit more closely he's skinny through the hips and the lower body. He has a high centre of gravity. He's like the opposite of a Daicos. I'm not sure Allan is going to make it at AFL level when he can't beat VFL bodies

VFL Pies going to be a long year outside of finals if we continue the current form and trajectory and play the stronger VFL teams

[Big T]

Agree Lion. The concerning thing is have a read of the summary of this rounds vfl matches - geelong melbourne etc have virtual afl second teams. We have basically nothing. Will be all good if these kids develop rapidly, but boarding on disastrous if they don’t.

[Dark Beanie]

Round 5 review:

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1119540/review-smithys-vfl-round-5