The Essendon rollercoaster of 2009 was enough to make you giddy. At times the Bombers soared, but ultimately there were more downs than ups, and it’s little wonder coach Matthew Knights would prefer to fly at a steadier altitude in 2010.
“At times we performed really well against teams that were above us on the ladder and then there were times we struggled with teams below us and didn’t get the results we wanted,” Knights says.
“It’s a good lesson for our players, that you have to perfom consistently, and I think that’s what the gun sides in the competition do, they replicate the same performance most weeks.
“That’s our goal, decreasing the margin between our best performance and our worst.”
No team polarised its results better than Essendon did in 2009.
The Dons were first to beat the league’s pace-setter St Kilda, in round 20, beat 2008 premiers Hawthorn twice, beat arch-rivals Carlton twice and pinched a last-kick win over Collingwood on Anzac Day.
Yet they lost five games to sides that ultimately missed the finals, were beaten four out of five times interstate and made the run home harder than it should have been in three successive weeks, through two unexpected defeats and a draw.
The last week typified the campaign.
A win over the Hawks in round 22 secured the club’s first finals berth in five years (a 10-1-11 record made them the first side since 1997 to reach the finals with more defeats than victories), but they were obliterated by 96 points by Adelaide in an elimination final, which highlighted the gulf between best and worst.
Knights believes his players will be the hungrier for having had a taste of the finals, but cannot be sure they will develop the consistency he craves.
“With greater maturity we’ll get a more even performance over a full season,” he says.
“It will be really hard to put a figure on when that will be when we reach that maturity, but we’re heading towards that area.”
Knights measures maturity through age, games played and retaining a settled line-up.
The retirements of stars Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas, who bagged a combined 1397 goals between them and for over a decade occupied the two key forward roles, will provide Knights with a litmus test on how long it takes a group to gel.
Knights admits he could mix and match the forward line, but it could revolve around a young tall such as Jay Neagle or Scott Gumbleton, with a resting ruckman alongside, and flankers Angus Monfries and Mark Williams, recruited from Hawthorn, as the leading forwards.
Ruckman Paddy Ryder came of age last year given the injuries suffered by his colleagues, but he and the experienced David Hille, who underwent a knee reconstruction in 2009, can expect to play a large share of the season in attack.
The forward line had its moments last year, but Knights admits it will start 2010 an unknown.
“None of us can look into the future and see how these guys in the forward line are going to develop and how they’re going to play,” he concedes.
“What I do know is they’re going to be different players to Lloyd and Lucas – they’ve been champions of the club and game – and we’re not going to be able to replace them straight away, but what we’ve got to look to do is put a forward line in place that’s threatening, that works together really well.”
At the other end, the Dons look more settled, although green.
Tayte Pears and Cale Hooker emerged as key defenders of note in 2009, and despite just a combined 46 games, should improve, especially with veteran Dustin Fletcher alongside as support.
In between, the Bombers’ midfield is industrious, as new skipper Jobe Watson has established himself as a reliable in-and-under man, Mark McVeigh and Andrew Welsh add ball-getting ability and experience, and are complemented by the speed of Jason Winmderlich, Alwyn Davey and Kyle Reimers.
The ability of Essendon’s younger players to close the gap between flashes and four quarters will determine the 2010 finish and beyond, and Knights says the bar is set high.
“It’s irrelevant of where your list is at and what your age demographic is, that’s just the case at Essendon,” he says.
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