That was agonising. A drip, drip, drip of torture as the Bombers lost yet another eight-point game by an atrociously small margin to a weakened GWS line-up.
The Bombers only have themselves to blame for another wasted season (their 16th consecutive wasted season but who’s counting). Read on for my thoughts and reactions of the Bombers’ clash against the Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Bombers’ stupendous second half
I can use innumerable adjectives to describe my dismay at the Bombers’ second half on Sunday evening. The Bombers appear to have trouble getting out of second gear to assertively combat other sides getting the run on. The Bombers could not do anything to arrest the Giants’ orange tsunami.
It was good to see the Bombers play well in patches, however one goal, seven behinds is not a viable score for a side looking to challenge for finals. It is more in line with the doom and gloom predictions that were made at the beginning of this season.
The Bombers now face the Swans and Bulldogs in the next two weeks and I fail to see where the Bombers get their next win as they face four reasonably difficult opponents over the next month.
The Dyl and Duzza show
Sunday was the first time we saw Dylan Shiel in 17 weeks since tearing his meniscus against Port Adelaide in Round 2. It was also the first time we got to see the newly configured midfield since the resurgence of Darcy Parish and the continued exemplary play of Zach Merrett.
Thirteen disposals, four tackles and four score involvements was a thoroughly okay performance from the Bombers’ Ferrari and it was a night when I would settle for an okay performance.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/AFL Photos/Getty Images)
Sam ‘Duzza’ Durham continues to put his best foot forward as perhaps the most understated Bomber young gun. He continues to show his wares as a tough half back/outside midfielder for the Bombers.
He continued to show it on Sunday with 15 disposals, seven marks and two clearances for the Bombers. Durham continues to show the value of the mid-season draft as well as the ability of Adrian Dodoro to turn every opportunity into a best-22 player.
Darcy’s down game
That is the second game in three weeks where Darcy Parish has recorded under 20 disposals while Zach Merrett and Jake Stringer both had positively atrocious third quarters where they were just shut out of getting the ball.
The Bombers’ midfield fundamentally failed to deal with what the Giants were providing as Leon Cameron was able to swing the magnets around and settle on Lachie Ash as the tagging option for Darcy Parish while allowing Lachie Whitfield to get off the chain against the Bombers.
It indicates a rigidity of coaching from Ben Rutten and the inability to adapt to magnets being swung around. The fact that we risked Dylan Shiel without any trial games or brought in David Zaharakis indicates to me that Rutten does not know the tools he has at his disposal.
He almost certainly should’ve moved Matt Guelfi onto Lachie Whitfield. If he did that, then the Bombers would’ve won that game. The Giants dominated the contested possessions and were able to get first use out of the middle as the Bombers’ lack of a traditional bullocking midfielder became acutely apparent.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
The Bombers’ scoring woes
The Bombers have struggled to kick a winning score the last few weeks, being trapped in the doldrums around 50 points multiple times. When they began the season so assertively, this is extremely disappointing.
In particular, the drop-off is attributable to the fall-away in quality from Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Cale Hooker, both being extremely down on their early-season form.
The other issue is atrocious accuracy in front of goal. The Bombers kicked seven goals, 11 behinds on Sunday evening as they hopelessly squandered an opportunity to make the eight.
The Bombers should demand the AFL allow them to play their remaining games at Marvel (including the Gold Coast game) in compensation for the Bombers not getting this opportunity to play in front of their home crowd as they were entitled to.
Final thoughts
You have got to have the patience of a saint when going for the Bombers in the AFL era – patience and a high threshold for mediocrity.
I am happy for where the Bombers are at but their performance against GWS was extremely disappointing. The leading disposal getters for Essendon on the day were Jordan Ridley and Dyson Heppell, which indicates to me that the footy was spending a long time parked in the Bombers’ back line.
Best six
6. James Stewart (three votes)
5. Nik Cox (13 votes)
4. Sam Durham (three votes)
3. Jordan Ridley (16 votes)
2. Will Snelling (15 votes)
1. Dyson Heppell (26 votes)
Leaderboard
Zach Merrett (56 votes)
Darcy Parish (51 votes)
Jake Stringer (37 votes)
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
I think the bombers need to look at a key forward at the draft this year or a goal kicking midfielder like Neil Erasmus or a pressure forward if your nasty
Jakarta Fan
Roar Rookie
As you inferred, the Bombers have faded in the last 2 weeks but with their outs this was to be expected. Durham has been a bonus. Shiel's return a step in the right direction and expect him to to do better this week. Hooker and Tippa were disappointing and maybe both need a rest. We need to try out some other young players and find out if they will make it or give them some taste of the top level, eg Clarke and Hird. More opportunity for Bryan and perhaps trialling Francis for the rest of the season at Full Forward. We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain by finding out what we have in the cupboard.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Man I’m glad I don’t work weekends.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
I hope we name Zaka in this up coming game so he can go all Alistair lynch on buddy Franklin.
Maxy
Roar Rookie
lol
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Yeah i well and truly kicked the toys out of the coat after the 1st half. I was actually at work. The AFL livescoring was turned off and I sulked around at work for the rest of the arvo. We've got some serious Defensive issues at the moment with Adams & Gardiner out. Question whether those two can get back in time for finals. Without them both- we are zero chance of being a contender this year.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Yes I agree we are heading for some fun years. I saw brisbane play and man that first half was awful haha.
Esteban
Guest
Guelfi should have played and dylan clarke for smith who seems to be in cruise mode
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Feel for you Chuck. It was one of those performance wasn't it.... Your second half I can imagine you were like me during the Lions 1st half....Pulling hair out- screaming at the TV.... Mate but having been someone who's experienced the great year of being completely irrelevant, you've got some fun years a head. Got some good kids who are growing with each game. They will have their moments where they be performance will vary significantly. But enjoy the ride
JamesH
Roar Guru
Seems like a bit of an overreaction to me, Chuck. Sure it was a hard game to watch but the warning signs were there last week (which is why I tipped GWS). We've been relying on too few for too long now and it seems like we've finally hit the wall. Merrett, Parish, Stringer and our backline could only carry the side for so long, once the exuberance of youth had worn off. Throw in the ridiculous travel schedule we've faced this year (again) and it's hardly surprising that some of the players were struggling to kick the ball over a jam jar by the final siren. This is categorically NOT a wasted year. How could it be? We were never supposed to be anywhere near finals. The pass mark was to be competitive in most games, get experience into young players and develop a more identifiable brand of footy. Tick, tick, tick. Next year will be more of the same, and anyone who expects us to be in the 8 in 12 months' time will probably wind up disappointed. I'm personally glad Truck isn't trying to throw the magnets around too much in a development year. Parish is getting tagged? Hard luck, champ. You're becoming an A-grade mid, learn to deal with it. Whitfield is getting lots of the pill? Good for him. If we can't remember our defensive structures when we're tired then we need to keep practicing. Perkins isn't finding much of the footy in the forward half? Start hunting down some of those rebounding defenders and earn your stats. We shouldn't be going away from our own plans - even if we're not executing them very well - to play reactionary footy. No point confusing one of the least experienced groups in the comp with B when they haven't got plan A down yet. The only way to improve is to keep practicing what Rutten wants us to execute (which we still aren't quite getting right). Once that becomes second nature there will be more scope to get creative. The one area I agree on is our selections. Bringing in Shiel without a proper hitout first was questionable. Bringing in him and Zaharakis at the same time was bizarre, especially when the two guys we omitted (Waterman and Guelfi) are primarily contested ball players. I can see the desire to get some experience back into our midfield and forward line but we were already having enough trouble with fatigue before we brought in two underdone players. Walla is clearly not 100% and Hooker's body is tiring, which left four players in our forward half who weren't fit enough to run out a match.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
you just play to win, and whatever happens, happens
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
It begs the question. Are you better off finishing 9th with promise or 8th and getting blown away by 100 points in your final? Can’t see any side in contention for 8th going beyond week one.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
I’m saying that guelfi should’ve been named and ran a deep tag on lachie Whitfield
Aransan
Roar Rookie
Are you saying Guelfi should have been selected over Zaharakis? GWS have very talented players, they haven’t been playing well but perhaps we aren’t giving them enough credit for their second half. Parish is showing he can’t handle a hard tag, it is no use complaining to the umpire.
Chris Lewis
Roar Guru
I am looking forward to 2022. Bombers have done very well this year. Next year we will be a bit stronger and a bit more physical, so hopefully even better next year.