They’re a funny old mob, Essendon. They just don’t do things very well.
We know they don’t win many games of football. They haven’t done that well for over 20 years now.
But they don’t lose very well either – they don’t often finish in the bottom four, and almost never in the bottom two or three in that time, in order to access prime draft picks and trade capital.
They have redefined mediocrity for over two decades now, forever middle-of-the-road, seducing themselves into thinking they are better than they are and managing their list accordingly (hello Adrian Dodoro).
Occasionally they will play a final and lose by 10 goals.
Late last year, I wrote that the Bombers were a bruise-free football club, lacking hard-nosed leadership.
Brad Scott clearly agreed and went about implementing the already infamous “Essendon Edge” that we have already heard so much about.
Unsociable football is of course not a new phenomenon. Looking at this century alone, when the game has never been cleaner or fairer, every dynasty team has also been the toughest, and it is usually something that grows after their first premiership.
Brisbane 2001-03, Geelong 2007-11, Hawthorn 2013-15 and Richmond 2017-20 all had the same characteristics.
They all went hard at both the ball and the man. The first flag gave them all vindication and a swagger that they took into subsequent seasons.
They knew they were the best and wanted to act like it. Oftentimes they would drop “easy” games, but switch into assault mode against a worthy challenger.
They bullied teams as well as beating them.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Brad Scott was part of the Brisbane era, so he knows what he wants to see, and had decided on a “fake it until you make it” strategy with his playing group, almost all of whom are the type of people you’d love to see if your daughter was bringing someone home for family dinner.
The thing with effective unsociable football, and the common denominator with all those teams above, is that they didn’t talk about it. They just played that way as a natural evolution of their dominance.
Whereas Essendon is broadcasting it, and we are talking about it at every avenue after their Round 1 win.
The classic part about that was they only beat Hawthorn, fresh off a 15th-placed finish last year. Not just that, the Hawks actually had more contested possessions than the Bombers in that game, had more inside 50s and more scoring shots.
The mentality is correct for the Dons. It really is. And they played some excellent football on Saturday night against Sydney.
Despite the defeat, they played much better than they had against the Hawks. But keep that sort of talk as an internal benchmark, and let commentators and opposition sides declare you as being hard to play against.
Earn the respect by doing instead of talking.
In terms of where the Bombers are going, a five-goal loss to Sydney right now is a very fair reflection of where they are at as a team.
The Swans are faster, fitter, more skilful. But that level of football from the Dons may well be enough to play finals this year, if they can sustain it.
Although, The Roar Editor Tim Miller gave us some insight on where their gameplan is breaking down, earlier in the week.
But the question from a future perspective is, how are Essendon going to separate themselves from the pack? As any North Melbourne fan will tell you, it won’t be through anything the coach does, tactical dullard that he is.
Given the body shape of their midfield players, they are never going to be as tough inside or as hard defensively as the way a side like Melbourne plays.
Nor do they look capable of the sort of slickness embodied by Sydney and GWS at the moment, or Collingwood last year. It will be hard for their possession-conscious players to embrace the chaos that served Richmond so well.
Where is their edge going to come from, to leapfrog the rest of the competition at some point? It’s not obvious right now. But that’s what they’ll have to unlock.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Yeah I think things are improving but intervention needs to start earlier that. Every club that wants to have Indigenous players on their list should have an Indigenous welfare officer in their organisation
Teeko
Roar Rookie
To be honest it was ridiculous then and it is really silly now to blame our poor contested footy on Zach Merrett. Even though he leans outside, he has always had a good balance to his game. Just look at the year when our players were suspended - he was #1 for us in contested possessions, clearances and tackles. In only his third season. He has always had good averages in those statistics despite being better on the outside.
Knackaz
Roar Rookie
Good to see you’ve returned from the great footy ground in the sky, big fella #25!
Knackaz
Roar Rookie
He’s about the only Essendon player I respect …
Knackaz
Roar Rookie
Yep. It’s just too much of a cultural disruption for most these Indigenous boys who live so remotely. Liam Jurrah is the classic example of one of the most talented players ever (of all players, not just Indigenous), who just could not overcome the culture clash for an extended period. What he achieved was incredible when you consider where he came from and that he didn’t even speak fluent English when he arrived in Melbourne! I saw him walking down the road just outside of Alice Springs a few years ago. What a loss to the game …
Knackaz
Roar Rookie
The Swans loss was closer to 8 goals if the anomalies of the game are considered, especially that goal from the obvious out of bounds and junk time goal etc. Like Tom Papley said, the Bumblers are fake tough (Zac Merrett is their hardest player) and whilst they did play some good footy earlier in the game, good sides sustain it for 4 quarters …
Macca
Roar Rookie
So an incompetent side managed to manipulate the draft with an elaborate scheme where they won just enough games to avoid detection? At least we have come down to 10 years of handouts, to 5 years of poor results at least partially down to incompetence. Now you just need to answer “and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?”
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I never said the Blues weren't incompetent too, Macca.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Ahh yes the delicate nuance of being able to pick and choose exactly where you will finish in a competition like the AFL – like 2016 when the Blues pulled off a win against a top 2 side in Geelong and also beat all 3 bottom sides just to fool the AFL that they weren’t actually tanking. And just incase the 7 years of first round picks of Watson, Bootsma, Menzel, Cripps, Boekhorst, Lucas & Yarran wasn’t good enough for you to see how s..t the Blues list was by 2015 here are the second round picks in that time 2008 – no one but we took Robinson in the 3rd round who Matlhouse shipped off in 2014 2009 – No one but we took Marcus Davies in the third 2010 – Patrick McArthy and Luke Mitchell 2011 – Sam Rowe 2012 – Tom Temay 2013 – no one but we took Cam Giles and Nick Holman in the third round 2014 – Dillon Viojo- Rainbow So out of that 7 years of drafting how many of those players made it to 10 AFL games? How many were still on the Blues list for the 2016 season? If the Blues were deliberately tanking they started the elaborate plan way back in 2008 and just to throw the aFL off the scent went and made finals 4 of the next 5 years. So I’ll ask again – “where is this massive draft manipulation and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?”
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Anyone deliberately tanking doesn't finish 18th 5 years straight, Macca. They're a little more cunning than that when trying to game the system. Wise up, or stop playing stup!d.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Doc – if there is a choice between a c0 ck up and a conspiracy I go with the c 0 ck up every time. if you look at those results you would notice; a) if the Blues were deliberately manipulating the system they wouldn’t have got to 16th, let a lone 14th b) a team trying to fail wouldn’t have put up 7 wins in 2 of the 5 years and 6 i an another c) when you look at the list that was left after Malthouse had been in charge (and the terrible drafts the BLues had in the 5 years lading up to the rebuild – first round picks of Watson, Bootsma, Menzel, Cripps & Boekhorst from 2010-2014) it is pretty clear the Blues were “exceptionally $%1t” (I could include Lucas & Yarran from the prior 2 years as well) So I’ll ask yet again “where is this massive draft manipulation and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?”
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I didn't want you to add them. I'm simply saying, a team that finishes 18th, 14th, 16th, 18th & 16th in 5 straight seasons is either a) exceptionally $%1t or b) deliberately manipulating the system, along with a few other disingenuous sides. You're a big boy. I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at, so stop pretending you don't.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Well I started at 2015 because you referred to the "re-build" period and that didn't start until after the 2015 draft. If you want to go back further be my guest but I struggle to see that the Blues were deliberately trying to manipulate the draft in the 2013 -2015 Malthouse years given they went with Malthouse specifically to win a premiership. However if you want to include them; 2013 - 9th 11-11 plus a finals win 2014 - 13th 7-1-14 2015 18th 4-18 So again where is this massive draft manipulation and how can you say what the Blues is draft manipulation but trading first round picks for a bunch of fourth round picks is not?
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I don't have discussions with people who cherry pick their numbers, Macca. Why don't you add that wooden spoon in 2015 into the numbers, instead of starting at 2016 next time.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Hang on – so trading away late first round draft picks for multiple worthless 3rd and 4th round picks to bid on a top 5 five player isn’t abusing the draft but trading players for first round picks is abusing the draft? And how is trading for picks and getting the natural pick from where you finished a “handout” but being gifted a top 5 player for massive unders (you get a 25% discount straight out of the gate) isn’t. Come on Doc – even you don’t believe that. PS – FWIW for the 8 years since the BLues started the rebuild in the 2015 draft they went 14th (7-15) 16th (6-16) 18th (2-20) 16th (7-15) 11th (7-10) 13th (8-14) 9th (12-10) 5th (13-9-1) So just out of interest where exactly were these massive draft manipulations and “handouts”?
JamesH
Roar Guru
I don't think the edge stuff had anything to do with the Wright incident, though. Wright's not a rough player, he's a big lumbering guy who got himself into a bad situation and didn't handle it well. It was clumsiness, not malice. The incidents that should be drawing the most ire are Draper's hit and Hind's attempted elbow. Those are examples of taking the physicality too far and hopefully they've been quietly put in their place.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
You can't abuse the father/son or Next Gen academies. You can, however, abuse the draft system... like Carlton have. That's the handouts they've received from manipulating the system, just like Melbourne. The politically correct term for the above is calling it a 'rebuild'. It's a disgrace and an indictment on the sport. Of course, you won't agree with such abuse due to a) naivety or b) blindness, but that's okay.
Macca
Roar Rookie
Exactly, that’s how the academies work, as handouts. I don’t have a problem with the academies as such and I quite like the idea of father Sons (like Scarlett, Ablett, Hawkins etc) what I do have a problem with is supporters claiming they didn’t get AFL assistance despite benefiting greatly and bemoaning struggling clubs getting even the most meagre assistance. And what AFL assistance did the Blues get for their decade of poor football?
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
That’s how the Next Gen academies work, Macca. I don’t have an issue with them, but you clearly do. Again, it’s the same for Carlton. Perhaps stop bringing the Cats into such a discussion, drawing a long bow between them and Carlton’s financial issues because of a stand. Instead, focus on the integrity issues at the club over the years, such as Salary Cap rorting, that did cost them financially, which extended to manipulation of the draft system via deliberate pathetic football for a decade etc etc etc. Or, you can continue to moan about it and gain nothing from the experience. Your choice.
Charlie Keegan
Roar Guru
Particularly with their outs I think we can’t let the Saints beat us easily. I think the bombers will make them earn it but we don’t have the cattle at the moment