Round 4 – Essendon v Geelong: Essendon Forwards

Correct me if I’m wrong, but if a footy team is supposed to kick goals and win the game, shouldn’t they have someone on the forward line?

 

I went to the G on Saturday with the Good Wife, who is a Geelong supporter although not as tragic as her Essendon husband. I was not feeling at all confident about the outcome, and my fears were confirmed. But what totally confused me was how could Essendon score without anybody on their forward line?

 

The Don defenders and indeed the whole team did a great job all day, but when they got the ball and looked forward, nobody was home, so they had to kick it sideway, backwards or hand pass to someone and wait for the forwards to sprint back to the forward line. And there waiting for them, were the Geelong defenders.

 

I reckon with a forward like Joe Daniher, the Essendon brain trust should get him to move around the half forward line and stay there. What’s the point of him taking a mark on the backline?  And maybe give him help in the form of Darcy Parish and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.

 

Luckily for the Dons, the Geelong forwards couldn’t buy a goal in the second half which kept us in the game. But they always seemed to be down there offering a scoring opportunity.  Maybe their forwards can run faster than ours.

 

The Dons fought hard all day, tackling and harassing and making their opponents earn every kick, but when your forwards are down the back with you, it’s tough to score.

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Joe has possibly the hardest task in the AFL right now. Opposition players know that the likes of *shudder* Patrick Ambrose aren’t going to be a worry, so they can run off and double and triple-team Daniher. Unless we clearly win clearances out of the centre and can regularly move the ball quickly into the forward 50, he’s got no hope!

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