AFL SIM Matches 2023: Gold Coast v Essendon – Apathy be gone!

 

 

 

Last year, I experienced a new emotion for the first time whenever I watched my beloved Bombers. Apathy. Sure, I didn’t feel apathetic when watching every Essendon game. There were few moments of joy, like the unexpected smashing of the Saints, the upset of the Swans, and the victory against the old enemy in brown and gold. There were also many moments of genuine anger and disappointment, like in round 1 against the Cats, the flat effort against Fremantle, and… whatever the heck we served up against Port in round 22. And then there was the manner in which we got rid of Truck. I thought he had to go. As a supporter, it looked like he lost the locker room. With that being said, the manner in which we got rid of him was a disgrace. Then there was the embarrassing late play for Clarkson and the utterly bizarre scenairo where we hired someone to a senior position and then moved to undo that error when it was revealed he had connections to a homophobic church.

 

But the thing I felt the most last year was apathy. I just didn’t care for most of last year. I think that is a tragic thing for a footy supporter to admit to. Every March-September, you’re supposed to bleed for your team. Your week-to-week mood shifts with the fortunes of your team. You poke fun at your mates when their teams suck and try to defend your team when they do terribly. But truthfully, apathy was my prevailing mood week to week. It was a miserable footy existence.

 

So. That was 2022. I got to say, I had my doubts about Brad Scott as a coaching hire. Maybe that was partially because I’m still salty about the Roos beating us in the 2014 elimination final. However, he did take a mediocre North outfit to the Prelim final in two consecutive seasons and started the next season with nine straight wins. Yes, they did only win three games after that but still. It’s an impressive stretch. If he can take us on a similar ride, I’m down for it.

 

So, how did the Scott era begin? Well. There are still ghosts of 2022 haunting the team. Namely, the Suns repeatedly transitioned the footy too easily out of defence in the first and second periods of this game. Also, though we ended up with the win, we nearly kicked ourselves out of the match with horrible kicking for goal. Still, signs were there that improvement is on the horizon this season. Michael Whiting on the AFL’s official match report for the game wrote:

 

ESSENDON’S small forward problems might be a thing of the past after the Bombers’ little men lit up their match simulation against Gold Coast.

 

I agree, after seeing how many small forwards stepped up during the game to provide threats. It particularly warmed my heart to see AMT back playing footy and to see that he and Alwyn Davey Jnr both played well. I thought our pressure was much better during the final three periods of this game, and we managed to put that damage on the scoreboard. Not through behinds, but through goals. We managed to fix our leaky defence in-game. It was great to see us causing turnovers on our half-forward flank.

 

I don’t know how much to take from this game. It was a ‘practice’ practice game, an unofficial practice game with five periods that was supposed to have six but didn’t, against a team missing some great players. But, it was a positive start to 2023. With a new coach, a new captain, and seemingly new hope at Essendon, I hope that apathy is something I won’t experience this year.

 

Gold Coast:  11.9.75

Essendon: 11.14.80

 

 

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