Round 16 – Essendon v Sydney: A rare loss to Essendon

Essendon v Sydney

1:45pm, Saturday July 6

MCG

 

 

The last time we lost to Essendon was five years ago, in 2014. We always seem to beat them, I thought to myself, as we arrived at the ‘G, heading for our seats on Level 4 among the red and white faithful. My gut feeling told me otherwise.

All week I didn’t feel confident. Don’t ask me why, but those gut feelings usually prove spot on.

Once again, fielding our youngest team for 23 years, and indeed, the youngest team of all in this round of matches, this was a close one. Could have gone either way.

The first half was a pretty scrappy affair, the 4.5 to 3.6 scoreline reflecting the closeness. The third quarter produced our best footy. We added four goals to their three, resulting in a nine point lead not long before the siren. And then the buts came into play.

But for about 10 minutes when we lapsed (or if you’re a Bombers fan, when we excelled) in the last quarter, allowing four consecutive goals to be kicked against us; but for a couple of our up and coming young stars getting a bit too flustered and playing on after frees were given close to goal, resulting in behinds; but for young Will Haywood continuing his kicking yips of late and hitting the post from 10 metres dead in front when it really mattered; but for Paps kicking 1.4 – the last couple of behinds also when it really mattered; and but for this and that, and many more thises and thats, it could well have been a different story. However, this and that is pointless! Essendon could also find this and that excuses, but in the end they simply don’t matter.

Nor do statistics matter. We won just about all of them, except on the final scoreboard.
Disposals 404 to 357
Kicks 242 to 218
Handballs 162 to 139
Free Kicks 16 to 26 (10 more to them! But that’s nothing new!!)
Clearances 33 to 26
Centre 13 to 11
Stoppages 20 to 15
Inside 50s 54 to 50
Marks in 50 12 to 8
Contested Possessions 136 to 122
Tackles 39 to 44 (more for them)
Hit-outs 22 to 36 (more for them) despite Aliir Aliir’s influence

None of us likes losing, especially when it concerns our footy team. It can be painful, especially if losses continue for weeks, months and in some cases years. Fortunately, though, the Bloods have managed to stay right up there these past 20-odd-years, and even though we may well miss finals this year, we have plenty to look forward to. We certainly have not been disgraced in our losses this year too, given the average age of the players and the injury list.

When you consider we’re the only team who has made finals every single year since 2010, it is a remarkable achievement.

Despite the club stating and believing that September action is still a chance – mathematically it is – I, personally, have resigned myself to the transition phase. It’s almost a relief not to have to worry from week to week about where we are on the ladder, how the percentage is affecting us, what injuries are depleting the team, and making sure that nothing else interferes with that ninth month of the year. I haven’t felt so relaxed about footy as I have this year.

I often wonder why people expect victory at all times and on all occasions. In any sphere of life. It is impossible, and it goes without saying that failure breeds success, as long we strive for it and learn from our mistakes along the way.

And that is just what our young team is doing. Some of our performances this year have been a testament to that philosophy. Our games against West Coast and Hawthorn stand out as examples. Given the progress this year with the young boys at the Club, the coach obviously believes that success isn’t too far away. He stated after this week’s game “It’s not going to go always upwards – there’s going to be some plateaus and maybe even a step backwards – but there’s still some good signs.” I couldn’t agree more.

Good signs indeed! It won’t be long before we’re contending once again, and what does it matter whether it’s next year or the one after. As long as it’s in my lifetime!

Go the Mighty Bloods!

 

 

ESSENDON     2.3       4.5       7.5       11.10 (76)
SYDNEY           1.2       3.6       7.8       9.12 (66)

 

GOALS
Essendon: Zaharakis 3, McKernan 2, Stringer 2, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Fantasia, Parish, Langford
Sydney: Reid 2, Parker 2, Blakey, Jones, Papley, Rose, McCartin

 

BEST
Essendon: Shiel, Zaharakis, Parish, Saad, Hurley, McGrath
Sydney: Heeney, Kennedy, Rampe, Hewett, Aliir, Mills

 

Crowd: 60,199

 

 

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