Round 2 – Essendon v Adelaide: Crows cause a Bomber crash landing!
Well, that was disappointing!
I was expecting much better from the Bombers this week but they appear to have gone backwards.
The Crows were simply too big, too strong, too quick, and obviously too good.
Once again poor movement into the forward line let us down, giving up the ball far too easily to the Crows once it was there, and the methodical rebounding from their defenders into attack left the Bombers in their wake.
We struggled down back as the quick moving, smaller Adelaide players tore our defence apart with relentless ease. And, it must be noted for the second time in two weeks it has happened. Our backs looked slow and struggled to man up at times. The one consolation has been Zach Reid is still on the field and is gathering confidence in himself and his game after so long on the sidelines with injuries.
It is not the start to the season Bomber faithful were expecting and our deficiencies need to be addressed before it is too late, especially those down back. It is time to consider a couple of possible debutants for next match, perhaps Lewis Hayes or El-Hawli. Ridley will return from injury which will be a bonus.
Tom Edwards kicked 3 goals in an encouraging debut, and Kako again showed flashes of why he will be a fab player for Essendon in the future, the goal he kicked was a beauty. Caddy is struggling. The opposition is paying him very close attention limiting his access to the ball but he will learn from these experiences, unfortunately, at the moment we do not have that extra big man there to help take the pressure off him. If fit, I think Peter Wright would have been an asset in these first two games.
It is a short turnaround for the Bombers before their next match against Port Adelaide on Thursday night. Hopefully they will have learned from their mistakes against the Crows and can present a more positive approach in their game approach against the Power.
Another big loss and the hounds will be baying!
ESSENDON 3.2 5.4 9.7 15.10 (100)
ADELAIDE 5.5 11.8 18.10 25.11 (161)
GOALS
Essendon: Merrett 4, Edwards 3, Draper 3, Kako 2, Martin, Caldwell, Gresham
Adelaide: Keays 4, Rachele 4, Fogarty 3, Thilthorpe 3, Neal-Bullen 2, Rankine 2, Soligo 2, Milera, Hinge, Walker, Curtin, Sholl
BEST
Essendon: Merrett, Caldwell, Redman, Tsatas, Durham
Adelaide: Dawson, Rankine, Keays, Rachele, Thilthorpe, Murray
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
Adelaide: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Jye Menzie (replaced Nate Caddy in the fourth quarter)
Adelaide: Sid Draper (replaced Izak Rankine in the third quarter)
Crowd: 46,688 at the MCG
More from Col Ritchie can be read Here
To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au home page click HERE
Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.
Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE
About Colin Ritchie
Retired teacher who enjoys following the Bombers, listening to music especially Bob Dylan, reading, and swimming.
It’s pretty hard to defend them Col. I’ve been pleading patience for a few years but we’ve constantly got it wrong at the draft table. For starters we used Pick 1 on a half back who is poor defensively and a ball butcher. Every time I see Hugh McCluggage I groan. And then we pick skinny kids just because they dominated against other skinny kids when they were 18. AFL mid fielders are shaped like Cripps and Callaghan and Wines not like whippets.
Enjoyed watching the debut of Swan Districts product Tom Edwards. 3 goals showed his skills and opportunism. And Zac Merrett. Not much else to add about the Bombers. Looking forward to seeing Tommy and the Bombers in the flesh on Good Friday. Not many teams are soft enough to give my Eagles a chance.
Adelaide look as though they have matured and coalesced after a couple of seasons of “almost”.
Col have you seen – Angus Clarke yet rated him highly as a junior -Essendon certainly need defensive reinforcements- thank you