3 things learned vs Essendon R20, 2025

[GVGjr]

Lets hear about the 3 new things you learned from our game against Essendon

[westbulldog]

Essendon have lost 3 games by 90+ this year...deservedly
Our defence is still a bit shaky.
Freijah is out of form.

[Mantis]

1/ I guess it can’t be a bad thing when you beat Essendon twice in one year by over 15 goals.

2/ A long way to go in his career but Buss looked pretty slow on a couple of occasions. He reads it well so he is going to have to dial in on his good attributes to make a good fist of it.

3/ Next Thursday can’t come soon enough.

[Bulldog Joe]

Not sure I learnt anything from this game.

We got the result I expected but our foot soldiers failed to provide anything exciting.

At least JJ played his best game of the year and Sanders showed he could actually take a contested mark.

[Bornadog]

1. Sanders with a lot more effort, especially after last weeks game - needs to keep it up.
2. Darcy is an incredible player - he is not just a marking forward, he can kick both sides of the body, and recover quickly and grab ground balls.
3. Bramble has a lot more speed than I thought

[GVGjr]

Loved the way we used Lobb last night and hope it's something we will consider going forward. It allowed Darcy to have a 90% game time and I can't recall him contesting ruck contests.

If Cleary can improve his marking he could become a solid player.

Our kicking out of defense is worse than I thought. Busslinger, JJ and JOD scrubbed kicks they shouldn't have

And one more, surely Naughton up forward cancels the move him to the back line argument.

[ibonttobreakfree]

Cleary had a solid game. Good first quarter and a couple of nice kicks into the corridor. Starting to let the mental shackles go and back himself. Looks to have plenty of development left in him.

Lobb into the ruck appears to be savvy. Wonder how he felt getting an interchange given he usually plays 100%.

Libba still has wheels. When he was pushed forward late in the game he made a couple of nice long leads out to the wing and looked quick.

[Mofra]

1. Sanders can mark overhead. Who knew?
2. Cleary is a confidence player and is a decent option when he's up
3. Garcia is slowly putting together a decent return to senior footy

[Rusty12]

1 - Buss fans got their wish. Buss doubter probably needed to see him under the bright lights again. And it was a horror show.
Often led to the ball, by a D grader, 2-3m off, what should be a contested mark or contest.
Lacks the speed and acceleration to defend leads, lacks the size to go with the big boys, along with limited elevation for high balls.
He is not the answer. He won't get much quicker, putting on another 6kg, is his only hope.
Pick Jones, Khamis the utility, and I can't believe I am saying this, or Gardner over Buss, if selecting the 3rd-tall defender

2 - Sure, Cleary made a couple of mistakes, but he made them trying to create something or find a better option. For the most part, backed up his return game, and that's 2 in a row. GWS is a big game for him to cement his career.

3 - I am hardly an A1 seat in the Baker fan club, but he gave a grown man's contest and game. If the last 5-6 we pick every week are not great, then pick the ones who at least have an AFL-level weapon, and Baker's run is a weapon.

Does Riley Sanders have more contested marks in his career than both Daicos boys and Rowell combined?

[The Bulldogs Bite]

1. Bramble has been quite good after being dropped earlier in the year. Deserves more credit.

2. We just need to play Busslinger. Far from convinced but he needs games. Let's see how he plays against the Giants.

3. Sanders can mark. Couple of impressive grabs. He's made strides this season in most areas. Still need him to use his foot more.

[Scott2016]

1. Our forward entries at times were very poor. If it was against a good team the rebounds would have hurt us. We need to be able to kick to our forwards advantage, especially if we have a 2 on 1 in our favour.

2. We need to improve our bottom players. VDM didnt get a touch as the sub. McNiel 7 for the game. Baker and Poulter not going to cut it against good teams. Harmes and Davidson have to come back in.

3. We have to get our team defence working. Even Essendon took it end to end with spare players every where. Our zoning off defenders dont stand a chance if the overlapping by opposition has no pressure.

[jeemak]

1. Sanders can mark overhead. Who knew?
2. Cleary is a confidence player and is a decent option when he's up
3. Garcia is slowly putting together a decent return to senior footy

I was really impressed with Sanders aerial work, albeit against a side that was struggling. Garcia really annoys me with his one man circle work at times, not to mention his high ball drop, but given his lack of continuity at senior level I'm happy to let him prove himself and win me over. It'll take a bit but like you've said, he's putting together something.........

[Mantis]

I was really impressed with Sanders aerial work, albeit against a side that was struggling. Garcia really annoys me with his one man circle work at times, not to mention his high ball drop, but given his lack of continuity at senior level I'm happy to let him prove himself and win me over. It'll take a bit but like you've said, he's putting together something.........

If you're going to bag out ''my man'' you can at least tag me.

Those traits aren't great ones, and his kicking in general isn't a strength, but his ability to extract the ball in close is elite... finished the game with 6 clearances (equal 2nd most for us) which when considering his role is a good effort.

As a 5th or 6th mid in the rotation he adds a bit more zip, to what others can provide and helps our go forward from clearance which is an area where we can get an advantage.