Essendon has spent the past 14 years in mediocrity, writes Mark Robinson
IN 2004, Hawthorn had a line-in-the-sand moment against Essendon and evolved to be a powerhouse club. Now the Bombers, against the same opponent, must take a similar stance.
Mark Robinson
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IN 2004 there was the line-in-the-sand game and, in 2018, this was supposed to be the line-in-the-sand season.
From then to now, Hawthorn evolved to be a powerhouse club, playing in 20 finals and winning four premierships.
Essendon, a powerhouse club through the turn of the century, has become a 14-year slave to mediocrity.
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They won a final in 2004, beating Melbourne by five points, and not one since.
For so long, people have chortled at Carlton’s darkest years (2002-2018), lambasted Melbourne through their calamity years (2007-2015) and derided the introduction of the expansion teams since 2010.
And the Bombers? They have been nothing, really.
They’ve averaged nine wins a season from 2005 to 2017, treading water in a twilight zone of mid-table, where it’s difficult to determine if the team’s prospects are real or imaginary.
They talk a big game, Essendon, but haven’t delivered for a decade and a half.
That’s a long time pretending to play with the big boys.
The powerhouse environment built under coach Kevin Sheedy and former president Graeme McMahon, a walrus of a man whose leadership was based on loyalty and respect, and who wore as a badge of honour what it was to be an Essendon person, is sadly consigned to history.
Sheedy was sacked in 2007 and probably should’ve left at the end of 2005. The club hasn’t fired a shot since.
The soul of club, in fact, was shredded in 2002 when the club was forced to trade Chris Heffernan, Blake Caracella and Justin Blumfield, three premiership players.
“This was a breakdown of trust,” club stalwart Robert Shaw said.
There have been brief periods of success.
In 2013 under James Hird, Essendon was playing for top spot at Round 18 — against Hawthorn — but lost five of the next six games and was booted out of the finals by the AFL.
In 2104 under Mark Thompson, they made the semi-finals and lost to North Melbourne.
Outside of that there is nothing. Failed season after failed season and rocked by the greatest scandal in VFL-AFL history.
The Bombers of today under coach John Worsfold continue the journey of despair.
Ahead of Saturday’s game against the Hawks they are 2-4, lack consistency of effort, lack application to the game plan and from afar, lack spirit, cohesion and mechanics to play the modern game.
Shaw, a former player and assistant coach, says culturally the Bombers have no identity as a club or as a football team.
“Essendon finally moved Kevin Sheedy on after seven Grand Finals in 27 years. He took with him cultural and historical significance. Someone said we needed a new broom,” Shaw wrote this week.
“Out went people charged with passing the baton on. Essendon is the classic case of a club losing its generational focus and I firmly believe that no one at the club could actually tell you what `Essendon’ is, or what its stands for.’’
The Essendon electorate is frustrated and angry.
What was hoped to be a season of immense success following last year’s finals appearance, the recruitment of established players in the off-season and the accepted belief cohesion would flourish the second season after the return of the suspended players, is anything but.
Thoughts of a premiership tilt have been swamped by fears of a bottom-five finish.
So much so, Worsfold’s comments to the Essendon website this week suggests the club has realised the group it hoped would improve on last year’s elimination loss can’t be relied upon.
“Our absolute focus is to get the club in a position to win its next premiership and we’re really searching through our list and looking for the players that are going to help make that up,” Worsfold said.
“So we will play some more young players throughout the year and make sure that we’re all very clear that we’re getting closer to Essendon’s next premiership.’’
The scrutiny on Essendon is cosmic.
They have an All-Australian goal-to-goal line — Hooker, Hurley, Merrett, Daniher and Stringer — and best-and-fairest winners in Goddard, Zaharakis and Heppell.
And they have talent in McDonald-Tipungwuit, Smith, Saad, Parish, Stewart, McKenna and McGrath.
Still, they play too much mediocre football, starting in the midfield.
Smart football minds also say they can’t or don’t or won’t defend and the data and vision is damning.
Worsfold says they want to play the modern game, which is press football, but his demands are not being executed.
There’s several ways to assess that, one being the connection between the players and the coach is not what it should be. Another is changing bad habits — wanting to attack from the back half — is more difficult than it should be.
The criticism there is a team such as Collingwood, who is no more talented than Essendon, has found the formula.
That Worsfold has called for patience as he tries to rectify the defensive issues, as he elaborated on after the loss to the Western Bulldogs, is further frustrating for fans, considering Carlton is demanding patience with a bunch of kids on a five-year reset.
Former greats are also anxious.
Matthew Lloyd has questioned the smarts in the box which means he’s pointing the finger at Worsfold, his right-hand man Mark Neeld (game performance coach) and Rob Harding (game intelligence and opposition strategy coach).
Already there is discussion about the intelligence of reappointing Worsfold until the end of 2020, such is the shock of how brittle the Essendon game plan is.
Lloyd even suggested ripping Caracella out of Richmond, where he is an assistant, to become Essendon’s strategy man.
Tim Watson didn’t miss, either. He said the Bombers were easily worked out by opposition teams. “They’re like a one-trick pony,’’ he said.
As for the players, today they play against the mighty Hawks, the team that shaped their destiny back in 2004, and questions hover over all of them.
Shaw asks: Will it be a line in the sand for the players or will they build sandcastles?
Yep, it’s time to end the mediocrity.
BOMBERS SINCE 2005:
Wins & Position
2005: 8, 13th
2006: 3, 15th
2007: 10, 12th
2008: 8, 12th
2009: 10, 8th
2010: 7, 14th
2011: 11, 8th
2012: 11, 11th
2013: 14, 7th*
2014: 12, 7th
2015: 6, 15th
2016: 3, 18th
2017: 12, 8th
Average: 8.8, 11.4
* Essendon finished 7th in 2013 before the AFL kicked them out of finals
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