Dermott Brereton: Why I feared the brutal Bombers during Kevin Sheedy’s reign
You always knew what you were going to get from a Kevin Sheedy-led Essendon side but today’s Bombers pick and choose when to hunt and tackle, writes Dermott Brereton.
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When I was 15 and about to enter into Hawthorn’s under-19 system, John Kennedy Sr would take the new arrivals aside and talk to them.
He would tell them what was expected if they should ever wear the Hawthorn jumper in a match.
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He spoke of an expected loyalty and strength of mind in combat.
He would tell us to play within the rules, but to be uncompromisingly brutal.
He insisted that each of us played in a way that represented our upbringing and in a fashion that would make our parents proud.
He said we should get up when we thought we were injured and then we should determine how badly we were hurt because it could mean we were playing one short.
Under no circumstances were you to ever give anything short of your absolute best.
Then when the business was finished, shake your opponent’s hand.
That is Hawthorn’s DNA, and John Kennedy Sr has his fingerprints all it.
THE ESSENDON DNA
For years Essendon took its direction from one of the game’s greats, Kevin Sheedy.
Following his success and the sheer length of time he coached the club his DNA should be all over today’s Essendon.
When the late great Tommy Hafey coached Richmond he described Sheedy as “a bloody back pocket plumber”.
And Sheedy coached his Bombers in a bloody minded fashion.
To play any of the weaker teams during the 1980s you had time to get the ball and then look to who you would like to kick the ball towards.
To play a decent team was to win the ball, quickly scan for tacklers and then pass the ball.
But to play Essendon was very different.
As soon as you were nearing the ball, you were in danger.
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If you won the ball in a “play-on” situation, you felt vulnerable. You immediately looked to protect yourself.
If Roger Merrett wasn’t lurking near by, it was Billy Duckworth or Mark Harvey or Bomber Thompson or Dean Wallis.
There was even a time when Timmy Watson became proficient at the jumper punch.
Sheedy had the team balanced with great footballers and mongrel players.
The latter group would have been just as comfortable driving in a smash-up derby on a Saturday night than playing football on a Saturday afternoon.
Their fans were raw, vocal and forthcoming with their criticism.
To me, that is a snapshot of Essendon and its DNA.
They were a club that would not stop short of success.
They were brutal under Sheedy, but made earthy by their captain Terry Daniher, and
they had an unwavering drive for success.
They were a club that made you fear playing them.
Firstly, because they were so good and secondly, because you were going to get hurt while trying to stop them.
That was Sheedy’s legacy.
WHAT OF THE BOMBERS OF TODAY?
But how much of the good old-fashioned Essendon DNA is in the 2019 Bombers?
Obviously, football can’t be played today in the same way that Sheedy expected.
But teams can still have a total commitment and an unwavering quest for success.
In the current climate you can still play, to borrow an Alastair Clarkson phrase, “unsociable football”.
The Bombers were good last weekend against Fremantle with a few better players back in their line-up.
But what of the week before? They were substandard against the Western Bulldogs.
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Good teams do not pick and choose who they will try their best against.
They just front up week after week and make it a misery to play against them.
Unconditional effort should be in the club’s DNA.
There has been a lot of talk in recent times about how good the competition is when there is a strong Richmond and an improved Carlton.
But I think the competition is great when the Bombers loom large.
They are like the Darth Vader of the competition.
They are a powerful presence with a touch of menace.
When they play their best football, with express run from the back half, they are great to watch.
Even better, in the second half of the Anzac Day game this year against the Magpies, they stepped up their pressure, their hunting and their tackling.
In that game their will to win was never questioned, even when they were down by the best part of five goals.
And that is, and should always be, their DNA.