Essendon playing like a team with no leadership and no brand, writes Mick McGuane
The Bombers were terrible in Round 1 and the club’s leaders are under the microscope. But are they missing their former agitator more than anyone expected? MICK MCGUANE looks at Essendon’s issues.
Essendon
Don't miss out on the headlines from Essendon. Followed categories will be added to My News.
“The care we have for each other is really huge ... I’ve got no doubt we’ll be ready to fire in Round 1.’
They were Essendon captain Dyson Heppell’s words at Essendon’s 2019 season launch.
Well, he could have fooled me on both counts.
The Bombers’ 72-point Round 1 loss to GWS highlighted some alarming issues that had surfaced during the club’s lacklustre JLT Series.
That’s why I decided to refresh my crystal ball predictions, turfing the Bombers out of my top eight.
As for the fire in the belly, as Heppell promised, sorry mate, there might have been a Bunsen burner flame lit against the Giants, but I did not see anything remotely flammable.
ROBBO: CAN ELLIOTT AND DE GOEY WORK FOR PIES?
DAVID KING: THE ONE TIGER WHO CAN REPLACE RANCE
FORMGUIDE: SHOULD WE PANIC OVER SUPERCOACH RUCKS?
We saw two very different Essendon sides last year.
During the first eight rounds the Bombers looked as if they had no system and the results panned out accordingly.
For the rest of the season, the Bombers provided a template of defensive pressure/contest that gave fans and footy experts genuine hope for 2019. They won 10 of their last 14 games, displaying a formula that works.
But the Essendon of last week looked like the Essendon of early last year. I cannot understand how that has happened.
WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP?
It’s time for greater ownership from the club’s on-field leaders, and time for a hard-edged coaching panel to get tougher inside their four walls.
We also need to see more of Heppell where it matters.
The skipper contested only six centre bounces against the Giants last weekend, playing mainly on the wing. Maybe that has something to do with the new rules making him a little vulnerable in terms of leg speed.
The Bombers were good in the first 10 minutes of the game, leading the inside-50 counts six to two, but kicked three behinds to two goals. Their disposal inside 50 was letting them down.
As the game was slipping away in the second quarter, Heppell only went into centre bounces on two of seven occasions.
When you are a captain, you MUST know when to address issues and help turn a bad situation around.
That’s what Paul Kelly would have done at Sydney, or James Hird in his time at the Bombers, or even Paddy Dangerfield at Geelong.
Dyson, you are captain, put yourself where your team needs you.
The same can be said for Orazio Fantasia. Yes, he had an interrupted pre-season, but to have 31 SuperCoach points in a scene-setting Round 1 game isn’t good enough for a player in the leadership group.
Zach Merrett’s lack of intensity was highlighted. I want to see the bone-crunching tackle he laid on Gary Ablett last year, instead of those half-hearted attempts.
And as impressive as Devon Smith was last year, winning the club’s best-and-fairest and being the No.1 pressure player in the comp, he must better than last week. Or have all the pats on the back caught up with him?
WHERE’S THE CARE AND CONNECTION?
Merrett copped criticism for his lack of effort in one contest, but there was an even earlier damning indication of a lack of team care and connection.
Early in the first term after the Bombers kicked their third behind, Giants defender Sam Taylor was under pressure to kick the ball down the line when Merrett came forward to defend, and made a big smother.
Only one player — Dylan Shiel, in his first game with the club — congratulated him on what should have been a team-inspiring moment. David Zaharakis, Mark Baguley and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti were nearby but did not react.
Where was the spirit? Where was the connection?
Or was it, “Ah, Zach’s vice-captain, we just expect that from him”.
All summer we’ve heard about how the Essendon chemistry has been building, but on face value, that looks like rhetoric.
WHERE’S THE AGITATOR?
Brendon Goddard may have been a polarising character, but he could never be accused of being a passive observer.
BJ was never worried about calling out teammates doing the wrong thing. If he saw something he didn’t agree with, or someone was out of line, he wouldn’t hesitate in telling them.
That’s on-field coaching. There is no time for fluff at this level of footy.
When they play like they did last week, the Bombers look like a group of passive players unwilling to rock the boat.
WHAT IS ESSENDON’S BRAND?
From Rounds 9-23 last year, Essendon had a clearly identifiable brand — it was a pressure/contest team.
For the second half of last year, you knew when you were playing Essendon, players were going to be “in your face” as a pressure team.
But on the basis of two poor JLT games and a woeful Round 1, it’s back to being an unidentifiable brand again.
That Carlton loss in Round 8 last year looked like being a turning point. They weren’t going tolerate a lack of effort again.
Last weekend showed otherwise.
They talked up the big game about being having a better team defence this year, with the inclusion of assistant coach Ben Rutten, but in the three games so far — JLT1, JLT2 and Round 1 — they have allowed three teams to score 100 points against them.
You won’t win too many games allowing that to happen.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Coach John Worsfold needs to articulate a vision and push his players towards it.
The players should understand the importance of what they need to do and the standards they need to meet.
There needs to be some empathy — some players will need the carrot, some will need the stick — but there needs to be authoritative leadership.
There also needs to be accountability.
My greatest lesson in footy is that being authoritative loses its impact and influence when you don’t have accountability.
If they want to keep looking in the rear-vision mirror, the Bombers will keep having footy car crashes like last Sunday.