Wreck It Ralph: The 12 reasons why Ben Rutten might be just what Essendon needed
He is one of the game’s biggest free agents, with rival clubs lining up to get his signature. But is Zach Merrett’s future in red and black locked in?
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Essendon wasted a full season under the John Worsfold-Ben Rutten transition.
We will never know if it cost them departing stars Adam Saad and Joe Daniher.
The messages were constantly mixed, the players never knew who was boss, and a hub-life experience that no club loved was especially difficult for Essendon.
By season’s end, as senior players rebelled about Tom Bellchambers’ lack of a farewell game, it was impossible to believe Rutten was the right man for the job.
Yet exactly halfway through the home-and-away season, it is apparent Rutten is exactly what Essendon needed.
And if Daniher (and to a lesser extent Saad) are still fine players, few Dons would give them up for their direct replacements in Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zac Reid.
Rutten couldn’t be any more different to the club hero in James Hird or the salesman in Kevin Sheedy who marketed in rat cunning and bold vision.
But after a stirring win over West Coast that set up an epic Dreamtime at the ‘O (Optus Stadium) here are the reasons why Rutten might be the perfect man for the job.
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1. He has finally brought an appreciable brand to the Essendon Football Club.
Essendon’s style of game – overlap handball, taking ground forward, third in points for, great in restricting rebound off their opponent’s half back – is all based on an underlying pressure game.
“The one wood of our game is pressure and everything else flows off that,” Darcy Parish said post-match.
It is drilled so relentlessly that the total confusion about what the club was trying to do last year has vanished.
“We stuck to our system all night and we didn’t waver or give the Eagles a chance to get back into the game,” said Parish.
“It’s the most pleasing thing, we stuck to our process and system and it worked in the end.”
No wonder Will Snelling gets coaches votes after 52 tackles – nearly all in the forward half – after 11 games.
2. Rutten has established a culture of selflessness and values that the players are aligned with.
Jake Stringer kicks the freakish goals but also tackles hard.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti conjured goals like a wizard, but is celebrated for the defensive stuff.
“He is a freak with what he can do on the field,” says Parish.
“We go through our edits of team culture and what we value as a team. Every week he pops up in it, with all the chase-down tackles and pressure. He has put the work in during the week, and thank God he’s on our team, not the other.”
It was hard not to think the tail wagged the dog after the club bent over backwards to keep the banned Bombers.
But Rutten’s first line-in-the-sand moment was denying Bellchambers (still at the club as a ruck coach) as new president Paul Brasher admitted the club might have gone soft on the playing group due to residual guilt about what had gone on during the peptides scandal.
3. He is nailing the positional changes that could have been disastrous.
After Essendon’s first practice match at Ikon Park, Dyson Heppell looked scratchy at half back and Cale Hooker’s career looked over.
Yet 11 rounds later, Heppell has been a massive win at half back and led the charge with 10 last-term touches against West Coast.
Hooker wasn’t thrown back into defence, he was kept forward and has kicked 26 goals.
4. Essendon has done exactly what it promised with its mid-tier players.
In a Crown Casino briefing pre-season, new football boss Josh Mahoney spoke of a huge group of mid-tier players who the Dons just weren’t sure about.
Would they fritter their talent or would they thrive?
Essendon might have the most improved player in the competition in defence.
The problem is it could be Jayden Laverde or Nick Hind.
As Mark Robinson points out, Laverde’s shift to have back has been spectacular, winning the battle against Jack Darling on Friday.
Nick Hind keeps on keeping on, a spectacular addition to the Essendon backline.
5. He has backed in the kids in the backline at every chance.
Dyson Heppell is the old bloke organising the backline.
But around him are Jordan Ridley, Hind, Laverde, rejuvenated defender James Stewart and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher or Aaron Francis.
When Michael Hurley went down with a serious hip infection he didn’t throw Cale Hooker back.
He just kept giving big jobs to the kids and new-look defenders and they keep rewarding him.
On Saturday Josh Kennedy kicked three goals but Jamie Cripps, Jack Petruccelle, Liam Ryan and Darling were all kept to a single goal each.
This backline could play together for the next 6-8 years, with Reid to play the full back-interceptor when he recovers from glandular fever.
6. He isn’t afraid to give outlandishly big jobs to his top-10 picks.
Nik Cox has been overlooked as the Rising Star nominee again. Is it time to overhaul the award? He should be there already.
This week it should be for his body of work, rather than his one-goal, nine-touch performance, given he could be the Rising Star favourite in performance.
Who else would give a 200cm beanpole a role on the wing?
It is scary to think what he might be with 100 games under his belt.
7. He has selection integrity so far.
Archie Perkins and Alec Waterman were the pre-season darlings but Perkins only came in for Round 3 and Waterman, who kicked the sealer against West Coast, has only played five games but has seven goals in those contests.
8. He isn’t trying to pretend he is something he aint.
Put it this way, I will never be rushing out to Essendon’s headquarters to attend a Rutten presser. Sheedy provided a stream of quotable quotes.
It’s not Rutten’s way, but he’s not fake either. He keeps pushing the blue-collar ethos and the players trust it, because they aren’t being coached by a snake-oil salesman.
9. The players clearly love the club’s direction.
Zach Merrett hasn’t signed yet but it can only be a matter of time.
Darcy Parish said he loved the club and wanted to remain despite outside interest.
It’s the perfect endorsement of what Rutten is building.
Said Heppell on Sunday of Merrett: “I think Zach is a bloody superstar with the buy-in we have seen from him over the last couple of years and leadership he has provided.
“I think what he really is wanting to see is consistency in the game plan and general culture at the club. He’s been a massive driver in that. I think he’s really enjoying his footy and it’s certainly showing up in the way he’s playing as well.”
10. The players are lapping up the history buff angle.
Rutten wanted the club to reclaim its history, training weekly at Windy Hill and surrounding the corridors and locker rooms with reminders of the historic past.
As he said in that pre-match briefing, the club didn’t have to create its history, it just needed to own it.
11. He recognised when he has got it wrong.
Darcy Parish started the season as an underperforming half forward. It took injuries to Jye Caldwell and Dylan Shiel to get him into the centre square. His last nine weeks have been astonishing. It not only solves the centre-square issues, it frees up a draft pick for a club that doesn’t need a Josh Dunkley type any more.
12. He hasn’t spent a second whinging about the injuries.
Shiel, Caldwell, Devon Smith, Stringer, Reid, Hurley, Sam Draper and Tom Cutler have all missed chunks of the year.
But introducing younger players into a game plan they understand with stars around them gives them the best chance to minimise the personnel losses.
How he reintegrates Shiel back into the team will be a fascinating watch.
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