‘It’s a disaster’: Blame game erupts as Essendon crumbles to new low

The Bombers are reeling at 16th on the AFL ladder, and fingers are being pointed at coach Ben Rutten and their “selfish” midfield.

The Bombers are reeling at 16th on the AFL ladder, and fingers are being pointed at coach Ben Rutten, long-time list boss Adrian Dodoro and the club’s “selfish” midfield.

Essendon fans would have expected the nailbiting Round 4 victory over the Adelaide Crows to serve as a turning point for the Bombers, who started their 2022 campaign with three consecutive defeats.

But instead, Rutten’s men crumbled to an embarrassing 16.7 (103) to 10.11 (71) defeat against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday in a one-sided contest riddled with errors.

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The Bombers, who have now slumped to a 1-6 record, coughed up 26 turnovers in their back half at Marvel Stadium, eight of which the Bulldogs converted into goals.

“Certainly, there’s a level of frustration,” Rutten told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“That’s the overwhelming emotion at the moment, or feeling, not only from me but the players and the group and the club more broadly.

“We’re just struggling at the moment to find that consistency.

“None of our boys are trying to make mistakes, and the game’s littered with mistakes, but it feels like at the moment there are some more basic fundamental errors that we’re making that are damaging and costly.

“They punished us … the damage they were able to do on the back of them compared to us was on a completely different level.”

Bombers coach Ben Rutten. Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Although Essendon won the disposal count 393-380, they only went inside 50 on 39 occasions compared to the Bulldogs’ 66.

The Bombers midfielders were accused of handballing backwards out of stoppages too often — Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish contributed six inside 50s despite being busy around the stoppage, much to the frustration of St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt.

“Clearly there’s a disconnect at the moment on the back of the system and spirit,” he told Fox Footy’s On The Couch on Monday evening.

“Right now, it’s a disaster … I just think they’re an average team.

“It looks like they have a stat-happy, selfish midfield that want to get lots of the footy.

“These blokes are just more concerned about pumping their stats up.

“It has to come back to the coach — because either the players aren’t adhering to the gamestyle, in which case hold them accountable, or that is the gamestyle, and it’s broken.”

Riewoldt also accused Rutten of “mixed messaging” after star midfielder Dylan Shiel was named as the medical substitution for Sunday’s match, after the club initially said he’d been omitted.

Pressure is also mounting on Dodoro, who was responsible for the acquisition of high-profile footballers Devon Smith, Jake Stringer and Shiel.

Dodoro has served as the club’s list manager since 2010, but sports broadcaster Craig Hutchison questions whether he’s still the right person for the job.

“Their trades clearly haven’t worked,” he told Channel 9’s Footy Classified on Monday evening.

“Shiel’s three years into seven years and you paid a lot for it, you couldn’t put that down as even remotely a success.

“That has all happened on the same recruiting manager’s watch. This might sound unfair, but if you think of a coach and list manager as the two most important jobs in footy, it’s hard to imagine a senior coach surviving that run.

“So he’s either being let down badly by coaches and by game structure, or they’ve got to make a change.

Adrian Dodoro, the Bombers general manager of list and recruiting. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“He’s highly respected by the other teams and in football circles and he’s a fantastic person, but if you put that resume up in isolation they’re going to have to do something to change things there.

“That can’t continue. He would probably argue I’m sure that he’s been let down by coaches along the way because it’s not just one thing, but it just can’t continue.”

Former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes agreed: “It’s the best job to have in football.

“You get to have the longest (period) and no one works out whether you’ve passed or failed for a long period of time.

“I think when you make big moves and you give seven-year contracts to players that are now playing as a sub and are dropped, then the pressure rightly comes on you.”

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd believes the coaching staff lacks experience and accused the Bombers of being “too nice”, arguing a lack of ruthlessness among the coaching department has become a major problem.

“I think this is stifling, the way Ben Rutten is asking his team to play,” he said.

“It has been too accepting.”

Essendon will next face Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, with the first bounce scheduled for 7.25pm AEST.