A Preseason Preview - Part 9 of 16 - Dons

[pahoffm]

Essendon - More of the same?

Essendon and Sheedy have established reputations. What does 2005 hold for them? Last year saw the retirement of Wellman, Misiti & Mercuri. The latter 2 were overdue. Wellman still had a year of a contract to go, but retired. It must have been one hell of a payout.
The coaching staff at Essendon looks much the same. Old shady Sheedy at the helm. Gary O'Donnell, Robert Shaw and Mark Harvey as assistants.
So the gameplan should stay the same.

The team list is as Follows:

Hille 199 102 24
Allan 198 100 30
Laycock 198 90 20
Fletcher 197 92 30
Cartledge 197 88 20
Bradley 196 90 19
Bolton 194 88 26
Lee 194 83 18 New
Henneman 193 95 24
Lucas 192 93 27
Hunt 192 88 22
Lloyd 191 94 27
Richards 191 89 22 Rookie
Davies 191 84 22 Rookie
Johns 191 88 20
Watson 191 91 20
Lovett-Murray 190 84 22 Rookie
Hird 188 90 32
Solomon 188 97 25
Zantuck 188 93 23
Cosgriff 188 86 19 Rookie
McPhee 187 82 22
Welsh 187 79 22
Peverill 186 83 26
Reynolds 186 75 21
Walsh 186 74 20
Summers 185 83 20 Rookie
Cupido 184 90 23
Winderlich 184 74 20
Murphy 183 84 29
Bullen 183 85 22
Slattery 183 82 19 New
Ramanauskas 182 81 25
Haynes 182 85 24
McVeigh 182 79 24
JohnsonJ 181 84 27
Lovett 181 73 22 Rookie
Dyson 181 75 19
Stanton 181 76 18
Thomas 180 82 22 New
Wilson 180 87 20 Rookie
Nash 180 75 19
Monfries 180 70 18 New
JohnsonM 179 86 27
Rioli 179 91 27
Alvey 176 77 25

46 players in all. 5 new players, including Zantuck, and 7 rookies. Again, they must have plenty of money. Compare that with our full list of 40 players, 10 new and 2 rookies.

Their spread is as follows:

Twilight = 28+yo
Prime = 25-27yo
Development = 22-24yo
Junior = 18-21yo

Dons
<180 Small Runners
Twilight: 0
Prime: M Johnson 27, Rioli 27, Alvey 25
Development: 0
Junior: 0

Tigers
<180 Small Runners
Twilight: 0
Prime: 0
Development: Krakouer 22,
Junior: Rodan 21, Foley 20,

Dons
180-184 Smaller Mediums
Twilight: Murphy 29
Prime: J Johnson 27, Ramanauskas 25
Development: Haynes 24, McVeigh 24, Cupido 23, Bullen 22, Lovett 22, Thomas 22
Junior: Wilson 20, Winderlich 20, Slattery 19, Dyson 19, Stanton 19, Nash 19, Monfries 18, Bain 18, Jolley 18

Tigers
180-184 Smaller Mediums
Twilight: Chaffey 28
Prime: Brown 27,
Development: Pettifer 23, Newman 23, Hyde 22,
Junior: Hartigan 20, Gilmour 19, Roach 19, Meyer 18, Raines 18, Tambling 18,

Dons
185-189 Taller Mediums
Twilight: Hird 32
Prime: Peverill 26, Solomon 25
Development: Zantuck 23, McPhee 22, Welsh 22
Junior: Reynolds 21, Walsh 20, Summers 20, Cosgriff 19

Tigers
185-189 Taller Mediums
Twilight: Campbell 32
Prime: Bowden 27, Johnson 27, Hilton 26, Tivendale 26,
Development: Tuck 23, Coughlan 23,
Junior: Jackson 19, Deledio 18, Polo 18,

Dons 
190-194 Mobile Key Position
Twilight: 0
Prime: Lucas 27, Lloyd 27, Bolton 26
Development: Henneman 24, Hunt 22, Richards 22, Davies 22, Lovett-Murray 22
Junior: Johns 20, Watson 20, Lee 19

Tigers
190-194 Mobile Key Position
Twilight: Graham 32, Gaspar 29, Kellaway 29
Prime: 0
Development: Morrison 24,
Junior: Moore 21, Schulz 20, Archibald 19, Thursfield 19, McGuane 18, Limbach 17

Dons
195-199 Key Position/ Ruck
Twilight: Allan 30, Fletcher 30
Prime: 0
Development: Hille 24
Junior: Laycock 20, Cartledge 20, Bradley 19

Tigers
195-199 Key Position/ Ruck
Twilight: Richardson 30
Prime: Simmonds 27,
Development: Hall 24,
Junior: Pattison 19

Dons
200+ Ruck
Twilight: 0
Prime: 0
Development: 0
Junior: 0

Tigers
200+ Ruck
Twilight: Stafford 30
Prime: Knobel 25,
Development: 0
Junior: 0

The Dons list does have some weaknesses that have to be covered.
1) Relying on Allan only to do their rucking. Hille can't get off the ground, and Laycock and Cartledge aren't ready.
2) Wellman has retired, Fletcher is on the verge of retiring. Yet they are struggling for key backs.
3) They've plenty of small flankers but they still haven't found replacements for Misiti, Peverill and the Johnsons.
4) They lack for younger rovers. The quality midfielders that they have recruited still seem underdeveloped.

This season Essendon must revamp their lineup. They need to find new key backs, and a new midfield. Their positional depth can be seen as follows:

B: M Johnson 27 Fletcher 30 Zantuck 23
       Welsh 22 Henneman 24
                     Bradley 19

HB: McPhee 22 Bolton 26 McVeigh 24
                         Hunt 22


C: Murphy 29 Peverill 26 Ramanauskas 25
Davies 22 Slattery 19 Haynes 24
Walsh 20 Dyson 19 Lovett 22
                    Stanton 19 Bain 18

HF: Hird 32 Lucas 27 Solomon 25
Reynolds 20 Richards 22 Rioli 27
                    Watson 20 Cupido 23
                           Lee 18 Wilson 20

F: Hille 24 Lloyd 27 Winderlich 20
Cartledge 20 Lovett-Murray 22 Nash 19
                       Johns 20
                     Cosgriff 19

R: Allan 30 J Johnson 27 Alvey 25
Laycock 20 Thomas 22 Bullen 22
                  Summers 20 Monfries 18
                        Jolley 18

Conclusion:
Bombers are going to have to make some positional changes this year. This is really a case of the baby Bombers once again. Alot of improvement is looking as if it will be coming from their development & junior players. If these players step up then Essendon will be playing in the finals.  If they don't, then Essendon will drop out into the lower half of the ladder. The most probable result is that they will just make the finals again, though just making the numbers up, again.

Again, I welcome your comments.

 

[an_oxford_man]

Essendon's list is very average but Sheedy makes a huge difference. I think they will scrape into the eight and that is only because of Sheedy.


I agree that Essendon has a major problem in the ruck. Hille can get forward and score goals but he is shocking ruckman, I'm sure they'll be hoping Allan can play another season as first choice ruck.

 

[the claw]

they have a very good kpp in johns if he can over come hip problems i really rate this kid.
interesting to note with rookies they have as many new kids on their list as us. sheeds has never been one whos scared to turn over his list i suppose thats why they have stayed up for so long.i hope we learn the long term lessons.

 

[jb03]

Will scrape into the 8 again much to the annoyance of theor critics.

Pahoffm, I would have thought O'donnell's addition to the coaching panel was significant after his apparent good work at Brissie.

 

[Tubytiger]

I can see them around the mark this year but on this occassion, have to agree with phantom - just making up the numbers and that is about it.

 

[pahoffm]

Will scrape into the 8 again much to the annoyance of theor critics.

Pahoffm, I would have thought O'donnell's addition to the coaching panel was significant after his apparent good work at Brissie.

You're right, missed that one. I deserve a boo.

 

[mb64]

Bombers will be thereabouts again.Solid lineup with Lloyd & Hird still solid performers.McPhee looking the goods.5TH -8TH finish without threatening for the flag.

 

[johnson2richo2003]

Bombers will be thereabouts again.Solid lineup with Lloyd & Hird still solid performers.McPhee looking the goods.5TH -8TH finish without threatening for the flag.

Disagree,s MB.The Don,s are on the slide.Hird +Flectcher are on their last legs.The Johnson,s have been foundout,their Midfield is weak while their youngsters are nothing to write home about.
I expect a double digit position for the Bombers.

 

[pahoffm]

Bombers will be thereabouts again.Solid lineup with Lloyd & Hird still solid performers.McPhee looking the goods.5TH -8TH finish without threatening for the flag.

Disagree,s MB.The Don,s are on the slide.Hird +Flectcher are on their last legs.The Johnson,s have been foundout,their Midfield is weak while their youngsters are nothing to write home about.
I expect a double digit position for the Bombers.

I'm tending to go with j2r2 on this one. Lloyd & Lucas will be OK. I can see Hird & Fletcher continuing to have repetitive injuries. And the Johnsons are well past their 5 years of hard running.
If the Bombers are to show something it will have to be from players that we haven't seen star before, ie their younger players.

 

[cmarkidis]

Bombers will be thereabouts again.Solid lineup with Lloyd & Hird still solid performers.McPhee looking the goods.5TH -8TH finish without threatening for the flag.

Disagree,s MB.The Don,s are on the slide.Hird +Flectcher are on their last legs.The Johnson,s have been foundout,their Midfield is weak while their youngsters are nothing to write home about.
I expect a double digit position for the Bombers.

I'm in your boat j2r. Their younger players have massive boots to fill. Even if 1 or 2 of them happen to be guns, it won't be enough to cover the loss.

Your in trouble when you start recriuting blokes like Zantuck. If Lloyd & Hird went down they will be RS.

The one positive is that they are probably the best coached team in the business - but for how much longer?

Double digits for bombers in 2005.

 

[Tigers of Old]

I predict the Bombers finish 13th. Sheedy under real pressure. Hird & Fletcher are not getting any younger or better and are susceptable to injury.

 

[FightingFury]

May sneak into the 8,but more likely 9-12.
Lack of pace through the midfield,and only really one of quality at this stage in J Johnson,although their juniors are promising.
They've somehow survived with an average ruck contingent since Simon Madden,furthering my belief that Sheedy doesn't have a high regard for them.
Dangerous to have only the lumbering Allan and Hille all year as Rucks too.
Allans had it,and Hille is bonafide Soft!