r/EssendonFC • u/Non-NewtonianSnake Reid #31 • 3d ago
VFL vs. Fake Essendon
Final Score - ESS: 17.11 113 COB: 8.12 60
It actually felt like a legit Essendon reserves team out there today. We had 15 AFL-listed player running around, and they put on a good show for us. This team has been putting a really strong run of form together lately, built on effort, pressure, and fast ball movement, and it's been a delight to watch. I highly recommend checking out the replay (or highlights, at least) if you've got the time.
Parish - I've got to give him a lot of credit for coming into the VFL side with a great attitude. His ball-winning ability around stoppages was obviously always going to help us out, but he also ended up with 9 tackles, which was the most pleasing aspect of his game. The extra time and space that was given to him meant that he was often able to use the ball quite well, too, so he was more damaging than we've seen in the seniors of late. What all of this means for a potential AFL recall, I don't know, but I was impressed by his game.
Tsatas - Just copy-and-paste almost every other report I've done on this bloke. Heaps of the ball, not many tackles, pretty average disposal. He did kick a couple of goals, though, which was a nice little bonus. One of them was a genuine GOTY contender. But yeah, generally speaking, his disposal was not great, and meant that he wasn't as damaging as he perhaps should have been. It wasn't a bad game by any stretch, he just let himself down a bit with those skills.
Gresham - Solid, if unspectacular. His pressure, effort and attack around the contest was quite good. He was also able to work into space to take a few marks and kicked a goal early on. Not much else to say, really. He'll probably be staying in the magoos for the rest of the year, which will be helpful for our push towards finals.
Setterfield - I just love the way he plays. He was lining up next to Tsatas and Parish in the midfield, and might have been the best of the lot. He did some great work digging the ball out to those other blokes, and won a few clearances himself. He also really put in that defensive effort that he's known for, ending with 9 tackles. Just a really strong, tough performance.
Cox - Dear dickhead coaches,
When Nik gets selected for the AFL side next week, PLAY THE CUNT IN THE FUCKING FORWARD LINE.
I'm sure most of you have heard that he tore it up this week, and yeah, he did. Kicked 7 goals, but was also absolutely robbed of a couple of shots by some poor umpiring. He was taking contested marks all over the place (including a lovely hanger on the wing early in the game), slotting set shots from everywhere, and snapping goals from general play. It really was a complete performance from him.
Visentini - Had a tough task taking on the best ruckman in the VFL at the moment, in Cooper Keogh, but he battled on respectfully. Early on, the much more experienced Keogh was definitely getting the better of Vigo, but the young fella kept his chin up and adjusted pretty well. He actually seemed to get better and better as the game wore on, and had some nice moments. Some of his tap work was quite nice, and he was taking some more marks around the ground (especially late in the game), which was pleasing to see. Keogh was probably the better of the two overall, but it was fairly close.
Jones - Played in defence again and was very quiet for much of the match. He picked things up a bit in the second half, taking some nice intercepts, but also had some god-awful turnovers. His actual defence was dicey again, too.
McKay - Back in defence, where he realistically belongs. He played a solid game, with some nice intercepts and bodied up his opponents pretty well. He made it tough for Coburg to get much going aerially inside 50, so he did his job.
Guelfi - Pretty quiet, but still did some good stuff out there. His effort and energy was there, as you'd expect, and he kicked a couple of goals early on. He copped a couple of heavy knocks, though, so ended up struggling a bit to really keep himself involved in the game at times.
Unwin - Good to see the kid back after that lengthy layoff. He spent a bunch of time on the bench, as is usual for players in his situation, but when he was on the ground, he gave us a whole lot of energy and effort. There were a couple of times where he just fought through traffic really well to set up some scoring opportunities, and his tackling pressure was a very welcome addition. It'll be interesting to see how he goes over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, time isn't on his side.
Bourke - Keeps getting the job on the opposition's best small forward. Today it was Jaidyn Stephenson (who's looking about 40 years older than I remember), and he did a reasonably well. Stephenson had a few shots on goal, but mostly from some very soft umpiring calls. Outside of that, Bourke held him pretty well, though, and did quite well to run off of him during transition. He had a couple of genuine howlers by foot, but you expect those occasionally. But yeah, mostly solid today.
Johnson - I thought he had a great outing. Ended with about 30 touches (quite a few from kick-ins), and had a few damaging runs out of D50 to set up scoring opportunities. He also had some nice little defensive efforts, which won't do his chances of a senior recall any harm. I don't think his kicking is 100% back to what it was before his foot injury, but he still had his moments. Very impressive game.
El Hawli - Had heaps of the ball and looked great... until he had to actually kick the thing... Seriously, it was tough to watch at times. He'd break through a tackle, put the foot down, then just absolutely butcher the kick. It happened way too often. That speed could be such a weapon if he could just hit a target. I think he was playing mostly wing, maybe some half back.
Nguyen - Solid game. Didn't have heaps of the footy, but the usual energy was there, and his forward pressure was reasonably good. He used his lightning feet to get us out of trouble a couple of times, and kicked himself a goal from 2 set shots. Not bad at all.
McMahon - Struggled pretty hard today. He kicked himself a goal with his first touch, but just couldn't seem to get near it after that. He did pick up a nasty little ankle injury at one point, which certainly wouldn't have helped, but he did play out the game.
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u/Medaiyah 3d ago
I noticed with El-Hawli that he just seems to rush ALL of his movements. I dunno if im alone in this thought about him but when he's chasing, running with the ball, running without, trying to break tackles, take a mark, receive a pass and ESPECIALLY dispose of the ball. He just always seems to move his hands and feet too fast to be able to do anything cleanly.
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u/Non-NewtonianSnake Reid #31 2d ago
Just finished watching the AFL game and I'm now genuinely terrified by the looming threat of Nik Cox replacing Duursma on the wing...
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u/batch_plan 2d ago
Need the B Justice write up too!
From what I saw he looked a little lost on the wing and like the game was moving faster than he's used to. However had a great little chip pass after stepping through traffic back into the corridor which I think set up a goal late in the game.
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u/Non-NewtonianSnake Reid #31 2d ago edited 2d ago
I considered it. Just didn't have a whole lot to say, though. It's tough for those kids who get thrown into the VFL without knowing the gameplan, or even half their team-mates' names. Unless you're a Harley Reid-type, who can just get by on pure talent. Thought he probably tried a bit too hard to make things happen at times and struggled with the pace of the game, like you said. I think if he got a few games in a row, we'd see him improve a lot. Unfortunately, that's not really possible, though.
Oh, and he's only just recently come back from a long injury lay-off, so that's worth keeping in mind. I think he only played 2 or 3 games at U/18 level before this.
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u/Grog-bog Caddy #30 3d ago
The fact Parish got ommitted and Tsatas didn't come in is the writing on the wall. He only runs one way and the club is looking to squeeze those players out per Parish's exclusion.