2008 AFL team predictions - Essendon Bombers

[DonzFC]

cool idea TF!...more pre-season footy talk cant go astray!..my 2 cents here..

Best Team Lineup

B fletcher - michael - lovettmurray

HB lovett - ryder - nash

C winderlich - watson - mc phee

HF monfries - lucas - welsh

F davey - lloyd - reimers

R hille - dempsey - stanton

INT lay**** - myers - gumbledon - slattery

EMG jetta - hocking - johns

its not my ideal lineup but its how i think he will line them up at the start of the season.

2008 Predictions

Most Goals: Matthew Lloyd
Most Possessions: Brent Stanton
Most Marks: Dustin Fletcher

Potential Step Up Year: Dempsey,Lay****(even bigger step up)
Dreamteam Smokies: nash,lovett
Most Brownlow Votes: Paddy Ryder/Brent Stanton
Rising Star: Dempsey

General Comments: Also first year of a new coach so could be a teething period. Everyone is tipping us for a bottom 3 finish so anything better would be a good year in most peoples eyes . I believe we can expect more from the bombers. Last year was predicted to be a dire year yet we were in finals contention for alot of the year, only really missing out because of the sheedy malarki and key injuries. We have a strong spine and good leadership, hopefully the midfield kids have benefited from experience last year and a good solid pre season behind them. Knights has talked the talk of a real professional, its just a matter of finding out weather the team is quick enough in taking to his new style of play...whatever it is.

Predicted Final Ladder Position: 8-12th. I think we were not far away last year and the new injection of a fresh coach with new ideas, along with the quality ageing stars that we have we may have a base for something. All depends on injuries and how the kids step up.

Keys To Moving Up The Ladder: Keeping fletcher fit and loose in defence to spoil third man in and distribute the ball upfield. Keep Lloyd fit and in the goal square one on one and have an open forward line to lead into with only davey for the crumb. Lay**** needs to take the league by storm, and hille to stand tall and create a dynamic ruck duo. More defensive pressure from midfielders. Keep the corridor clear for lovett/dempsey ect to stream thru and turn defence into attack with blistering style.

haha excuse that, im just getting images in my head of all these things i want to happen....weather they will or not is another story

[GreaT SourcE]

Best 22 :-
B - Nash - Michael - Welsh
HB - Lovett Murray - Fletcher - Ryder
C - Dempsey - Watson - Lovett
HF - Monfries - Lucas - McPhee
F - Davey - Lloyd - Jetta
R Hille - Winderlich - Stanton
INT Layc0ck - Myers - Gumbleton - Slattery

That's how I think the team will look like come round 1 ^^^

2008 Predictions

Most Goals: Matthew Lloyd
Most Possessions: Brent Stanton
Most Marks: Adam McPhee
Potential Step Up Year: Courtney Dempsey, Jason Layc0ck, Ricky Dyson
Dreamteam Smokies: Jay Nash, Jay Neagle
Most Brownlow Votes: Brent Stanton
Rising Star: Courtney Dempsey

General Comments: It looks a pretty good team on paper with our great spine, but if some injuries come our way we could be in a bit of trouble...If we can get the ball out of the centre and on the forwards chests, we have got a good chance of getting into the 8....

Predicted Final Ladder Position: 10th, could be higher if we don't get any injuries and improve our disposal of the ball....

Keys To Moving Up The Ladder: We need our younger players to step up.(Eg. Monfries, Winderlich, Layc0ck, Dyson, Dempsey, etc.) We need Layc0ck & Hille to work successfully as a ruck duo, and to win most of the taps so we can deliver the ball quickly to our forwards....If we can keep injury free this year and improve our disposal of the ball, watch out we'll be the surprise packets of the year 2008...!!

[The Leader]

They should round out the bottom 4.

[MIGHTY MAGPIES 01]

You might win a few games at Telstra Dome but a bottom 4 finish is the best the Bombers can expect. Your spine is ok at the moment but if you fast-forward 2 years, then Lloyd, Michael, and Fletcher will be gone and Lucas will be on his last legs. Perhaps the best thing for Essendon would be to win the Wooden Spoon over the next few years, that way you will pick-up some much needed high draft picks.

[jas929406]

Originally Posted by MIGHTY MAGPIES 01

You might win a few games at Telstra Dome but a bottom 4 finish is the best the Bombers can expect. Your spine is ok at the moment but if you fast-forward 2 years, then Lloyd, Michael, and Fletcher will be gone and Lucas will be on his last legs. Perhaps the best thing for Essendon would be to win the Wooden Spoon over the next few years, that way you will pick-up some much needed high draft picks.

Thats a bit harsh but its not far away from the truth.....sad to say.

[ALI-G]

Originally Posted by MIGHTY MAGPIES 01

You might win a few games at Telstra Dome but a bottom 4 finish is the best the Bombers can expect. Your spine is ok at the moment but if you fast-forward 2 years, then Lloyd, Michael, and Fletcher will be gone and Lucas will be on his last legs. Perhaps the best thing for Essendon would be to win the Wooden Spoon over the next few years, that way you will pick-up some much needed high draft picks.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lloyd, Lucas and Fletcher still on the list in 2012. As for potential replacements what's wrong with Gumbleton, Ryder, Darcy? Have these guys shrunk into pockets over the off-season?

I think we unfortunately are stuck with atleast another season in the bottom 8 with not to many clubs above us likely to have lost much ground to us and a couple behind us likely to climb back over us. The loss of Hird will be felt in full force this year as his presence in the team alone is good ebough for 3-4 wins a year and thats without the 3-4 he wins off his own boot. With the exception of Davey and Ryder our youngsters haven't had alot of exposure to the bigtime and will need atleast this year to gain the necessary tools to start making a winning contribution to football matches.

I tip us to be back around bottom 4 if Knights plays the right card and plays the youth to ensure they are right to bring us back into the top tier and eventually challenging for a flag again. If he plays the experienced players over them we may push towards the bottom end of the finals race again which will leave us in a much tougher position to build up from with 3 crops of good drafts yet to be utilised.

[Tippaz]

Originally Posted by jas929406

Thats a bit harsh but its not far away from the truth.....sad to say.

yeah, i'm you on this one... bottom 4

(i'll add my write-up in a few days.)

[ALI-G]

Best 22 :-
B - Slattery - Michael - Welsh
Loose Man - Fletcher
HB - Lovett Murray - Ryder - Nash
C - Winderlich - Watson - Lovett
HF - Monfries - Lucas - McPhee
F - Davey - Lloyd
R - Hille - McVeigh - Stanton
INT - Lay**** - Houli - Dyson - Johnson



2008 Predictions

Most Goals: Lloyd
Most Possessions: Fletcher
Most Marks: Lucas
Potential Step Up Year: Houli/Dyson/McPhee
Dreamteam Smokies: Houli/McPhee/McVeigh/Nash
Most Brownlow Votes: McPhee
Rising Star: Houli

From all reports Houli has come on in a big way. He has been in the top few in all pre-season trials, has trained the house down and was BOG for the Reds against his more experienced opponents gathering over 30 disposals in the recent intra-club match. I expect him to get the chance early this year and to run with it.

My tip is for McPhee to relish in his new role as an attacking option instead of trying to lockdown and run off opponents like Franklin at the other end. He has a quality finish around goals and will also get some time in the middle throughout the season and I don't think AA is beyond him.

McVeigh is touted to take over Hird's role and is expected to get as much as 75% of gametime in the middle. He has a great workrate and solid disposal so should cope well with the role as well as playing the defensive forward role Welsh took on last year when not in the middle.

Nash and Dyson have both been in the system for a couple of years now and are due to step up both have shown flashes of brilliance but it's been few and far between. Expect both to become regular starters this year.

Despite the above positive's I still feel our midfield is lacking of any genuine superstars with Stanton and Watson solid workhorses but neither anywhere near elite class. Unless something dramatic has happened during the off-season our #1 ruck duo of Hille and Lay**** is also well off the standard set by winning clubs and our midfield will have to fight alot harder for usage of the ball than most others. I'm hoping to see our 2nd and 3rd year players get alot more opportunities this year and with guys like Jetta, Hislop and Reimers showing great potential our future star of the midfield may not be to far away. If Knights goes with the youth i'm confident for our future but realise the shortcoming is another year outside of September for us and expect a bottom 4 finish. If guys like Johnson and Johns get gametime ahead of our youngsters we should be around the bottom end of the 8 again and fighting for the last spot, hopefully this doesn't happen as it will only stall the progress of the youngsters.

[Borak]

I'de probably agree with bottom 4. I do think that If they put in a decent run Essendon may be able to finish somewhere around 9-->12 because of their expereinced players. As Ali-G said though, they should be playing youngsters and building for the future.

[Snatcher01]

Definitly a bottom four finish. There is no doubt about it. (Comments Edited Admin - Uncalled for language used)