Essendon is struggling to find its stride—a brutal reality that their followers have, with time, strikingly grown to associate with the team. Yet, this particular dark moment might just be the silver lining—the pivotal moment—the club needs. On top scenario, we also have Carlton wrestling with their age-old issue all over again, along with some rising issues piling up at both AFL and Port Adelaide. In this regard, we delve into the precise dissection of the conspicuous issues from the 10th Round of the AFL season in 2025, covered in this piece.
What’s the true identity of the Essendon? This question, emanating from the mouths of both AFL commentators and die-hard Essendon supporters, has been echoing in the air for many years and came up yet again after their humiliating 91-point defeat to the uncontested champions, the Western Bulldogs, this previous Saturday. The loss arrived after the Bombers had shown promising signs during a six-week period, having claimed victory in five of six matches and held each opponent to a score of 75 points or less. However, on Saturday night, their position weakened substantially.
The astonishing failure of the Bombers on Saturday is marked by them not securing a single goal until 16 minutes into the second half of the game. Even more worryingly, against 61 inside-50s, they gave away 37 scores (18.19) while themselves achieving only 37 inside-50s. As two-time championship-winning Kangaroo David King noted, the devastation wreaked by the Bulldogs on Smiling at the Essendon will undoubtedly leave a deep wound.
According to King, despite the positive start by Essendon in the season, by looking at their tracks and success against opponents, a clear pattern emerges. Essendon has maintained time and again that they are aware of their standing and acknowledged that it’s going to take significant time to improve and tread the journey ahead. Thus, there has always been a visible chasm existing between the best teams and them—an ugly truth that has never been more stark than on this night.
After the crushing defeat, Essendon coach Brad Scott stated that the setback against Bulldogs was severe, particularly after the positive progress made in preemptive weeks. Regardless, he emphasized that they were always aware of their standing and had never lost sight of it. In Scott’s words, there are many milestones yet to be achieved by the team.
List management by Carlton continues to bear the brunt of heavy criticism from the sidelines, following another defeat in which Carlton’s smaller front-men managed to provide only a single goal. Although larger players, such as Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow—both recipients of the Coleman Medal—invites the majority of spotlight, the contribution of the smaller players often flew significantly under the radar. Yet, it seems that the focus is slowly shifting towards these smaller players.
Jay Clark, a sports journalist, voiced his concern over the available selection of small forwards for Carlton, stating their inadequacy. According to Jay, the Blues seem to lack a suitable replacement for Jesse Motlop, especially considering his form warrants a break. Notably, the Blues had précised Matt Owies, their former player who ranked third behind Curnow and McKay in their goal-kicking list for the years 2023 and 2024, to West Coast, essentially for Picks 63 and 68 in the Liam Baker deal.
David King, a two-time premiership winner, pondered why Carlton had neglected the small forwards in their lineup for over the years. Alongside, Jack Riewoldt, a Tigers champion, noted that the inconsistency in performance would pose a ‘frustration’ to Michael Voss, the Blues’ coach.
Riewoldt further acknowledged the lack of persistency with what to expect especially from some of the more renowned names in the team. He pointed out that the performance and the role of the small forwards in the Blues’ squad continue to raise more questions than answers.
Significant absentees from the Blues due to injury also include Zac Williams, while the addition of Orazio Fantasia to the squad is yet to show positive results or contribute significantly to their performance. In the context of the current form and the repeated issues, the future strategies of Carlton, their team lineup, and directional approach to secure wins continue to stay under close scrutiny.
The post Essendon’s Severe Setback: The Silver Lining to Shape Their Future? appeared first on Real News Now.
About Author
