“We came to play and our preparation was fantastic,” Wallis said. “We were well aware that their first quarter is their best. This was stated in the pre match address that they (Geelong) would come out flying. Unfortunately we didn’t.”
Essendon collected more marginally more possessions than Geelong, but the Cats were more direct in their approach. Essendon overused the ball and on many occasions this resulted in unnecessary turnovers. “All our stats said that we dominated the game. In the end that wasn’t the problem,” Wallis said.
Unfortunately for the Bombers, these statistics failed to produce results on the scoreboard with Matthew Lloyd having an off night booting two goals and four behinds. Down the opposite end of the ground, Kent Kingsley booted seven goals straight and was the match winner.
“We probably should have taken a few more marks inside 50 - we got out marked a few times. It was disappointing our kicking for goal. We dominated in our play but not converting was very frustrating,” said Wallis.
Essendon struggled to get any flow during the game and only led at one stage, late in the third quarter.
“Its not pressure thing, it’s a concentration thing. Obviously the blokes during the week that missed (goals) will have to get down (to training) during the week and do some work on it,” he said.
“It was a bit disappointing overall, there was no real stand outs. I think we have got a bit of work to do during the week.”
