In footy, as in life, you can’t just throw up your hands, say it’s too hard and walk away. A lot of people are asking questions of Essendon right now: how much character is there in the 2002 version of the Bombers, and how much perseverance? There is plenty. As a club, we know better than most what is facing us. We have an extensive injury list and some of the names on that list are some of the finest players in the game.
But inside the club, it’s a case of business as usual. Our day-by-day routine has been the same this week following six wins and five losses as it was in 1999 after we won our 20th successive game. The match committee turns up everyday just as they did when we were winning. The players turn up to training just as they did when we were winning.
The losses of James Hird, Matthew Lloyd, Dustin Fletcher and one or two others to injury were a setback. But that gives us the opportunity to play younger players, blokes like Joel Reynolds, Robbie Forster-Knight and Andrew Welsh – The players we picked up when we swapped Damien Hardwick to Port Adelaide. In three or four years, these blokes, who are passionate about playing for Essendon, are going to be as highly respected as the men they’re filling in for.
Joel is very young but has a great football pedigree being the grandson of Dick Reynolds and that shows through in the way he plays. The other two are going to prove that as tough a decision as it was to let Damien go to Port Adelaide, it was the right one for our club. I also believe Damien now accepts this because he must be so happy to be playing in this Port Adelaide side. Who know though? There may be a time when we bring him back to Essendon just as we’ve done with Paul Salmon. Eventually we do bring them all home.
As well as the young players are going, we’re really looking forward to the moment when Hird comes back and not only because he’s a great player and leader. He is such a good bloke and in many ways the embodiment of the club. James has had a wretched run with injuries. Yet his spirit rarely wavers. Right through his latest injury, he has been a beacon around the club, continuing to provide leadership on the training track.
“Lloydie” is the same. He is meticulous in everything he does, including his rehabilitation. So our young players don’t just learn from these two champions by playing alongside them, they learn while watching them cope with the challenge of overcoming serious injuries as quickly as possible. These days it is not just a case of putting on a bandage and a bag of ice if you’re injured. The recovery process is a genuine science, with our medical people monitoring every step.
The good players do everything asked of them, and then some. It’s hard to come into the club just to sit in a spa or a tub of iced water, or go and do laps in the pool while your mates are out training and running around and having a good time. But that’s what you’ve got to do and watching James and Lloydie do that with the same precision they apply to kicking and taking marks is a lesson for the young players.
The Essendon Football Club is going through a challenging period. But you don’t have to look too far back to know we’ve been through plenty of those before. It’s no good sitting around lamenting the absence of key players. So, whatever is going on outside Windy Hill, whatever the headlines say or the pundits in the pub reckon, we press on regardless. Worrying doesn’t solve problems. It only wastes time. You just have to stay positive – that’s called being an AFL coach.
