Injuries were the obvious reason that Essendon struggled to kick big scores in 2002. Matthew Lloyd, James Hird and Mark Mercuri are proven forwards that all spent prolonged periods on the sidelines. And the mid-field, which in the past has made a significant contribution on the scoreboard, also struggled with injury and didn’t have the impact it would have liked. In all, Essendon could only find four players who were able to kick in excess of 20 goals during the course of the season – Lloyd (47), Lucas (25) Barnard (23) and Caracella (22). In 2001 it has seven players that fitted into this category. So structurally the Bombers suffered in 2002.
Of course you can’t kick big scores if the ball isn’t getting inside the forward 50m and Essendon was down almost 20% on the numbers it was generating in 2000 and 2001 in this department. Again this goes back to the fact that for most of the season Essendon struggled to get a settled mid-field rotation because of injury. But even so, the delivery into the forward line wasn’t what it was in seasons past, making life difficult for the goalkickers. A combination of inexperience and the pressure being placed on senior mid-fielders by taggers were probably the reasons behind the use of the football not being as crisp as the coaching panel would have liked.
On top of this, if the ball isn’t getting into the forward 50m as often as you would like, it is imperative that forwards are efficient when they do get hold of it. Again, this was an area the coaching staff would like to see improve. You only need to look at the comparison between the past two seasons to see the Bombers need to get better in this area. In 2001, Essendon kicked 409 goals and 233 behinds – 36% of scoring shots were behinds. In 2002 Essendon kicked 303 goals and 237 behind – 44% of scoring shots were behinds. It is even more stark when you consider Essendon kicked 100 more goals in 2001 and four fewer behinds.
Obviously none of the above will have been lost on the Essendon coaching staff. Step one will be to get the entire playing list fit come round one. The coaching staff will then work long and hard on mid-field and forward line structures that will see the side’s goal-kicking power restored. On top of all this, there will be plenty of goalkicking practice.
A fit Lloyd, Hird and Mercuri will go a long way to getting Essendon’s forward line functioning at its best. And the experts tell us that a fit and in form Damian Cupido will add significantly to the Bombers list of goal kickers. We are still a long way from Round 1 but already things are looking up.
