Essendon Bombers AFL News

Dons overrun by inspired Eagles
Jobe Watson's star turn wasn't enough to prevent the Bombers' 35-point loss to West Coast at Subiaco Oval »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: AFL.com.au

Injured Bombers in TV show
ESSENDON will open its doors to TV crews like never before this season for a warts-and-all program devised by Russell Crowe. »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: News.com.au

2010 AFL Season Preview - St. Kilda
By Allblack So how do you rate a team that took everything before them in the regular season last year and feel over at the final hurdle. Lets be honest as well, they cost themselves the grand final, it was theirs for the taking. After years of mediocrity they put themselves in a perfect position to break a long time without success but they blew it. Their off season has also been far from perfect. Their backline was the bext in the AFL last season by a large margin. When you look at the players it probably surprises how well they performed. They are very well drilled. Dawson looked good last year. I dont buy the hype and think for the most part he played the easily third tall sort of position S Fisher accounced themselves last year as a very good player. Gilbert looks a solid find as well. Raph Clarke had his best year but still question marks remain. Blake was good last year and I though Geary was a great find. I know they love Baker but his body is almost finished. Peake will be an interesting addition this year and they will look for some more run from him around the HB line. Goddard had his best year and showed why he was such a highly rated junior, his foot skills are A grade. Gram at times looked a little lost last year but has shown his quality. The midfield was where the real defensive work was done last year. They tackled and wore other teams into the ground lead by Lenny Hayes who was outstanding. The identified pace as an issue last year despite their dominance and invested heavily in Lovett which we all know has gone awry. The loss of Ball is not to be underestimated either. I know there is a perception he was unwanted and despite him being dropped for a period last year he is still an important player. They will be looking for Armitage to step up this year and fill that void, he will be a good player. Ray had his best season last year but he still needs to improve. Montagna finally realised some of his potential last year and they would be happy if he could provide the same output. Jones was very good last year but his disposal is atrocious so he doesnt really hurt the other way. I think he may struggle to maintain his position. Dal Santo came of age as well and was fantastic last year. Smith will be a wildcard this year and if they get him on the park they have a midfield to rival Geelong. Their forward line is dangerous. It is set up around the twin towers of Reiwoldt and Koschitzke. Both need to stay fit, Reiwoldt needs to match last years performance and I think there is still a lot of room for improvement with Kosi. Schneider was a little disappointing for mine but still got his job done. Milne owes the Saints for some terrible decisions in the Grand Final but had a pretty good year before that. Goddard showed last year he can be a very dangerous forward and expect he may see more time up there this year. Gwilt still has development left in him but will never be a great player. The forward line set up is strong but needs to stay injury free. If one of Kosi or Reiwoldt goes down then serious questions will be asked. The Saints have a good ruck department. By no means brilliant but will get the job done. King and Gardiner were both really good last year and all reports are that McEvoy has torn up the training track during the preseason. Gardiner had the year he needed last year to remind people why there was period he was the best in the land. They have recruited Pattison for depth but if he finds game time it is not going to be a good sign for the Saints. The coach dealt with his doubters last year with a game plan that strangled other teams. He has the best defensive structures in the league and has spent a couple of years building them up. He started to stake the leash off a little last year to let his team attack and they showed they can hurt you at both ends. The Saints had an extraordinary year last year. They had few injury concerns and never had their depth tested for any extended period. That sort of “luck” really helped them but they still have a quality list and plan to plan very well. In the next breath though I dont think they can repeat that for another full season and expect them to drop off a little in the regular season this year. I think they will finish outside the top 2 round the 3-4 mark. Click Here for the BomberBlitz.com Forum Thread »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: Bomber Blitz

Bombers rule out Ryder, Melksham
Essendon ruckman Patrick Ryder and draftee Jake Melksham will miss Friday night's NAB Cup opener against West Coast »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: AFL.com.au

2010 BomberBlitz.com Player Sponsorship Now Open!
As in previous years – the good userbase folk of the BomberBlitz.com Forum is once again joining up to become official club sponsors of some of the Essendon players in 2010. In 2010 BomberBlitz.com will be sponsors of new skipper Jobe Watson & ‘Rising Star’ Michael Hurley, but there will also be the opportunity to sponsor a few more players … depending on the number of people that jump aboard the sponsorship train. Registrations to join the sponsor group in 2010 is currently open and all the benefits that go with it for the minimum cost of just $35 per person. Click Here for the BomberBlitz.com Forum Thread For More Details All are welcome to join up! »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: Bomber Blitz

Pre-season ban for Hurley burly
ESSENDON has suspended Michael Hurley from all pre-season matches, with a promise the defender faces further sanctions. »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: News.com.au

Williams warms to Bombers' brand
MARK Williams is convinced Essendon's fast, attacking game plan is an ideal fit for his style of football. »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: News.com.au

NAB Cup Round 1 - West Coast Match Preview
By westozziebomber Well, were just about there, and I couldn’t be more keen to see the boys this Friday night. I’m stoked that our first round NAB cup match is over here, as I don’t get to go to training, melb games etc very often, so will be great to get a first hand look at the new recruits and how they perform, and hopefully to see some of the players fighting to squeeze into the 22 have a real crack (Houli, Jetta, Zaharakis etc….) I don’t think the eagles should be underestimated. They have a great group of kids, and I’m expecting the likes of Ebert, Naitanui and Masten to play quite well. Selected squads Essendon 2. Dyson, Ricky 4. Watson, Jobe 6. Monfries, Angus 7. Jetta, Leroy 8. Winderlich, Jason 9. Prismall, Brent »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: Bomber Blitz

NAB Cup squads - Round 1
THE complete squads for this weekend's games in the NAB Cup. »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: News.com.au

2010 AFL Season Preview - Geelong
By Allblack Did the champ get wobbly towards the end of last season. It looked before the finals that they lost their cloak of invincibility. By the finals they looked back on track but we know from history that it is hard to stay up so long. Their backline loses its leader this year in Tom Harley but realistically they have enough talent to handle this seamlessly. Scarlett is obviously a superstar and his life is made much easier with the likes of Mackie and Taylor floating around. They have added Drum this year for extra depth. They have quality small defenders as well in Hunt, Wojinksi and Enright. Milburn who can play both ends is a great player. Kelly provides important run from half back. It is hard to see much drop off in performance down back. The midfield is as strong as you would get in AFL footy. Ablett just gets better each year. Bartel is elite and Joel Selwood as scary as it sounds still has improvement left. Corey is probably a little under rated outside the cats and then you throw in the new cpatain in Ling who is one of the best stoppers in the game and still gets plenty of the ball. Chapman will rotate through the middle as well and does plenty of damage when he is in there. There arent any weak spots in the midfield really although at times you could probably looks at them being a little one paced but it really only nit picking. The forward line is seen as their achilles heal but with the midfield they have being able to kick as many goals as they do, it is easy for Geelong to cover. Hawkins is coming along and still developing. He shouldnt be under rated for what he has produced at his age. Mooney looked a little less effective last year but still topped the goal kicking. Steve Johnson is a freak and finally seems to have his mind and his body right. Rooke is a really important player up forward and gives a little bit of a hard edge. I thought Varcoe improved last year and should improve more this year. I dont really rate Byrnes, Lonergan or Gamble and think in a perfect world they wouldnt be getting as many games as they do. Stokes loss early in the season will hurt a little bit but his output hasnt been great. It isnt a great forward line but it gets the job done, they were the second highest scoring team last year but I think that is on the back of the best midfield in the land. The rucks would be a concern as well for the Cats. Ottens is by far their best ruck but his body looks to be really struggling with the rigours of AFl footy and their second ruck in Blake is a plodder who was lucky to get as many games as he did last year. It is kids after that or maybe Hawkins or Mooney to help out. They need Ottens to have a good year. The coach is the model of what a modern coach should be. He is passionate but even tempered and stays cool enough to give his players their head and put the responsibility for performance and discipline back on the playing group where it belongs. Tactically he doesnt have to do anything wild as he has the talent at his disposal to get the job done and seems comfortable to let other teams try and find a way past them rather than make huge changes to his own game plan. The Cats are a classy team. They will finish in the top three this year and should be thereabouts come the grand final. The only question mark I guess is motivation and how tiring it can be to stay at the top for a long period of time. Not many teams can do it for long periods and at some stage it may catch up with them. I doubt it will be this year though as most of the star players are still at a good age and the playing group have a health respect for each other. Click Here for the BomberBlitz.com Forum Thread »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: Bomber Blitz

Gumbleton to miss NAB Cup opener
A back spasm has cost injury-prone Scott Gumbleton his place in Essendon's NAB Cup match against West Coast »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: AFL.com.au

Training Report - 8/2/10
By sandbelt With all the information still fresh in the mind from the Shep game last week, and with only four sleeps to go before there is a real hitout on Friday, I might not have bothered to turn up at the ground this morning. But it is a perfect day in Melbourne, and at 8 AM it felt like being in Grafton, so what the hell I took the dog and sat in the shade at the school end and just relaxed. The Melbourne spy was there too, and also another spy which I was told belonged to West Coast, and I could see family of four over in the stands somewhere, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. This might be a pity, because I though it was quite a pleasant training session to sit and watch. Everybody will be pleased to know that there are still no apparent injuries, not counting Stewart Crameri’s infected leg (which anyway looks like it is nearly fully recovered). I did see Jake Carlisle doing a bit of boundary running but that was just for a bit. The whole point of the session seemed to be to put some polish on the teams’s skill level in perfect conditions, which as usual means breaking the side into groups of half a dozen or so and giving each group some passing practice, either by hand or by foot, for a few minutes before rotating everyone on. I particularly tried to keep an eye on the polish level of the foot-passing since I think it is getting better, though nobody believes we are up to Geelong’s level yet. With 40 players all going at once there was no way I can do a fair job of reporting, but I did spend some time looking at David Myers, who I thought went OK, and Gus and Mark Williams, who I thought were impressive, and Kyle Reimers, who was OK most of the time but who produced a characteristic clanger right in front of goal and kicked it straight to the opposition. Jay Neagle managed to produce a scrubber and Heath Hocking was sloppy once, but overall the team looked like it knew what it was about. I like watching the players compete one on one, and there was some of this today with Adrian Hickmott lofting a high punt towards pairs of players in turn. Nothing too violent, and there wasn’t anybody dominating that I could see, but it was still fun. This is where Ricky got pronged somehow on a finger in one of the marking contests and had to go off to get it seen to, and those Blitzers who are prone to panic can expect that he will never play again. Click Here for the BomberBlitz.com Forum Thread »
Added: 1 month ago, Source: Bomber Blitz