ESSENDON – CAN THE BOMBERS TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND WIN THEIR FIRST FINAL SINCE 2004
2021 FINISHED 8th 11 WINS 11 LOSSES (LOST FIRST FINAL…AGAIN!)
We take a look at Essendon Bombers in our AFL Betting 2022 season preview as they look to erase a terrible finals record the last two decades. There is no doubt the Bombers handled the transition from Whoosha Worsfold to Ben Rutten in nice fashion. It was a year of improvement getting themselves into the finals (from 13th to 8th). Yet they failed to win a final (again) and lost to the eventual runners up the Western Bulldogs in Tassie. Is there a team with a worse finals record in the AFL…we doubt it.
Will it be Second year blues for Rutten and his gang
No doubt Essendon will talk themselves up again as they do every year. The big query on Essendon is can they turn up and do it all again or will the coach suffer 2nd year blues that has followed so many. There is no doubt they had a steep improvement in their defensive effort, much maligned over the years for being “down hill skiers”. When it was felt Essendon only performed when things went their way and were defensively poor Rutten “stiffened” them up defensively and they improved sharply from 15th best side defensively in 2020 to 9thin 2021.
Can “The Package” Stringer deliver
Jake Stringer is the BIG question for Essendon in 2022. He is coming off a career best year that saw him ink a new deal but Stringer has a history of performing in a contract year then going missing for a couple of seasons. His ability to win the ball at the source and then push forward and kick goals is SO crucial to Essendon. We have our queries about Stringer putting it all together again this year and that could hurt Essendon.
How does the forward line function?
Another key element to the Bombers is their forward structure. It is a work in progress with Daniher gone two years ago along with Fantasia and the retirement of Hooker. A lot is going to rest on the shoulders of the blue collar Peter Wright and the new young gun Harrison Jones who is really yet to prove himself. Who is going to kick the goals will be a big question Bombers fans need answered in 2022.
The 2nd year of coach Rutten can be argued two ways:
1. they are all the clearer for having him for a year and this most probably is ultimately true however
2. the “fresh” feel from year one can quickly deteriorate in the second year particularly now that Essendon have some real expectation around them
There will be a general feeling that a march up the ladder will continue but as many teams have shown over the years (Essendon amongst them). They turn up without doing the work or giving the effort that they did the year before and they themselves can just expect it to happen. With a seeming lack of leadership and a relatively youthful side we are tipping a slide for the boys from Windy Hill.
2022 PREDICTION 11th 11 WINS
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