blessed with a plethora of leaders

[hungry for a premiership]

I just watched the james hird presser as i scrawl through the footy news on sunday morning in the hopes of seeing him squirm which i enjoy, and when asked about brendon goddard his ears perked up and he began glowing in reference to "not only the marvelous footballer, which we knew we were getting, but also what we didn't know in the tremendous natural leader that he is, and it's just a matter of everyone getting to his standard."

It really made me think, 'if bj goes over there and is far and away the best leader they have, better even then jobe by virtue of the extra high-level experience he's had, then how impoverished must they be for leaders, and just how much do we take for granted the leaders we have at our club, given that bj was never considered to be the best leader we've had in a list with Hayes, Ball, Riewoldt, Harvey, who bj was never as good as, and dal santo, monty, fisher, big mac, and even, in the last year or two, stephen milne, who has become a better leader than anyone at essendon except jobe, who bj was on a par with. (I was spewing anew the other day when i thought about luke ball, it is just wrong that he is not still a saint.)

Those that remain however, on Scott's reccomendation and encouragement, have pledged a commitment to stick around and teach the new breed how to be leaders. The club's also invested in the academy which is intended to fast-track their development.

I'll say this, i'm actually feeling quite bullish about not only our long-term prospects vs those of essendon, but also about playing finals this year. We've had our first complete, scandal-free pre-season since 2008, and there is a really genuinely good and happy feeling around the club, which came like a fresh breeze through the door when SW walked in and its still there. We've played at a consistently high standard for a decade now, and we've gotten used to it, its become expected, its become the norm, our senior boys know how to win and have been winning their whole careers, and essendons have not, they've lost most of the time. Winning breeds winning. I'm glad to see we're being underestimated in some corners as well, we will catch a few off their guards. And it is the leaders we have there who give me this confidence: Hayes, Roo, Dal, Monty, Fish, and even Milne, 6 leaders right there, working together, all of whom with a plethora of experience and boasting a quality of leadership you would term as A-grade. I just wish the season would start already...

[plugger66]

Who is the next lot though? We have plenty of leaders because we are an old side. Thats what happens.

[bergholt]

Dunno how you measure it from the outside, but Harvey was apparently never much of a leader, except I suppose by example.

[matrix]

he's just talking him up
as if he'd be a better leader than roo or len dog
he wasnt when he was here
so either:

a. the bombers leadership has been shite over the recent years and bj going in makes his leadership skills look good
b. hird is full of shite and just sayong what hte media wants to hear

wither way i coudnt give a shite about him now

[joffaboy]

he's just talking him up
as if he'd be a better leader than roo or len dog
he wasnt when he was here
so either:

a. the bombers leadership has been shite over the recent years and bj going in makes his leadership skills look good
b. hird is full of shite and just sayong what hte media wants to hear

wither way i coudnt give a shite about him now

true, however goddard looked good again yesterday. Still got sucked into push and shove a couple of times and was lucky not to get free kicked.

Was very good running about of a HBF without an opponent using the ball magnificently to set up the Bomber forwards, however when the heat comes on in the premiership proper and he has pressure on him, he wont be able to do his Adem Yze impersonation of hang off the back odf the pack wthout an oppentent getting cheap kicks.

If I can read how the Bombers are setting up with Goddard, I am pretty confident opposition coaches and assistant coaches can and bj will have some frustrating times ahead when he is shut down.

get ready for the famous tantrums.

[joffaboy]

Who is the next lot though? We have plenty of leaders because we are an old side. Thats what happens.

We get one as a FA like Essendon

[SainterK]

In the Dons favour, you can't tag all of BJ, Jobe and Stanton.

[Leo.J]

Hird is not the best judge of character.

He vouched for Lovett didn't he?

[Cairnsman]

In the Dons favour, you can't tag all of BJ, Jobe and Stanton.

BJ will be the one that is tagged. Everyone knows he's not good with a tag. I reckon CJ would take him out of a game easily.

[joffaboy]

In the Dons favour, you can't tag all of BJ, Jobe and Stanton.

BJ will be the one that is tagged. Everyone knows he's not good with a tag. I reckon CJ would take him out of a game easily.

get ready for the famous bj tantrums then

[Cairnsman]

In the Dons favour, you can't tag all of BJ, Jobe and Stanton.

BJ will be the one that is tagged. Everyone knows he's not good with a tag. I reckon CJ would take him out of a game easily.

get ready for the famous bj tantrums then

I've heard Brendon Fevola has been coaching him on how to be positive.

[defacto]

wright from the most recent batch looks a like a leader
hyphen recruited in the last batch looks like a leader in the fwd line, something we will need when milne retires

then into the next batch, newnes looks like a fast tracked leader. ross and markworth could be, we'll have to see.

batch before that i think siposs can be a leader.

we will continue to add to them. we will have a leader by the time roo retires.

[bigred]

BJ almost dragged us to a flag.

He is a quality footballer first and foremost.

He can get sucked in pretty easily though, which remains he biggest flaw.