DARK TIMES IN THE SUN

So, it turns out things can get worse.

Now, I should start by stating that this blog won’t take too long. Although it’s only round two, I simply don’t know if I have the stamina to go down this well-trodden path of agony for too long.

It’s so early in the season – yet it feels so damn dark already.

After what felt like a disappointing and very frustrating affair against Hawthorn in round one, it would have been a fair assessment from the Essendon legions to be mildly hopeful for what was to come. Afterall, at the close of the club’s 26-point loss to the Hawks, it felt like, had the team not allowed Hawthorn such a head start, things may have turned out differently. A loss easily explained away by the sins of a poor first quarter outing.

But Saturday’s loss to Adelaide was devastating.

Minimal positives and outside of youth and inexperience, minimal excuses to point to. This is a tricky Bombers outfit to really understand. The list of players under 25 games is considerable, and those over 100 games are few. Yet, it is a team filled with some significant dollars and cents, long contracts and supposed big signings – but less to show for the spending than ever.

And a game plan … well … what game plan?

Even Brad Scott, a seasoned club propaganda maestro struggled to spin his way out of the flaws in his 2025 Essendon side, at the post-match presser after the loss to the Crows. The fandom will be looking for more than spin in the coming weeks and months, especially those members who are forking out more of their hard-earned than ever to pay for the privilege of watching this Dons outfit.

But let’s be blunt.

This team looks bad. Rebuild bad.

I expected the season to be tough, but not for the reasons I saw on the weekend. I hoped it would be tight losses and hard fought but failed attempts that caused me heartache - but it’s so much more fundamental. This team looks confused. A team bereft of a plan or confidence. A team filled with players that wander seemingly without logic. How else do you explain some of the more unexplainable oddities that plague this current iteration of the Bombers?

There was no where to hide on the MCG for Essendon, as Adelaide swarmed time and time again.

What purpose does Nate Caddy serve hanging out on the half-back line if a quick rebound occurred?

What point does handballing to stationary targets accomplish?

How does a team allow an opposition to move freely across the ground for 2 hours untouched?

How?!

This game was over long before half-time, but by the 20-minute mark of the third term, Adelaide had already crossed the 100-point barrier. Minutes later the margin was 10 goals. That fact isn’t possible to excuse by a single brain fade or two – it reeks of flaws – systematic and cultural.

And they’re everywhere.

The forward line is in disarray without a clear centrepiece or anything resembling structure. But it isn’t all the fault of those up front, as the entries by the midfield squad could only be described as dismal. Do I hear the wails of the ghosts of Worfolds past?  Bomb after bomb after bomb. Each kicked with seemingly less thought than the one that preceded it.

Over their heads.

At their feet.

Anywhere but their chests.

It's a frightening day at the office for Essendon when one of the team’s most potent forwards is Sam Draper, the man snapping goals from two metres out, such is his lack of confidence in front of the big sticks. The encircling groans may have been unpleasant and ugly – but so too were his set-shot preparations. But then again … three goals straight is three goals straight.

And beggars can’t be choosers.

Tom Edwards was fed to the wolves in his debut and still managed three majors and genuinely competed at every opportunity. Young hope Caddy looked frustratingly lost and Isaac Kako was significantly out-bodied. But the fault lies more with our senior figures in the team than those playing in game one, two or nine. But therein lies one of the club’s biggest issues – those who fans rely on, simply aren’t lifting. Those in that 50-100 games bracket the club needs to evolve seem to have stagnated.

The Crows celebrate one of their 25 goals on Saturday afternoon.

Stagnated is probably a good way to describe the performance of those in the middle of the ground on Saturday afternoon. Having your teeth pulled by a dentist-in-training felt like a more appetising afternoon than watching the Bombers fumble their way through stoppages. And despite some pretty stats, no one really had a great day (aside from that one guy – but we’ll discuss him in a moment).

Sam Durham tried but felt off his game, clumsy and ineffective for large swathes of the match. Elijah Tsatas, despite 25 touches and 11 clearances, appeared confused and if not a little terrified to be anywhere near the pill. Like much of the club, his pressure rating was appalling and a mediocre ‘metres gained’ suggests a lack of effort to keep pushing. It was an average afternoon. He certainly wasn’t alone – but the team needs him to be better, especially when it comes to what he does when he finds the ball.

All who have been following his journey would know the lengthy commentary that has been made of Tsatas’ extra work to remedy his disposal efficiency – but on Saturday, all that work appeared to be for naught. And Jye Caldwell, put simply, had a flat outing on a day where the team could scarcely afford it.

Then there’s the backline … oof.

It’s hard to say anything original that hasn’t been said before about the Dons’ defensive unit.

Ben McKay’s abysmal form continues to make earning $1.4 million in ’25 seem like some sort of horrific fever dream – and is worthy of being dropped. Simple as that. Zach Reid, although he is still green and continuing to adapt to the game at AFL level after years of chronic injury, is starting to give Aaron Francis vibes. A big call, I know, but it is what it is.

Dylan Shiel and Andy McGrath’s output remains under par and makes you wonder if they’re getting a game based on how much it cost the club to acquire them all those years ago. It's an ugly look to have an old ‘big signing’ and the club’s only number one draft pick playing in the VFL. If any organisation is conscious of optics, it’s the Essendon Football Club. What else could excuse their poor form without punishment?

There is little to get excited about in the back, middle or front. Essendon was outplayed, out-planned, out-run, out everything! These flaws are evident at every level, but the cause of these problems feels higher than just the playing group – they come from the top – where an extended contract for Brad Scott now feels more poorly times than ever.

Amidst the onslaught that his players were subjected to, Scott seemed frozen in time. Barely a magnet felt a pressed finger - positional changes seemingly too old-fashioned for our modern AFL guru, with the exception of subbing out Caddy for Jye Menzie. Menzie’s appearance in the side alone raises more questions than answers, but I don’t think I have it in me to follow that thought.

Despite the dismal performance, it’s not to say that there weren’t glimmers of effort and talent. Sam Draper battled all day, Ben Hobbs tried his guts out, Jade Gresham worked tirelessly, and Mason Redman was influential in a misfiring backline. But even then, Redman did not lay a single tackle. Even the good performances were ordinary – unless of course you’re Zach Merrett.

Merrett showed his quality again, in another outstanding performance for the Dons.

Merrett is the spiritual, cultural and performance leader at the club. He's the team's best player by the length of the continent. 4.1 goals and a thousand touches. He exudes passion and commitment – a desire to be better with every attempt he makes. Yet, so few seem interested in following his lead. He has been so admired for the tireless standards he sets for himself as a leader and a player, but it appears few want to replicate them. To the detriment of all.

This club is only three weeks into the season. Two losses and an aborted Opening Round, and already the season feels like its fallen apart. We look to have started the season worse than we ended the last. The cattle appear less talented and worse still, less willing to do the hard stuff that comes with being a contender.

Possibly worse still, this is close to Essendon’s best side!

Darcy Parish can’t fix this. Kyle Langford can’t fix this. Jordan Ridley can’t fix this. Hell, Harley Reid can’t fix this. The flaws on display at the ‘G against the Crows are, as I’ve already said, systematic and cultural. Understandably not overnight fixes as the club works its way into a rebuild, but at the beginning of Scott’s third year in charge, the questions that met him in his first year, remain.

The Dons faithful have been told culture has changed at Tullamarine.

That things are different, and change has come.

But from the second tier at the MCG on Saturday, things seemed eerily the same.

Go Planes.