Essendon's new form
From 1922 to 1926 Essendon was a power in the football world. After that it slowly deteriorated, and in the last year or two it has struggled with the lowest teams in the League. This year there has been improvement, and after the team’s tremendous score against North Melbourne supporters of the club have become optimistic, for they see signs of strength reminiscent of the Essendon of old.
In those days the success of the team came from brilliant pace and the clearness of the small men: Garden, Maher, Watt, Shorten, and Campbell. Today the team is moulded on the same lines with pace its main characteristic and its small men the most conspicuous players.
Essendon may not have the weight to make it formidable in modern football but it certainly knows how to take every advantage of speed. It plays wide on the wings, and its men are always on the move. Even its big men, when in good position on Saturday, did not trouble to mark the ball. Instead they knocked it out to one of the diminutive men scouting, thus saving time and keeping the pace and the movements going.
This style of play requires perfect physical condition, and Essendon makes sure of that, as I discovered on Tuesday, when I went to the ground to watch the training. Flood lights were in use, and the footballs were painted white so that they could be seen in the artificial light. The club has a very enthusiastic coach in Charlie May, who, I am told, is on the ground until late in the evening to make sure that each and every man has a thorough training.
Mr. Frank Reid, the Essendon secretary, remarked to me: "We are playing the brand of football the public likes." I do not think that anyone would argue against that statement. Clean, open, clever, and speedy play must surely have more appeal and be more entertaining than football of the kind played on Saturday between South Melbourne and Fitzroy. I understand that the South-Fitzroy match was a sorry spectacle. The poor umpire received most of the blame. Still, there is no excuse for players hunting for the ball in bunches, sometimes with the ball lost altogether, while the men indulged for some moments in a game that, as children, we used to call "stacks on the mill."
Forbes and Reynolds
Of Essendon's smaller speedy men the most noticeable are Reynolds and Forbes. Reynolds is a mere youngster, who a few weeks ago had his 19th birthday. He had the unique experience of being rushed straight from the green fields around Essendon, without a preliminary canter with the seconds, into the League team. At the ripe age of 17 years he played with the courage and skill of a veteran. Since then he has had one year's experience of League football, and he is at least a stone heavier and a yard faster than last year. As a half-forward wing player he will be a big problem for many years to come.
It was once said by an old footballer: "There are many ordinary players in League football. Some are good, but there are very few champions. One must be wary of putting a player in the latter class. In spite of this warning I will say that Keith Forbes, Essendon's rover, is a champion this season. He was always a good player. Now, as the captain, he is better, for he seems determined to show his team, by the force of his example on the field, how easy it is to outplay the opposition.
His play is characterised by amazing dash away from the back, good marking for his height, clever turning, and very accurate stab passing, and he is able to kick with either foot. He is, at the moment, a more effective player than Bunton at his best, in my opinion, because he excels in a position as well as roving - to which the seven goals he kicked against North Melbourne on Saturday, and his tally of 34 for the season, bear eloquent testimony.
I would also place Forbes as a better player than Ron Cooper (Carlton), although comparisons of players always provoke argument. It is generally agreed, however, that Forbes, Bunton, and Cooper are the most effective players in their teams. Those three rovers have one common characteristic in position play. Immediately the ball is kicked from the centre toward their half-forward line they race straight for goal and become extra loose men to whom to kick. Opposing rovers seldom seem to mind them. Possibly they realise the hopelessness of it.
In addition to their work on the forward lines these players give the team a lead in every part of the field. So often do the other players kick to them that one often hears, "There is too much kicking to Forbes," or "Too much Bunton." Yet, why not? These players are always in the best positions, and other players have more confidence in them than in anybody else.
Footnotes
Title: Essendon's new form Author: Ivor Warne-Smith Publisher: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 1956) Date: Friday, 6 July, 1934, p.9 (Article Illustrated) Web: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10954741
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