"The 4-7-8 breathing technique requires a person to focus on taking long, deep breaths in and out.
Rhythmic breathing is a core part of many meditation and yoga practices as it promotes relaxation"
Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds.
The first of the two audits with Ross Lyon this year was approved. There was good, bad, and really bad, but there was also really good. I had the opportunity to see another shift, perhaps pivoting towards something I believe will lead to more sustainable success long-term. What was it? That's where I'll begin.
I'll start by examining St. Kilda's two previous games.
In those, they've averaged a kick percentage of 60.1, referring to how many of a team's disposals are kicks.
In 2023, that was 59.1. However, this week, Essendon forced them into a percentage of 54.3.
I say forced because of the pressure they generated in tight spaces.
One area I, along with almost all Essendon fans, wanted to see improvement in this year was around clearances and contests.
It may not help Essendon come out with the ball cleanly, but it also means the opposition isn't afforded those luxuries either. The way I would like to see this achieved is with numbers, saturating the area with players. Bar round one against the "kamikaze" Hawks, it looks like it's being more than practiced. There were no easy exits for St. Kilda in those situations after quarter time. The support Essendon had with those numbers forced the Saints to move the ball around hurriedly to try and escape.
I know at times it looked messy in there, but that's because of the pressure, and I don't mind it because, in the long term, that's finals football. There's no perfection come September; start practicing it now.
Here are some more examples of what it does.
Essendon laid a tackle every 5.9 St. Kilda disposals on the weekend. On that number, they would be ranked 5th in the competition behind Carlton, Geelong, Sydney, and Fremantle—all teams who are unbeaten in 2024.
Last year, the Bombers were ranked 17th in this metric, with the average being every 6.5 opposition disposals. This feeds into another area: intercepting. Last season, Essendon averaged an intercept every 5.44 opposition possessions, ranked 16th.
Versus the Saints, that was every 5.02. While it may not sound like much, last season, that would've been ranked 8th. Of those seven ranked above, six were finalists.
Hopefully, I don't have to continue comparing Essendon of 2023 to 2024. Instead, I can start comparing to the stats of what the eight teams do in finals football.
The last one I'll finish off with here regarding pressure by numbers around the source is the +13 in contested possessions this week, backing up breaking even last week—a change from last year being ranked 13th with a differential of -2.8.
If you can't already tell from what I've just written, then I'll just come out and say it: I'm excited about these numbers and what they back up from the vision. The temperature can still get hotter, but I get the feeling it's on the rise upwards.
Now, of course, this change is only based on two weeks, so talk about going off prematurely, but it's the methodology change that it has to begin with. Get over to support, close the space, come forward, keep the pressure on—your teammates are here to help. It still has to get better; tackles didn't stick well enough this week, and the balance of players who are drawn to the ball without enough support outside has work to do, but it's a start.
The front-half game got a major tick of approval most of the game, with it obviously being the major factor in what happened in the last quarter. That front-half game is hugely reliant on being fed via clearance to begin with.
The numbers back up the vision we all saw in the last 20 minutes of the game.
Stoppage clearances around the ground went -6 at halftime (10-16), -2 at 3/4 time (15-23), then finished with +7 (24-25) in the final term.
It meant that St. Kilda was forced to do a lot more defending.
In the first three quarters, they averaged 47.3% of their disposals in the front half, with their second quarter an enormous 57%, something for Essendon to work on. But in the last, that number came down to 34%.
Like I said, it wasn't just obvious in the last quarter; we saw McGrath kick a goal from 50 metres out and have half of his 30 disposals in the front half. Martin had inside 50 entries, and even McKay had four of his 18 touches in the front half.
This has been a shift from "rolling back" with extra numbers deep inside defensive 50, as was the case last year.
A good balance of players had a say in the performance.
The backline comprised triple M: Martin, McGrath, and McKay, with the H of Heppell and the C of Cox.
The forwards were Stringer, Jones, Langford, and Draper when he was down there, and the midfielders were Duursma and Captain Zach once again.
Martin was prolific running up and back to help defend and then receive to create transition forward. He was assisted by McGrath, who earned 13 of his possessions via intercepts, and McKay, who took seven intercept marks from his 13 intercepts.
That trio had support from both Heppell and Cox.
Heppell had eight intercept possessions and started five scoring chain transitions, with Cox having a third of his 18 possessions won by intercepts. Both positioned themselves correctly on numerous occasions to help McKay in the air and Martin and McGrath in attack.
Langford, Jones, Stringer, and Draper got the mix right between contesting in the air and presenting as forward options by leading at the kicker. There were 21 marks between Langford, Jones, and Stringer, with nine of them taken on the lead.
Of the 21 total marks, 11 were inside the forward 50, resulting in 14 shots at goal.
It was great synergy to see between the three.
There's no way anyone can ever go past what the Captain brings in performance.
Another 30 disposals, with seven won at clearance, including six at centre bounce, and 14 won at contests, with 10 of those being groundballs.
He played the Setterfield role this week as the defensively minded midfielder of the group. 72% of his possessions were in the back half, contributing to his three rebound 50s.
He ranked second for defensive half-pressure acts, only behind Parish, who may have had a quieter day in possessions but not in pressure acts.
Duursma showed why Essendon wanted him at the club this year, displaying his traits in running and defensive coverage.
It's an important part of modern football and something that the Bombers desperately required. 18 of his 23 touches were on the defensive side, with five of those intercepting the Saints' attacks.
In my preview of this game, I discussed the influence that the St. Kilda half-backs have on their team's setup.
“Together with Sinclair, Bonner forms part of the dynamic duo at half-back, with Wanganeen Milera completing the trio.
All three players boast foot skills to open up the ground, with Bonner and Wanganeen Milera utilizing those foot skills over 80% of the time. The latter also boasts a kick effectiveness of over 80%.
Bonner is averaging 7 rebound 50s per game, while Wanganeen Milera averages 6.5, ranking one and two in that category for the Saints.
To try to dull their impact, Essendon needs to pressure them from every angle, closing the space and taking away their vision to find teammates."
Bonner had 32 disposals, with 12 of them rebounding from the defensive 50 and an enormous 1018 meters gained, but of his 29 kicks, 17 were turned over. Wanganeen Milera, in his first two games, had averaged 28.5 disposals, two inside 50s, 5.5 contested possessions, and eight uncontested marks.
This time he was in check with just 20 disposals, zero inside 50s, two contested possessions, and three uncontested marks. Even with minimal disposals, his impact can be enormous; half of his 20 disposals were part of a score for the Saints. It really mattered that he didn't start with the ball as often as he previously had.
“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection." - Mark Twain
The Saints had 45 possession chains start from the Essendon forward 50, with seven going inside their forward third; five of those ended in a score, luckily they were all behinds.
Seven of 42 is a small improvement; five ending in a score? Not. On a different occasion, that could be two goals three, or worse, five goals straight.
Last week versus the Swans, it was 32 chains with nine going inside 50; seven ending in a score, with four of them goals.
Against Sydney, Essendon gave up what I call easy "downs," that's NFL talk for territory gain. I say easy because it involves uncontested marks to move the ball forward.
Sydney last week took an uncontested mark outside of their forward 50 every 3.15 kicks, St. Kilda 3.04.
Last season, Sydney's opposition averaged 3.69. It doesn't look like much of a difference, but the top eight teams in this metric were made from seven finalists.
For this next part, I'm not going to talk about St. Kilda's missed opportunities at goal-kicking; that's the outcome, that's on them and for them to work on. What I want to talk about is up to the point that Essendon can control.
Early in the game, St. Kilda was far too efficient turning an inside 50 into a shot at goal.
By quarter-time, it was nine shots from 12 entries and four marks inside 50.
By halftime, it was 14 shots from 26 entries. That's too efficient. Up until three-quarter time, the Saints had 99 disposals in the front half; as a couple of references, they had 92 in the back half at the same stage, and Essendon had 66 in its front half.
Hopefully, the return of players can improve what's happening once it gets inside there, but a lot of improvement needs to happen before it goes in there still.
I have to admire the way the team fought the game out. Things didn't start perfectly, and there were moments where momentum changed within quarters, but there's heart and fortitude to fight and get the game back on your terms, however long it takes.
They persisted with what they've trained for and talked about since Scott took over, and it showed in the end.
Continue on this journey, and let's see where it takes them.
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