2011 Essendon Football Club season

Essendon Football Club
2011 season
	Essendon's 2011 guernsey
President	David Evans
Coach	James Hird ; (1st season)
Captain(s)	Jobe Watson ; (2nd season)
Home ground	Marvel Stadium
Pre-season competition	Runners Up
AFL season	8th
Finals series	Elimination Final
Best and Fairest	David Zaharakis
Leading goalkicker	Stewart Crameri (34)
Highest home attendance	89,626 vs. Collingwood (Round 5)
Lowest home attendance	33,631 vs. West Coast (Round 7)
Average home attendance	49,267
Club membership	50,275 ; ( 9,686 / +23.86%)
← 2010	2012 →

The 2011 Essendon Football Club season is the club's 113th season in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Essendon won 11 matches, drew one and lost 10 matches in the 2011 season. Essendon won five matches within the first eight rounds, before a form slump culminated in a five-match losing streak and Essendon dropping out of the top eight for the first time this season when it lost to Hawthorn by 65 points.

Their season begun with a 55-point thumping of triple-preliminary finalists the Western Bulldogs before a narrow five-point defeat to Sydney followed. Wins over St Kilda (in their captain Nick Riewoldt's 200th game) followed, before a thrilling draw against Carlton and a five-goal loss in the Anzac Day match against Collingwood followed.

Round 6 brought along the mother of all Essendon wins – a 139-point thumping of the Gold Coast at home, with the Bombers recording a record first-quarter score of 15.4 (94) and its quarter-time lead of 93 points also brought along a new record. Amidst this, Essendon lost the second quarter in surprising circumstances, before going on to finish the job to record its first win over a side featuring Gary Ablett since 2005. Only two more wins would follow, against the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Lions in the weeks after the Suns annihilation.

Essendon pulled off the boilover of the season when they defeated the previously unbeaten Geelong by four points in Round 15, 2011, without their injured skipper, Jobe Watson. It was their first win over the Cats in almost six years, having not beaten them since Round 18, 2005. However, it was just their second win over Geelong since 2003, leaving them with one of the worst records against Geelong in recent times.

Round 20 saw Essendon at home to Sydney for the first time since Round 1, 2006 when Essendon triumphed by 27 points. Essendon won by one point after a post-siren shot by Sydney's Adam Goodes drifted to the left. Round 23 saw Essendon qualifying the finals for the second time in two years, when it defeated Port Adelaide by 7 points at Etihad Stadium. It ended a seven-year winless run against the side, having not beaten them since Round 18, 2004.

Essendon's elimination final against Carlton was lost by 62 points, ending what was otherwise a promising first year for James Hird in the Essendon coaching role.

Squad

Essendon Football Club
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Senior list						Rookie List		Coaching staff
2 Ricky Dyson 3 Scott Gumbleton 4 Jobe Watson (c) 5 Brent Stanton 6 Angus Monfries 7 Leroy Jetta 8 Jason Winderlich 9 Brent Prismall 10 Mark McVeigh 11 David Zaharakis 12 Andrew Welsh (vc) 13 Anthony Long 14 Sam Lonergan 15 Courtenay Dempsey 16 Tayte Pears 17 Jake Melksham 18 Michael Hurley 19 David Hille (vet) 20 Henry Slattery 21 Dyson Heppell		22 Jake Carlisle 23 David Myers 24 Alex Browne 25 Ariel Steinberg 26 Cale Hooker 27 Luke Davis 28 Darcy Daniher 29 Alwyn Davey 30 Paddy Ryder 31 Dustin Fletcher (vet) 32 Travis Colyer 33 Mark Williams 34 Kyle Hardingham 37 Kyle Reimers 38 Michael Ross 39 Heath Hocking 40 Ben Howlett 42 Nathan Lovett-Murray 43 Michael Hibberd 44 Tom Bellchambers				1 Jay Neagle 35 Taite Silverlock 36 Tyson Slattery 41 Michael Quinn 45 Stewart Crameri 46 Josh Jenkins 47 James Webster		Head coach James Hird Assistant coaches Mark Thompson Brendan McCartney Sean Wellman Simon Goodwin Dean Wallis Shannon Grant (Bendigo) Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) Long-term injury list Upgraded rookie(s) (vet) Veterans list Updated: 15 February 2012 Source(s): Playing list

Trades

In

Player	Traded From	Traded To	Traded For
None

Out

Player	Traded From	Traded To	Traded For
None

Drafts

National Draft

Round	Pick	Name	From	League
1	8	Dyson Heppell	Gippsland Power	TAC Cup
2	31	Ariel Steinberg	Bendigo Pioneers	TAC Cup
3	48	Alex Browne	Oakleigh Chargers	TAC Cup
4	64	Luke Davis	West Adelaide Football Club	SANFL
5	80	Michael Ross	Gippsland Power	TAC Cup
6	95	Pass
7	106	Ben Howlett	Rookie Promotion

Rookie Draft

Round	Pick	Name	From	League
1	12	Josh Jenkins	Lake Boga	CMFL
2	29	Jay Neagle	Essendon	AFL
3	46	Tyson Slattery	Essendon	AFL
4	61	James Webster^	Woy Woy	BDFL

^ Denotes NSW AFL scholarship elevation

Pre-Season Draft

Round	Pick	Name	From	League
1	4	Michael Hibberd	Frankston	VFL

Results

Pre-season (NAB Cup)

Round 1


	Round 1
Friday, 18 February 7:30 pm	Essendon 1.11.1 (76)	def.	Brisbane Lions 0.2.2 (14)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 23,313)	Report
Friday, 18 February 9:25 pm	St Kilda 0.6.2 (38)	drew with	Essendon 0.5.8 (38)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 24,158)	Report
Essendon progressed to the second round.

Quarter-finals


	Round 2
Thursday, 24 February 7:10 pm	Melbourne 1.11.7 (82)	def. by	Essendon 1.17.20 (121)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 13,863)	Report
Essendon progressed to the third round.

Semi-finals


	Semi-finals
Friday, 4 March 7:40 pm	Essendon 0.12.12 (84)	def.	St Kilda 0.6.9 (45)	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 17,632)	Report

Grand Final


	2011 NAB Cup Grand Final
Friday, 11 March 7:45 pm	Essendon	def. by	Collingwood	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 45,304)	Report
	0.2.2 (14) 0.3.4 (22) 0.9.5 (59) 0.13.8 (86)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	0.3.4 (22) 0.7.6 (48) 1.11.7 (82) 1.15.9 (108)	Umpires: Rosebury, Stevic, Nicholls, Jennings Michael Tuck Medal: Heath Shaw Television broadcast: Seven Network

		Super Goals	1 Buckley
Hurley, Monfries 3 Ryder, Watson, Zaharakis 2 Hocking 1		Goals	3 Krakouer, Dawes 2 Cloke 1 Ball, Beams, McCarthy, Pendlebury, Swan, Thomas, Wellingham

Hardingham (groin)		Injuries	Nil


This was the first pre-season Grand Final Essendon has mad since winning the title in 2000.

Home and Away season

Round 1


	Round 1
Sunday, 27 March 1:10 pm	Essendon	def.	Western Bulldogs	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 42,617)	Report
	3.4 (22) 9.12 (66) 13.15 (93) 16.17 (113)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.1 (25) 5.2 (32) 7.5 (47) 8.10 (58)	Umpires: Farmer, Kennedy, Findlay Television broadcast: Fox Sports


Ryder, Watson, Monfries, Hurley, Stanton, Zaharakis 2 Crameri, Winderlich, McVeigh, Myers 1		Goals	2 Hall, Giansiracusa 1 Djerrkura, Wood, Grant, Hill
Watson, Hille, Hocking, Stanton, Jetta, Melksham, Ryder, Heppell		Best	Murphy, Higgins, Ward, Picken, Markovic, Hudson
Nil		Injuries	Wood (ankle)


This was James Hird's first game as coach of Essendon


	Brownlow Votes
3 David Hille (Essendon) 2 Jobe Watson (Essendon) 1 Paddy Ryder (Essendon)

Round 2


	Round 2
Sunday, 3 April 2:10 pm	Sydney	def.	Essendon	ANZ Stadium (crowd: 28,082)	Report
	1.5 (11) 6.8 (44) 10.11 (71) 14.14 (98)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.4 (28) 8.7 (55) 12.9 (81) 13.15 (93)	Umpires: Rosebury, Pannel, Jennings Television broadcast: Channel 7


McGlynn, Bolton 3 White, Bevan 2 Goodes, Kennedy, Rohan, O’Keefe 1		Goals	2 Ryder, Crameri, Winderlich, Hurley 1 Jetta, Davey, Hocking, McVeigh
Goodes, Bevan, Bolton, McGlynn, O’Keefe, Grundy, Hannebery		Best	Watson, Stanton, Hurley, Heppell, Bellchambers, Ryder, Davey
Nil		Injuries	Hille (hip) replaced by Davey


	Brownlow Votes
3 Ben McGlynn (Sydney) 2 Jude Bolton (Sydney) 1 Jobe Watson (Essendon)

Round 3


	Round 3
Sunday, 10 April 4:40 pm	St Kilda	def. by	Essendon	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 47,762)	Report
	5.3 (33) 7.5 (45) 8.9 (57) 12.12 (84)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	8.2 (50) 13.2 (80) 19.5 (119) 21.10 (136)	Umpires: Donlon, McBurney, Armstrong Television broadcast: Channel 7


Riewoldt 3 Milne, Steven 2 Dal Santo, Fisher, Gram, Montagna, Stanley 1		Goals	3 Hurley, Watson, Winderlich, Zaharakis 2 Howlett, Monfries, Ryder 1 Crameri, Jetta, Bellchambers
Gram, Dal Santo, Armitage, Fisher, Ray		Best	Watson, Hocking, Bellchambers, Ryder, Crameri, Hurley, Fletcher



Essendon defeated St Kilda for the fourth time in succession. Nick Riewoldt played his 200th AFL game for the Saints in that match.


	Brownlow Votes
3 Jobe Watson (Essendon) 2 Heath Hocking (Essendon) 1 Jason Gram (St Kilda)

Round 4


	Round 4
Saturday, 16 April 2:10 pm	Carlton	drew with	Essendon	MCG (crowd: 78,605)	Report
	0.2 (2) 4.9 (33) 6.13 (49) 11.13 (79)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.2 (20) 6.3 (39) 7.8 (50) 11.13 (79)	Umpires: Nicholls, Stewart, McBurney Television broadcast: Channel 10 and One HD


Simpson 3 Waite, Garlett, Laidler, Curnow, Carrazzo, Murphy, Warnock, Yarran 1		Goals	2 Jetta, Lonergan 1 Hurley, Bellchambers, Watson, Fletcher, Zaharakis, Stanton, Melksham
Murphy, Waite, Gibbs, Yarran, Robinson, Jaminson, Judd, Scotland		Best	Fletcher, Hooker, Zaharakis, Watson, Hardingham, Stanton
Nil		Injuries	Winderlich (knee), Dempsey (knee)


The draw between Carlton and Essendon was the third of the season, and the third between the two sides since 1993. It also means that four of the last 12 games played at the MCG were drawn, and it is the first time since 1914 that there were three draws in the first four rounds of the season.


	Brownlow Votes
3 Dustin Fletcher (Essendon) 2 Nick Duigan (Carlton) 1 Marc Murphy (Carlton)

Round 5


	Round 5
Monday, 25 April 2:40 pm	Essendon	def. by	Collingwood	MCG (crowd: 89,626)	Report
	0.3 (3) 3.8 (26) 7.10 (52) 11.11 (77)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	4.2 (26) 7.3 (45) 10.6 (66) 16.11 (107)	Umpires: Chamberlain, Ryan, Findlay Television broadcast: Channel 10 and One HD


Crameri 4 Hille, Zaharakis 2 Bellchambers, Watson, Jetta 1		Goals	3 Cloke, Pendlebury 2 Beams, Dawes 1 Swan, Jolly, Didak, Ball, Brown, Sidebottom
Crameri, Heppell, Fletcher, Jetta, Bellchambers		Best	Pendlebury, Cloke, Davis, Shaw, Ball


	Brownlow Votes
3 Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood) 2 Stewart Crameri (Essendon) 1 Travis Cloke (Collingwood)


	Anzac Medal
Scott Pendlebury^[1]

Round 6


	Round 6
Sunday, 1 May 1:10 pm	Essendon	def.	Gold Coast	Etihad Stadium (crowd: 33,710)	Report
	15.4 (94) 18.4 (112) 25.8 (158) 31.11 (197)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	0.1 (1) 5.3 (33) 7.5 (47) 8.10 (58)	Umpires: Ritchie, Ryan, Nicholls Television broadcast: Fox Sports


Reimers 8 Monfries, Crameri 4 Ryder 3 Bellchambers, Lonergan, Zaharakis 2 Hille, Hocking, Howlett, Jetta, Stanton, Watson 1		Goals	2 Iles, Matera 1 McKenzie, Rischitelli, Shaw, Smith
Reimers, Howlett, Watson, Lonergan, Ryder, Stanton, Zaharakis		Best	Ablett, Brennan, Swallow, Iles, Harbrow



Essendon's first quarter score of 15.4 (94) was the highest first quarter score of all time.^[2] Essendon's first quarter score of 15.4 (94) was the highest scoring of any quarter since 1919.^[3] Essendon's final score of 31.11 (197) was its highest since 2000, and its final winning margin of 139 points was its highest since 1989.^[4] Set Essendon's new largest winning margin at Docklands Stadium


	Brownlow Votes
3 Kyle Reimers (Essendon) 2 Jobe Watson (Essendon) 1 Ben Howlett (Essendon)

Ladder

2011 AFL ladder
Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts
1	Collingwood	22	20	2	0	2592	1546	167.7	80	Finals series
2	Geelong (P)	22	19	3	0	2548	1619	157.4	76
3	Hawthorn	22	18	4	0	2355	1634	144.1	72
4	West Coast	22	17	5	0	2235	1715	130.3	68
5	Carlton	22	14	7	1	2225	1700	130.9	58
6	St Kilda	22	12	9	1	1891	1677	112.8	50
7	Sydney	22	12	9	1	1897	1735	109.3	50
8	Essendon	22	11	10	1	2217	2217	100.0	46
9	North Melbourne	22	10	12	0	2106	2082	101.2	40
10	Western Bulldogs	22	9	13	0	2060	2155	95.6	36
11	Fremantle	22	9	13	0	1791	2155	83.1	36
12	Richmond	22	8	13	1	2069	2396	86.4	34
13	Melbourne	22	8	13	1	1974	2315	85.3	34
14	Adelaide	22	7	15	0	1742	2193	79.4	28
15	Brisbane Lions	22	4	18	0	1814	2240	81.0	16
16	Port Adelaide	22	3	19	0	1718	2663	64.5	12
17	Gold Coast	22	3	19	0	1534	2726	56.3	12

Source: AFL ladder
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Ladder progression

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Ground	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	B	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	B
Result	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	L		L	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	L	W
Position	1	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	4	5	7	8	8	10	8	8	7	9	9	8	7	8	8	8

Source: Competitive Matches
A = Away; H = Home; B = Bye; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Tribunal cases

Player	Round	Charge category	Level	Verdict	Points^[a]	Result	Victim	Club	Ref(s)
Mark Williams	NAB Cup	Striking	2	Guilty	70	Reprimand	Liam Jurrah	Melbourne	^[5]
Cale Hooker	3	Wrestling		Guilty	0	$900	Nick Riewoldt	St Kilda	^[6]
Nathan Lovett-Murray	7	Negligent Umpire Contact		Guilty	0	$900	Mathew Leppard		^[7]

Season Statistics

Home attendance

Round	Opponent	Attendance
1	Western Bulldogs	42,617
5	Collingwood	89,626
6	Gold Coast	33,710
7	West Coast	33,631
11	Melbourne	53,077
13	North Melbourne	42,329
15	Geelong	43,806
16	Richmond	55,442
18	Carlton	74,123
20	Sydney	38,722
23	Port Adelaide	34,849
Total Attendance		541,932
Average Attendance		49,267

Season Financials

Annual Report 2011

Item	$ (AUD)
Revenue	$51,416,731
Membership & Reserved Seating	$10,363,690
Gate Receipts	$963,101
Marketing Revenue	$15,532,108
Merchandise Revenue	$2,563,026
Football Department Spend	$18,510,078
Operating Profit/Loss	$1,024,086
Total Profit/Loss	$2,059,379

Notes

^a "Points" refers to carry-over points accrued following the sanction. For example, 154.69 points draw a one-match suspension, with 54.69 carry-over points (for every 100 points, a one-match suspension is given).

References

^ "ANZAC Medal voting breakdown". collingwoodfc.com.au. BigPond. 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
^ "Quarters & Halves". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
^ "Quarters & Halves". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
^ "Essendon — Game Records". AFL Tables. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
^ "Williams, Wilson can accept reprimands". Brisbane Times. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
^ "Match Review Panel: full report". AFL BigPond Network. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.^{[dead link‍]}
^ "Match Review Panel: full report". AFL BigPond Network. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.^{[dead link‍]}

External links

[2011_Anzac_Medal_Votes-1] "ANZAC Medal voting breakdown". collingwoodfc.com.au. BigPond. 25 April 2011. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.

[2] "Quarters & Halves". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.

[3] "Quarters & Halves". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.

[4] "Essendon — Game Records". AFL Tables. Retrieved 1 May 2011.

[tribunal_NAB_Cup_(1)-5] "Williams, Wilson can accept reprimands". Brisbane Times. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.

[tribunal_rd3_(1)-6] "Match Review Panel: full report". AFL BigPond Network. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.^{[dead link‍]}

[tribunal_rd7_(1)-7] "Match Review Panel: full report". AFL BigPond Network. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.^{[dead link‍]}

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v t e Essendon Football Club
Nickname: Bombers History Premierships Records Players Captains Coaches Honours Crichton Medal AFLW best and fairest Leading goalkickers AFL coach: Brad Scott AFL captain: Zach Merrett AFLW coach: Natalie Wood AFLW co-captains: Steph Cain & Bonnie Toogood
VFL/AFL home grounds	East Melbourne Cricket Ground (1897–1921) Windy Hill (1922–1991) Melbourne Cricket Ground (1992–) Docklands Stadium (2000–)
VFA premierships (4)	1891 1892 1893 1894
VFL/AFL premierships (16)	1897 1901 1911 1912 1923 1924 1942 1946 1949 1950 1962 1965 1984 1985 1993 2000
Runner-up (14)	1898 1902 1908 1941 1943 1947 1948 1951 1957 1959 1968 1983 1990 2001
VFA/VFL/AFL seasons (144)	1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
AFLW home grounds	North Port Oval (2022 (S7)) Windy Hill (2023–)
AFLW seasons (3)	2022 (S7) 2023 2024
Related articles	Anzac Day match Archer–Hird Medal Carlton rivalry Dreamtime at the 'G The Hangar Line in the Sand Match Round 16, 2001 comeback against North Melbourne Supplements saga West Melbourne Football Club
Essendon did not participate in the 1916 and 1917 VFL seasons due to World War I (indicated in grey)

v t e 2011 AFL season
Events	NAB Cup Premiership season Finals series Grand Final International Rules Series
Awards	All-Australian team Brownlow Medal Goal of the Year Mark of the Year Rising Star
Club overviews	Adelaide Brisbane Lions Carlton Collingwood Essendon Fremantle Geelong Gold Coast Hawthorn Melbourne North Melbourne Port Adelaide Richmond St Kilda Sydney Western Bulldogs West Coast
Player changes	Trades National draft Pre-season draft Rookie draft Debuts Retirements and delistings