ESSENDON great Matthew Lloyd has slammed his former club in the wake of its shock loss to St Kilda on Saturday, saying the Bomber left their fans "absolutely gutted" by a lack of physicality and effort.
The Dons went down by 53 points to the Saints at Marvel Stadium, suffering their third loss in as many weeks to slide out of the top eight for the first time since round six.
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And they might find it hard to jump back into the finals, with top three sides Fremantle, Sydney and Brisbane still to come in their last four games of the year.
Lloyd said the Dockers should "end (Essendon's) season this weekend" in their clash at Marvel Stadium, such was the lack of competitiveness that he had seen against St Kilda.
"The Bomber fans are absolutely gutted because everything was at stake," Lloyd told AFL.com.au's Access All Areas.
"They lose to the Adelaide Crows in a game they shouldn't have lost and you would think, OK, we've got our next chance against St Kilda, and to put up a performance where he says our effort wasn't there, how does that happen? With everything on the line, our effort's not there.
"They looked nervous, they looked fumbly, they looked panicky, they looked to have lost their way. Earlier in the year, everyone was excited with the 'Essendon Edge' we've spoken about – well, there's certainly none of that, is there?"
Lloyd's co-host Damian Barrett agreed, saying: "(Senior coach) Brad Scott himself, pre-season, volunteered that phrase and then we got to see what we thought may have been it, but ultimately it has again been a con, this football club."
Lloyd said too many of Essendon's experienced players had failed to deliver this season and called on the club to bring some younger players into the side, including midfielders Ben Hobbs and Archie Roberts.
As well as veterans Todd Goldstein and Dyson Heppell, Lloyd identified Dylan Shiel, Jake Stringer ("had a shocking year"), Peter Wright ("non-competitive again") and Nick Hind as experienced players who had underperformed.
"Poor Zach Merrett, it's all on his shoulders again and that's the poor guy it happens time and time again to," Lloyd said.
But it wasn't just the older players who drew Lloyd's ire, with a lack of competitiveness from some of the Dons' taller players becoming a major issue.
"I look at (Harrison) Jones on a wing and Nik Cox – not physical enough, not tough enough. Archie Perkins, what's happened to him? What a poor year he's had," Lloyd said.
"I think it is a lot about the mental side but also with Brad Scott, I've been disappointed. It's always about not talking about results and all those sorts of things but how long can you keep talking like that?
"Because I think expectation often gets pushed away from this club and like the Suns, it never comes, and this is what they're staring down the barrel of. They play the top three sides in their last four games."
After Fremantle at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, Essendon faces Gold Coast (at home), Sydney (home) and Brisbane (away) to close out the home and away season.
