Lachie Neale’s dominance against Essendon puts the Bombers’ strategy under the microscope

The first game of the son of a Bombers legend should have been a magic moment for Tex Wanganeen and Essendon fans. It was anything but, and Matthew Lloyd isn’t happy.

James Stewart was adjudged to have missed the ball as he casually ran back.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has questioned the Bombers’ decision to play Tex Wanganeen as a medical substitute in his AFL debut, labelling it unfair on the player and his family.

Just weeks after signing with the Bombers during the pre-season supplemental selection period, Wanganeen was named as Essendon’s 23rd man for Saturday’s match against Brisbane but did not play a single minute of the match at Marvel Stadium.

Wanganeen had been presented with his jumper by his father and Essendon legend, Gavin, before the game and had a number of other family members in attendance.

Lloyd said having debutants warm the bench was not an ideal situation for anyone.

“I don’t like it,” Lloyd said on Channel 9.

Tex Wanganeen finally got out on the field for a cool-down after the final siren. Picture: Robert Cianflone/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“Gavin Wanganeen’s out there presenting him (a jumper). You’re having family fly over, all these arrangements. Yet the person doesn’t play one second of football.

“It’s such a special moment. We can all talk about our first moment, our first kick, what the experience was like. Ask him – he won’t be able to say anything.

“I think wait until they’re good enough to be in the 22, to be in their first game on that special occasion. That’s my opinion rather than have them sit there for the entire game.”

St Kilda draftee Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was picked as a medical substitute for the Saints in round 1 but also did not get on the field in his debut.

Exposed: What was Essendon’s Neale plan?

It would not be a surprise if Brisbane star Lachie Neale had circled Round 2 and Round 17 on the fixture at the start of the year.

In what would have been music to Neale’s ears, the Lions were drawn to face off with the Bombers twice this season in those two rounds.

If there is any side that Neale loves playing against, it is Essendon.

In Round 5 last year, Neale steered his side to a thumping 57-point win over the Bombers with 37 disposals, eight clearances and two goals to earn himself three Brownlow Medal votes.

On Saturday, the 28-year-old did it again, helping himself to a game-high 41 disposals along with 12 clearances, nine inside 50s and two goals in a 22-point win for the visiting side at Marvel Stadium.

If not for a Mason Redman fingertip off the boot late in the last quarter, Neale would have finished with a third goal to his name.

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Lachie Neale did as he pleased against Essendon. Picture: Getty Images

The 2020 Brownlow Medal winner’s dominance of games against Essendon goes back further than just last year, though.

Across his career, he now holds an 8-4 record in matches against the Bombers and has averaged 31.8 disposals from those 12 matches – more touches than he averages against any other side.

Neale has also logged 17 career Brownlow Medal votes against Essendon – again his most against any side – and is certain to add another three to that tally after Saturday’s performance.

“I probably need to watch my tape’s against them (Essendon) and emulate that against other teams so I can play a bit better,” Neale said after Saturday’s match.

“I probably feel like it’s a good match up for me. They have like-type mids. They like to get the footy, I like to get the footy.”

The saying goes: “Don’t get beaten by what you know”.

Essendon could argue – and rightly so – that it lost Saturday’s match against the Lions because of its own errors, including poor goalkicking.

However, Neale’s influence certainly didn’t help and the Bombers’ refusal to even try and put the brakes on him was puzzling at best.

They could not argue that they didn’t know what was coming.

“I think he was probably more influential in the second half,” Essendon coach Ben Rutten said of Neale, who had 17 disposals and three clearances at half-time.

Lachie Neale and Andrew McGrath after the match. Picture: Getty Images

“The decision for us was, ‘How defensive do we want to get at stoppage when we actually still want to create some scores?’

“We had a decision to make on what we want to do with Neale in that second half. Do we want to try and lock him down a little bit and put a player on him a little bit more at stoppage? But in the end we kind of decided not to because we wanted to try and put a flow and attack in our game. We needed to get the ascendancy back at clearance to be able to then impact and get some more productivity back on scoreboard.”

Essendon’s stance on Neale was a stark contrast to Brisbane’s stance on Bombers prime mover Zach Merrett.

At the 6-minute-mark of the second quarter, Merrett had logged 15 disposals, five inside 50s and two clearances.

With the Lions trailing by 17 points, coach Chris Fagan decided enough was enough and sent Jarrod Berry to apply the clamps on Merrett in a run-with role.

Essendon players look dejected after their loss to Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images

Merrett had 16 disposals, two clearances, two inside-50s and kicked one goal for the rest of the match – and Brisbane outscored the home side by 39 points from that moment on.

Fagan made mention post-match that he believed the move of Berry to Merrett had “changed the tide of the game a little bit”.

“Zach Merrett had his own ball in the first quarter and he was kicking it really well inside-50 to targets in there,” Fagan said.

“Jarrod Berry was given a role … and I think it would be fair to say that he did a terrific job. Zach Merrett still got a bit of the ball, but he wasn’t slicing us like he was in the first quarter.”

Asked if he was surprised that Neale was not similarly targeted by Essendon, Fagan played a straight bat.

“I don’t comment on what the opposition do. That’s their choice,” Fagan said.

“You’re probably better off to ask Ben (Rutten) that, not me.”

However, Fagan was glowing in his praise for Neale, labelling him a match-winner.

“It was an astonishing performance,” he said.

“He just lifted and drove us, I thought, across the line. It was a pity that goal was touched in the last quarter, because that would have just put the icing on his game to have the third goal.”

Many teams prefer to back their own midfields rather than tag opposition players in the modern game.

But the Lions showed that backing in a tagger can still work wonders.

All eyes will be on the Bombers and what they do with Neale when Round 17 rolls around.

History suggests that not doing anything is fraught with danger.

Brisbane was able to slow the influence of Zach Merrett. Picture: Getty Images

LOW-FLYING BOMBERS ZEROING IN ON WORST START IN 55 YEARS

Dan Batten

Essendon is staring down the barrel of its worst start to a season in 55 years after goalkicking woes and poor “attention to detail” cost it dearly in a second-straight loss to Brisbane.

The Bombers coughed up a 22-point quarter-time lead at Marvel Stadium to lose to the Lions by the same margin at the final siren.

They face reigning premier Melbourne at the MCG on Friday night, where they will be fighting to avoid a 0-3 start to a season for the first time since 1967.

Essendon had 26 shots on goal — two more than the Lions — but finished with an inaccurate 10.15 (75) to Brisbane’s 15.7 (97).

Nick Hind and his teammates coughed up a 22-point lead against Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images

The Bombers managed only six goals from 36 inside-50s after quarter-time, with a host of players missing kickable goals.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten said the effort and intent was clearly better after a horror Round 1 showing against Geelong, but the side was left to rue a lack of polish throughout the game.

“Overall, I thought our inability to make the most of our opportunities (was costly),” Rutten said.

“Our set-shot goalkicking in particular, compared to Brisbane’s, that was a key factor of the game.

Also the other little opportunities throughout the game we just need to keep getting better at. The attention to detail to little parts of our game is just so important.”

Defender James Stewart casually allowed a Zac Bailey kick to bounce through for a goal in the third quarter without getting a finger on it, which Rutten acknowledged was an example of where his side needed to be better.

“That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about,” he said.

Bombers coach Ben Rutten has another searching week ahead with his players as big expectations begin to fizzle.

“If we can put that beyond doubt, that saves a goal. Sometimes our little contests on the wing that we don’t quite get right and it ends up in a goal against or an inside-50 against. There’s just lots of little moments throughout the game where we think we can be better at.”

Peter Wright and Archie Perkins each kicked three goals as shining lights in attack, with Wright particularly prominent early in the contest.

Jake Stringer made his presence felt in the opening quarter of his return from injury but clearly struggled with his match fitness as the game went on.

Essendon midfielders Zach Merrett and Nik Cox both limped from the ground with ankle injuries late in the last quarter to further sour the loss.

Rutten said Cox had suffered a “reasonably solid rolled ankle”, while Merrett’s injury was “more on the minor end of it at this stage”.

Dylan Shiel pulled out of the side on Friday with a side strain complaint but is a chance to return against the Demons.

Neale channels Cripps to condemn Bombers to more heartache

Dan Batten

Essendon lost the match with a dismal first half in round 1.

This time, it was the second term and the Bombers’ arch-nemesis Lachie Neale which ultimately brought their downfall, with a hot start pegged back in a matter of minutes by a six-goal run from Brisbane as a wasteful Bombers side went down by 22 points at Marvel Stadium.

Having racked up eight Brownlow votes in his last three outings against the Bombers, Neale (41 disposals, 22 contested possessions, two goals) is certain to poll maximum votes after a monster third term, where he almost single-handedly took the game away from the Bombers when the game was in the balance.

Lachie Neale celebrates after kicking a goal against the Bombers. Picture: AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Neale was there at every turn thwarting the Bombers, tallying 13 disposals, four clearances and kicking a goal.

His goal in the dying minutes of the final term was the icing on the cake of another best-on-ground display.

Neale said after the game he was inspired by the performance of Carlton’s Patrick Cripps, who also kicked two goals in a 35-possession game on Thursday night.

A late fightback saw the Bombers in with a sniff late but the damage was already done — some of it self-inflicted as the Bombers wasted numerous gettable chances on goal, in stark contrast to the opportunistic Lions.

After being smashed out of the centre against Geelong, the Bombers won the first seven centre clearances of the match and thoroughly outplayed the Lions early on the back of a resurgent response from key forward Peter Wright.

Chris Fagan’s side amped up the pressure and the Lions’ prime movers came out roaring after their first-quarter wake-up call, where they laid just five tackles, to take the lead as the Bombers seemingly had no answers.

Wright (three goals) was the major positive with an emphatic opening term, while Merrett’s response — tallying 31 disposals, seven inside 50s and kicking a goal — was also strong after copping heat for his lack of influence with his disposals last round.

The Bombers face an enormous task to avoid being 0-3 next round, coming up against Melbourne on Friday night.

Dejected Bombers after they were defeated by 22 points at Marvel Stadium. Picture: AFL Photos/via Getty Images

COSTLY HOWLER

A staggering coach killer from defender James Stewart just about summed up the Bombers’ day after halftime.

With all the time in the world, Stewart jogged over to the last line of defence as a rushed snap out of congestion from Zac Bailey bounced over the goalline.

The score review showed the ball just missing his hand in a horror error which put the Lions three goals up on the cusp of three-quarter time.

"BIG moment in the game this"

Score Review said it was a goal... your thoughts? 🤔

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PROLIFIC PETER

Entrusted with leading the Bombers forward line, Peter Wright looked bereft of confidence against the Cats as he recorded just three handballs in the opening half.

What a difference a week can make.

You could have mistaken Wright for John Coleman in the first quarter when he blew up the stat sheet, tallying 12 disposals, eight marks, two goals and 84 SuperCoach points.

Wright was unstoppable in opening term, proving to be a significant presence in the air and on the lead.

While he didn’t get his hands on it again until the 25th minute of the second term, its impact was just as profound, slotting a major straight over the umpire’s hat from 50m on the boundary to stop a six-goal run.

Dyson Heppell greets Joe Daniher after their encounter. Picture: Getty Images

NO JOE

The Daniher surname is synonymous with the Bombers, so it is little surprise the Bombers gave him a frosty reception in his first game against Essendon in Melbourne since his move north in the 2020 trade and free agency period.

And he definitely wasn’t copping ‘SIUU’s’ from the Dons faithful.

A roar of boos was heard every time he touched the ball — it definitely wasn’t ‘SIUU’s this time — but there weren’t many early as Daniher was statless for almost the entirety of the first term.

Daniher was arguably the gamechanger in the second term, going at 100 per cent with his seven disposals, kicking a goal and setting up another.

And he had the last laugh, taking a massive hanger late in the match to rub salt into the wounds of Bombers fans.

However, they can sleep easy as Archie Perkins, who the Bombers drafted with Daniher’s free agency compensation pick, kicked three majors in another promising display.

Jake Stringer was a welcome inclusion for the Bomber. Picture: Getty Images

STRINGER SPARK

Essendon’s midfield looked lacklustre without Jake Stringer in the opening round and he made his presence felt early in his return.

Stringer won the first two centre clearances of the match and set up Essendon’s first goal with a shimmy and prime delivery to Peter Wright.

He was even able to retrieve his own smothered set shot and create another scoring opportunity with a chiselling kick off the left.

But the real highlight came in the third term when the excitement machine snapped through a crumbing goal on the left.

Peter Wright was Essendon’s best with three goals.

SCOREBOARD

ESSENDON 4.5 5.9 8.13 10.15 (75)

BRISBANE 1.1 7.2 13.5 15.7 (97)

BATTEN’S BEST

Bombers: Wright, Merrett, Parish, Draper, Perkins

Lions: Neale, McCluggage, Cameron, Zorko, McCarthy, Adams

GOALS

Bombers: Wright 3, Perkins 3, Smith, Merrett, Stringer, Cutler

Lions: McCluggage 3, Cameron 2, Neale 2, Bailey 2, Daniher 2, McCarthy, Rayner, Cockatoo, McInerney

INJURIES

Bombers: Cox (leg), Merrett (ankle)

Lions: Nil

DAN BATTEN’S VOTES

3. L.Neale (Bris)

2. H.McCluggage (Bris)

1. P.Wright (Ess)

Originally published as Lachie Neale’s dominance against Essendon puts the Bombers’ strategy under the microscope