Brendon Goddard takes you behind the scenes in Essendon’s stunning win over West Coast

THERE is nothing better than sitting at the airport, sipping on a cold beer waiting to board our plane home after a road win in Perth. BRENDON GODDARD takes us behind the scenes on Thursday night.

Essendon players celebrate the win over West Coast.

THERE is nothing better than sitting in the airport lounge, sipping on a cold beer waiting to board our plane home after a road win in Perth.

Knocking off the top-of-the-ladder Eagles and knowing we have a few days off over the weekend to enjoy it, makes it all that little bit sweeter.

The mid-season break for me was perfect.

REPORT: BOMBERS BACK IN THE FINALS HUNT

FAST: HOW JAKE HELPED SAAD THROUGH RAMADAN

FUTURE: BOMBERS OPEN MINDED ON GODDARD

My wife and I headed up to Port Douglas kid-free for some valuable rest and relaxation time to recharge the batteries and freshen up the old legs.

But when we got back to Melbourne it was time to get back to work and we had a solid week on the training track.

Leading into the West Coast game I felt we were in a really good position to challenge the Eagles on their own turf even though their recent form there had been superb.

Brendon Goddard in action against West Coast.

The recent injuries to goalkickers Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy obviously helped our chances because both of those big guys are great players and pivotal to West Coast’s forward line and overall structure.

But our preparation for the Eagles was not really much different to any of the past six to eight weeks.

If anything, we have definitely focused more on us and the things we need to do to play well since our poor start to the year.

There was the obvious opposition meeting that takes place every week, which we touch on the our opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

But a greater emphasis has been placed on us - our team, our strategy, our intensity - and the things we can directly control.

To start well is always a focus and mentioned before games, but it always has a little more meaning on interstate trips.

Mark Baguley and Devon Smith celebrate a goal.

But this week we knew the start was critical.

West Coast has been the best first quarter team in 2018, but thankfully for us, we got off to a dream start on Thursday night.

We implemented all the things we talked about and focused on in the lead up to the game, and yes, it did help that West Coast was a little off, but you can’t control how the opposition are feeling and how they react to your efforts.

Regardless of who we are playing each week, we prepare for the opposition’s best footy.

Throughout the night, our midfielders did a great job nullifying the influence of their prime movers in the middle.

Tommy Bellchambers was dominant in the ruck and often gave our on-ballers first look at it against an outstanding ruckman in Nic Naitanui.

It’s a throwaway line in football, but so much hinges on the midfield battle in modern day footy.

It starts and stops with them.

They really set the tone for the whole team and how the game looks from start to finish.

Tom Bellchambers and Dyson Heppell celebrate a goal.

I think our forwards did a great job for 90 per cent of the night and two guys in particular, Mitch Brown and Shaun McKernan, deserve special mention for their role on helping curb Jeremy McGovern.

I felt big McGovern had little influence compared to his usual high standards.

He was spoken about heavily in our preparation during the week, so we knew we had to really be smart about how we used the ball in and out of his areas.

Ideally, you want to bypass him completely and Brown and McKernan kept his hands full throughout the night.

I say only 90 per cent because I felt our forward lost their structure in the third term and late in the last quarter.

West Coast was making a surge, and we were struggling to get the ball out of our back half.

Our structure forward of the ball when they slowed us down and forced us long down the line was hurting our ability to get ground position and stop their constant re-entries.

This is what I was discussing with a few of the fellas after the game when the cameras zoomed in on us having a conversation.

Shaun McKernan battles with Nic Naitanui at a boundary throw in.

There was no malice, no screaming, no signalling anyone out.

It was solution-based and how next time, when we are in that position, we can halt the opposition momentum and get the game back on our terms quicker.

The back six or seven players held up really well all night.

We were under siege at different stages, some of it through our poor ball use, which contributed to it coming straight back at us.

But when it mattered most, we were able to stand up and restrict their influence.

Adam Saad continues to get better every week, learning his craft and balancing his electric pass with composed ball use.

Conor McKenna is another guy who continues to grow.

Although he can get his ability mixed up with his ambition on occasions, he is becoming reliable and predictable to his team mates through consistent effort.

Adam Saad in action during the win over West Coast.

We know he can break a game open with his speed off half-back which is a real weapon for us.

Obviously, there were a lot of positives to come out of the game and the last five or six weeks in particular as a team since that early poor patch.

As a team, we were able to restrict the opposition to 80 points or less for the fourth time in five weeks, aside from that one blowout against Richmond.

The development of our younger players, the debuts and performances of Mason Redman, Jordan Ridley, Dylan Clarke and Matt Guelfi to name a few.

We know we have made it hard for ourselves to make finals due to our poor form at the start of the year, but our focus is about continual improvement and always looking ahead.

We focus on our game and the things we can control, and we will be winning regardless of what the win loss ratio is at the end of the home and away.

Go Bombers.

Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >