Essendon keep finals hopes alive with impressive victory over North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium
ESSENDON is finally producing the football we all expected at the start of the season and their electric brand has secured it another victory, this time over North Melbourne, that has the red and black army well and truly in the finals race.
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THE writing was on the wall early for North Melbourne, long before the opening bounce against Essendon on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.
After missing out on Jordan De Goey’s prized signature, despite having dangled a five-year $5 million carrot, the Kangaroos had the perks of being aggressive and successful at the trade table rubbed in their faces when Jake Stringer, Devon Smith and Adam Saad paced an electric 17-point Essendon victory.
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The Bombers went big at the trade table last year and got home yesterday to keep their finals hopes alive, moving to within a win and a hefty percentage spike away from a place in the top eight.
Make no mistake, Melbourne’s shock loss and another limp post-bye Geelong performance has resuscitated finals ambitions for teams within striking distance, sitting outside the eight.
Why can’t the Bombers make it? They certainly can, having won five of their past six games and with Collingwood, Gold Coast and Fremantle on the horizon, the Dockers possibly without Aaron Sandilands (calf) and Nat Fyfe (hamstring), destiny is in Essendon’s hands.
Coach John Worsfold heaped praise on the way the Bombers have rebuilt their season after a disappointing start.
“If the players weren’t disappointed in the first part of the year then I would have been concerned,” Worsfold said.
AS IT HAPPENED: BOMBERS WIN IN AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC
“We were all on the same page, we all understood, it was frustrating for us and makes you anxious but the good teams hold their nerve and stay focused and these players did that and trusted each other.”
The resurgence hasn’t been without fault, the Bombers losing Joe Daniher, David Zaharakis and Marty Gleeson to injury.
But Mitch Brown has bobbed up in attack alongside Shaun McKernan, who booted four match-winning majors, while emerging Bombers Kyle Langford, Matt Guelfi and Andy McGrath continue to punch above their weight.
Saad set the tone on Sunday with daring runs off halfback and it continued deep into the game.
Stringer capitalised on silver service, built off an electric hi-octane brand.
And Smith, well on the way to winning the best and fairest in his first season at Tullamarine, pestered and pressured to perfection.
Smith lurked around stoppages, had flying shots on goal, and then played a pivotal role in shutting down Kangaroos danger man Ben Cunnington, held to one disposal in the second quarter.
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“It was very much an open game of footy when the ball got out of the contest, it was pretty exciting but certainly not necessarily the way we wanted the game to be played,” Worsfold said.
“Both teams held their forward lines pretty much intact for big parts of the game so it did become pretty open.”
North Melbourne looked like going on with the job early, dominating around the contest, but Essendon answered the challenge and adjusted on the run to reel in the Kangaroos
“We were off (in the first 15 minutes) there’s no doubt,” Worsfold said.
“There were some things we had to remind the players about, I think that’s the credit to the way the players took it on.
“They listened to the messaging and what was happening and adjusted and fixed it pretty quickly and we got a good result from it.”
Not only were Bombers aggressive last October, but they landed the prized signatures — something the Kangaroos haven’t been able to do in the past 24 months, going after the likes of Isaac Heeney, Josh Kelly and Dustin Martin with “godfather” offers.
Essendon’s recruits had help on Sunday in one of the games of the season.
Captain Dyson Heppell and Zach Merrett dominated the stoppages, Orazio Fantasia booted four, Tom Bellchambers broke even with Todd Goldstein, while Shaun McKernan, the younger brother of Roos’ favourite Corey, ignited the Bombers with three tide-turning second-quarter majors.
McKernan did what McKernan has done for best part of a decade.
He teased Bombers fans with extraordinary highs — literally, when climbing over the back of Jamie Macmillan to clunk a mark of the year contender — and brain-snapping lows.
The corresponding kick from the specie a direct turnover and then electing to centre the ball when charging inside 50 with nothing but green grass and the goalposts in front of him.
It would matter not, when McKernan, just seconds after sledging Robbie Tarrant for dropping a chest mark, the enigmatic Bombers blasted his fourth — a flying shot from 40m deep in the pocket.
We saw the yellow and black army find voice last year, the red and black roar could be just as loud — if not more — should the Bombers stamp their September credentials.
But first, they’ve got to get past Collingwood next Sunday at the MCG.
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