AFL 2020: Essendon coach says critics haven’t seen the best of the Bombers because the best players haven’t played

Essendon coach John Worsfold came out swinging after a week of criticism of the club, declaring the Bombers hadn’t fielded their best team once in 2020.

 

Essendon coach John Worsfold says Joe Daniher is a big part of the model that will make the Bombers a “great team”, when they eventually get their best 22 on the park.

Worsfold came out swinging after a week of criticism of the club, the game plan, and the future declaring no team had bounced back from heavy draft picks penalties as quickly as the Bombers, who made the finals last year.

A 35-point whacking from St Kilda last week, which included just two first-half scores, was enough for the critics to launch in to the Bombers who haven’t won any of their past four matches.

Worsfold, who is handing the coaching controls to Ben Rutten next year, said the Bombers were trying to work on Rutten and Blake Caracella’s new game plan amid the most challenging AFL landscape in years, while also enduring a raft of injuries to key players.

The premiership winning coach said Essendon hadn’t once put its best 22 on the field this year, and when they did, the football world would get a better picture of what they could produce.

“There have been a lot of moving parts this year, the number one thing is we have seen part so the game plan in periods of games where it stacks up really well,” Worsfold said n Darwin ahead of Saturday’s Dreamtime clash with Richmond.

“Certainly we haven’t been able to put what we would say is our best 22 out on the field, probably for no games this year. Our best 22 would be outperforming where we currently are, I’ve got no doubt about that.

“We’re excited about when we see that happen. That may not be this year, but when we get our best team out there, it’s going to be really exciting.”

All the very best to my nephew Irving Mosquito 🦟 on your debut for the mighty @essendonfc ❤️🖤 - all our familes from Turkey Creek & Halls Creek are really proud of you. Can’t wait to watch you run out on TIO with the bombers! 🏉#kimberleypride #dreamtimeindarwin 👣 pic.twitter.com/nzBiNAwLdh

— Nova Peris OAM OLY (@NovaPeris) August 21, 2020

Livewire Irving Mosquito will make his debut this week and he and fellow indigenous Bomber Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti addressed the playing group on Friday ahead of the Dreamtime clash in Darwin.

Star forward Daniher, who is out of contract at the end of this season and tried to get to Sydney last year, won’t play and Worsfold joked it was a race between Daniher playing and the creation of a COVID-19 vaccine to see which happens first.

But he wants the goalkicker at Essendon next year, and beyond.

“Ultimately Joe is in the model that shows us becoming a great team,” Worsfold said.

“We haven’t got Joe this week … but for the future I’m excited what Joe is going to bring throughout the rest of his career at Essendon.”

Worsfold said his five year tenure at Essendon had been a success having made great “inroads” after the dark period involving the supplements scandal and resultant penalties.

“In the last two years I feel like we have made some great inroads. We have made finals, and to do that within such a short period of time having been smashed with big fines and draft picks gone, I think that’s beaten most other clubs that have ever been hit with such penalties,” he said.

“For where we are at, I think we have made big inroads and it’s only going to continue to get better quickly. “