Anthony McDonald-Tipunwuti boots seven goals as Essendon smash Brisbane
Essendon coach John Worsfold held his nerve as early-season calls for Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti to be dropped intensified. His faith was rewarded in the best way possible with a one-man magic show against Brisbane.
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John Worsfold held his nerve when the football world feeding frenzy closed in on the embattled Bombers in the opening fortnight of the season.
There were calls to drop an out-of-sorts Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
The coach’s grip on the modern game plan was widely questioned.
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The blowtorch was applied to Zach Merrett after a meek effort to tackle in Round 1 seemed to mirror the attitude of his misfiring team.
The club’s leaders were savaged, the midfield looked uneasy against bigger bodies, and a season that promised so much looked ready to go off the rails.
Not any more.
Worsfold’s ability to stare down those doubters, and pin his faith in his players reaped big dividends at the MCG, as the Bombers outplayed the Lions to make it two wins in succession.
Their season is now back on track at 2-2, with those under the most pressure delivering for the coach.
After failing to kick a goal — or even look like it — in the first two rounds, McDonald-Tipungwuti now has 11 for the season, with a career-best seven majors a defining performance for the Bombers.
Five came from set-shots, while his last two came on the run at the city end of the ground.
Dyson Heppell said on Triple M that Tipungwuti’s performance was one of the best he had ever seen, while Wayne Carey called it almost the perfect game with 20 disposals also resulting in 12 scoring involvements.
Merrett was outstanding, going head to head for much of the game on Brownlow Medal fancy Lachie Neale. He was desperate from the outset, and while Neale had 40 disposals, Merrett had a big impact with 35 himself.
Worsfold said the Bombers’ turnaround from a poor 0-2 start to the season came from a collective team buy-in, not just strong individual performances from McDonald-Tipungwuti and Zach Merrett, who had 35 disposals yesterday.
“It was a pretty special day for ‘Walla’ (McDonald-Tipungwuti),” he said.
“But it only comes through a very strong improvement in the way the team is playing.”
“The coaches have a responsibility to set a training program and set a game plan, but the players set the true culture of what they want to achieve and stand for.
“It has been a real team effort, of being poor early, and pulling together to understand why, and what we wanted to do to improve.
“It was communicated to me that Lachie Neale had nine possessions at the 20-minute-mark of the first quarter, and it was four or five goals to one.
“So I wasn’t too concerned about changing too much.”
“It’s an argument that has been going on ... for the last 20 years.
“Does one midfielder getting a lot of the footy means that’s necessarily hurting your midfield group?”
The Bombers now face North Melbourne on Good Friday after giving the Lions, who have now won only four of their past 26 games at the MCG, a reality check.
MISFIRING FORWARDS
Three scores of 100-plus points and an array of talls and smalls causing damage summed up Brisbane’s first three weeks of 2019.
The contrast between that, and what the Lions dished up at the MCG, couldn’t have been more stark.
Charlie Cameron and Eric Hipwood had games they would sooner forget, Cam Rayner struggled to have an impact, and even when the Lions looked as if they might drag the game back to a more even keel in the last term, too many chances went begging.
Essendon’s defence, with Cale Hooker reunited with Michael Hurley and co., collectively shut-out the much-hyped Lions’ attack.
HARDMAN HODGE
Luke Hodge is edging towards 35, but his appetite for body contact is almost as intense as Winx’s hunger for the winning post.
In a 20-second first term blast from the past, he crashed into David Zaharakis and followed up with a crunching tackle on Dyson Heppell that drove him into the turf. Hodge didn’t have a possession in the first term, but still made those two Bombers know he was there.
It was about the only resistance the Lions gave in the first term.
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Joe Daniher will almost certain resume from his calf injury next week, but Worsfold says a decision on whether he plays in the Good Friday AFL match against North Melbourne or in the VFL won’t be made until mid-week.
Worsfold said Daniher still needed to tick a few more boxes to take on the Kangaroos.
“There are a few things we have got to cover off there,” Worsfold said.
“We are confident he (Daniher) will be available to play next week ... but if he doesn’t get up for the AFL team, he will be right to play in the VFL.”
David Myers (broken nose) and David Zaharakis (puncture to his knee) were casualties of the win over Brisbane.
Both will be assessed through the week ahead of what Worsfold says is an “absolute privilege” to play on Good Friday to help raise money for the Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal.
SCOREBOARD
ESSENDON 17.10 (112)
d
BRISBANE 9.11 (65)
GOALS
Essendon: McDonald-Tipungwuti 7, Brown 3, McGrath 2, Fantasia 2, Stringer, Merrett, Baguley
Brisbane: McStay 2, McCluggage 2, McCarthy, Berry, McInerney, Mathieson, Hipwood
GLENN MCFARLANE’S BEST
Essendon: McDonald-Tipungwuti, Merrett, Hurley, Brown, Zaharakis, Hooker, Shiel, Saad
Brisbane: Neale, Rich, Berry, Zorko, Witherden, Andrews
GLENN MCFARLANE’S VOTES
3 — Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Essendon)
2 — Zach Merrett (Essendon)
1 — Michael Hurley (Essendon)
INJURIES
Essendon: Myers (lacerated face)
Brisbane: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Whetton, Mitchell
Official crowd: 48,289 at the MCG
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