Essendon future bright despite Sydney Swans smashing in elimination final
ESSENDON has been obliterated off the field for four years and was obliterated on it in the elimination final. But Bomber fans have plenty to look forward to, writes Sam Landsberger. EXCLUSIVE STATS
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IT was the most brutal end to a brave season.
Essendon has been obliterated off the field for four years and was obliterated on the field for the majority of four quarters yesterday.
But let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t have been? The Bombers were drawn to face the most menacing elimination final opponent in history and they drew a blank.
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They were blasted from the premiership race by a Sydney outfit which secured win No. 15 from its past 17 games as this fearsome side charges towards Grand Final redemption.
First, to the good. When Joe Daniher soared over a pack to kick the game’s first goal, the roar was deafening. It was as if Essendon was playing at the MCG, and not in front of a record SCG crowd.
When the game was hot, the decibels rose every time Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti’s footsteps accelerated, or the now retired Jobe Watson charged into space.
As David Zaharakis slung Zak Jones into the turn in Essendon’s forward pocket, the chant of “ball” must have had Swans players wondering where they were.
SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL CHAMPION DATA’S SUPER TRACKER STATS
There was more than a splash of black mixed among the red and white crowd, and that is a credit to Essendon’s passionate fan base.
Coach John Worsfold wanted his young team to grow up, but if Rising Star Andy McGrath did so any faster he’d be dining with the seniors at early bird specials.
McGrath doesn’t get flustered. The silver lining from the drugs saga plays with composure well beyond his 21 games.
But the first term was ultimately filled with promising patches undone by frustrating flashes.
What if Orazio Fantasia had looked at Nic Newman, instead of only “Tippa” when piercing the footy into attack.
Newman intercepted, and seconds later Kieren Jack punched through the Swans’ third consecutive goal.
Sydney’s account was opened when Dyson Heppell was caught holding the ball, and when the Bombers captain failed to catch it at centre half-forward his team was stranded on one major at quarter-time.
Still, there was hope. Essendon’s 39 tackles showed that.
Then, whooshka. “Thanks for coming,” declared Lance Franklin.
The megastar burst the game apart with three goals in six minutes. A set-shot from beyond 50m, a running goal after storming through two tackles and then a set shot from the boundary.
The latter followed a cool mark after Paddy Ambrose and Mark Baguley collided, and Buddy held the ball in the air in one hand in intimidating fashion.
Bomber fans were sick of the sight of Buddy, and Marty Gleeson was sick on the sidelines, vomiting three times.
Down by five goals, it had fallen apart. Halfway through the quarter and the margin was 45 points, Sydney slicing through 7.2 from 11 entries.
Twelve Bombers had combined for seven disposals and their only centre clearances had come from free kicks.
Brendon Goddard was deployed as the loose man, but it made no difference. It was a dangerous time to be a pretzel in the changerooms.
The magical ending to Goddard’s movie — James Hird presenting the Norm Smith to a Bomber — won’t be happening.
On the rare occasions Essendon won the footy, it gave it back.
In three minutes superstars Daniher, Heppell and Michael Hurley sprayed it out on the full, with Hurley’s error delivering Franklin his fourth goal of the second quarter.
Soon after Watson added his name to the list of offenders. Essendon was thumped in the midfield and in the air.
By halftime the Swans had clunked 18 contested marks to four.
Still, this was a positive season. They farewell James Kelly and Watson and will want to add more grunt over summer.
Sexy and slick might cut it during the season, but not come September. But it was fitting Essendon’s season ended in spring, because the dark clouds are gone and the forecast is bright.
SUPER TRACKER
CHAMPION DATA’S new facility SUPER TRACKER uses GPS information to highlight the running power in this year’s AFL finals series.
Here are the top five players in various categories from Friday night’s Geelong-Richmond clash.
Giant Tom Scully (17.3km) led this stat at Adelaide Oval on Friday night. Amazing to see some of the big key-position players in the top five.
This is the distance covered by a player when his team has the ball. Callum Sinclair’s numbers impressive here.
This is distance covered while running at 18km/h or faster. Veteran James Kelly gave everything in his last game.
Number of times a player has run at 24km/h or more for at least one second.
The number of sprints (24km/h or above) within 60 seconds of each other.
SOURCE: CHAMPION DATA
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