Essendon’s finals run is off the back of developing the AFL’s best defence since Round 4
Essendon bled goals in the first three rounds but since then has the league’s best backline, with Ben Rutten’s team defence and their individual defenders have combined to give John Worsfold’s side a fighting chance.
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Mark Harvey sounded like a cat with the cream in the hour before Friday night’s clash with Hawthorn.
As the Bombers backline coach said, Alastair Clarkson had been scheming like Winston Churchill over the bye but he still believed his defence would hold up.
By game’s end his side had held Hawthorn to just 11 goals from 55 inside 50s and the Dons had kept a rival under 80 points for the fifth consecutive week.
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Essendon paid up to poach assistant coach Ben Rutten from Richmond over summer and then spruiked his team defence as the path to finals glory.
Then saw GWS and Melbourne both score 112 points within the first three rounds as they slumped to a 1-2 start to the year.
Yet since that time Essendon’s leaky backline has turned into the most miserly defence in the league.
From Rounds 4-13 the Dons have given up the least points per game of any side — just 66 points a game.
They also concede the least points from stoppages and give away the second-least points per inside 50 (39.2 per cent).
Essendon hasn’t kicked 100 points since Round 5, yet Essendon is still hanging in there at 6-6.
Some of the credit from those exceptional numbers must be sheeted home to the club’s team defence, minimising turnovers on the way out and working back hard on the way back.
But the Dons also have an unbelievably settled and talented back six that keeps getting the job done.
Any Essendon supporter who has seen Mason Redman slot into the back six is aware of his exceptional potential as an intercepting defender.
Around him Michael Hurley ranks No.1 for disposals per game for key defenders and Cale Hooker ranks fifth in the competition for intercept possessions.
Patrick Ambrose has received zero kudos but he hasn’t given up more than two goals to any opponent this year.
Then the rebounders get to work, with Conor McKenna having taken seven more running bounces than any other player this year.
Adam Saad draws the limelight for his searching runs from defence but he is equally adept playing lockdown on the competition’s small forwards.
The big tests are to come — West Coast away, then GWS at Marvel, then Sydney at the MCG.
But not only is it boosting Rutten’s CV as a potential senior coach, it is giving Essendon a chance to play finals in a year where its defence started like a leaky sieve.
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