AFL Essendon v Hawthorn: Why Dons’ big win over Hawks should fill fans with hope
Essendon’s off-season seemed to suggest the Bombers were in a state of crisis and dysfunction, but after a thumping of traditional rivals Hawthorn, there may be some hope at Tullamarine.
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Dave Barham threw as big a grenade as he could find late last season.
One of the proudest football clubs in the land had been treading water for years and had become the butt of football jokes without a finals win in 18 seasons.
And when the Bombers were embarrassed by Port Adelaide in Round 21 last year by 84 points, Barham went nuclear with his boardroom takeover, instigating some of the most significant change we’ve seen in recent years in a bid to shift the course of this football club.
Like many Essendon fans, he had simply had enough.
On Sunday, the tension which would have etched deep lines in his forehead all summer — and again this week amid claims of political infighting — would have finally dissipated.
Indeed, the Bombers’ new president might have been the happiest man at the MCG.
At three quarter time, the Bombers’ hierarchy would have certainly been ready to hit the bar after witnessing first-hand Brad’s Scott’s summer wishes come true.
The club which has one of the worst-performed defensive records in the competition over the past decade choked the rebuilding Hawks into submission with their constant pressure and smart ball movement which changed gears from second to fourth throughout, depending on the situation.
And there was some ticker shown in the second term as Essendon fought back from a worrying 16-point deficit after Luke Breust nailed a tight-angled set shot to ignite the Hawks.
But from the second quarter on the dark clouds which hung over Tullamarine when Peter Wright went down with a serious shoulder injury on their last training session of the pre-season parted, revealing some long-awaited sunshine.
You could certainly hear it in the Bombers’ fans voices when Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti came on to the ground and slotted his deadeye 50m set shot, followed by a brilliant contested mark in the forward pocket only moments later.
WALLA ðŸ˜#AFLHawksDonspic.twitter.com/3bkAZTqteN
— AFL (@AFL) March 19, 2023
Scott was desperate to get him back because he is a man who can bag 40 goals in a season and it was joyous to see the smile on his face in his first game back after retiring last season.
But beyond his comeback, there were improvements in this Essendon side everywhere in this rollicking 59-point win.
How many times did we see the Bombers’ win the stoppage and massage the ball forward and then put up the wall across half forward to force repeat entries and eventual scores?
Hawthorn had only five goals at the last change, but had already put up the white flag under the relentless pressure from the red and black.
It looked like a method of defence which was sustainable.
We saw Sam Weideman make a commanding start to his new life as a Bomber, showing he could stand up strong under a high ball and not buckle in the spotlight in set shots for goal after replacing injured best-and-fairest winner Wright.
Weideman has a point to prove and recruiting boss Adrian Dodoro might have been in the news this week, but he landed Weideman and former Blue Will Setterfield for a packet of peanuts.
He also found Nic Martin for free more than one year ago, one of the most underrated 21-year-olds in the competition, and would have been thrilled with Alwyn Davey Jr’s frenetic tackling pressure and first goal in attack. Didn’t his teammates love it, too.
Sam Draper pulled out some of the best celebrations in the game with his running man moves after outmarking and outmuscling Hawthorn’s defence deep forward.
And Archie Perkins looked like a superstar-in-the-making with his sharp swivel movements and slick finish as he took over in the third term to put Essendon miles in front.
Jordan Ridley kicked the first goal of his career, Dylan Shiel looked like he had rediscovered some genuine power and confidence in his 200th game after a patchy few years at Bomberland, and Zach Merrett never gave up and was selfless in the face of a heavy tag.
Darcy Parish may have been hobbled by an achilles niggle over summer but he filled his boots on Sunday against the young Hawks in a return to his 2021 form.
And it might have been Brandon Zerk-Thatcher’s best game for the club.
Scott has his sights firmly set on the long-term and will screw down this lid quick-smart, knowing the club’s tendency to go up and down like a yoyo.
There will be blips in the Essendon journey this year, for sure.
But fans have felt their friends scorn over Essendon’s mistakes all summer. Probably longer.
The off field-chaos, the chief executive who lasted one day, the seemingly never-ending injuries, and the headlines this week would have done all the rounds on the WhatsApp groups.
After a decade of doom, who would want to be a Bombers’ supporter?
But the loyal throng – and they might be the most loyal supporter base in the competition given everything that happened over the past 10 years – went home on Sunday night with hope and belief this new era could finally lead the club back up the ladder.
Yes, it was only Hawthorn, a team fancied to finish well down the bottom. And it is only Round 1. But fans can see what Scott is doing to change Essendon, and the changes are significant.
The hard yards done on the defensive reprogramming gives them a chance. There is high-end talent, and there’s players on the way back in such as Jake Stringer, Zach Reid, Matt Guelfi, Ben Hobbs and Nik Cox, among others.
The Barham grenade took some casualties and caused some embarrassment at the time.
But perhaps it was the fresh start Essendon desperately needed.
And against the arch enemy, what a way it was to begin the journey.
Scott: Tippa return looked ‘insurmountable’
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti’s journey to AFL footy looked “insurmountable”, according to Brad Scott, but the new Bombers coach has praised the way the returning Essendon cult hero has fought his way back.
McDonald-Tipungwuti produced the highlight of the Bombers’ thumping 59-point win over Hawthorn on Sunday when he not only received a huge round of applause when he was subbed in early in the final quarter, but then kicked his first goal a few minutes later.
It was the livewire’s first AFL goal since his previous senior game in Round 21, 2021.
Scott said it wasn’t hard to convince McDonald-Tipungwuti to end his brief retirement last year and the former North Melbourne mentor praised the club for convincing him to continue his career at Tullamarine.
“Credit to the club, we worked really hard on showing him the path forward but also we didn’t make any promises,” Scott said post-match.
“What is it? Almost 600 days since he’s played? The journey for him, at times, seemed like it might be insurmountable and he’s got a long way to go, but he’s worked extremely hard and he deserved his spot in the team today.
“I just thought (McDonald-Tipungwuti being subbed in) was a great moment for Essendon fans and for our club. We’ve had some tough times over the last little period there and while perspective is important and we’ve got a long way to go, we should celebrate the little wins too and that was just a great moment when ‘Walla’ came on the ground.”
And as McDonald-Tipungwuti continues to build to full fitness, Scott admitted that using him as the sub for now could be the perfect way to reintegrate him to senior footy.
“We’ve probably got a couple of guys we would like to expose at different times so the sub does give a little bit of flexibility to be able to either play them in that role or sub them off,” Scott said.
“He (McDonald-Tipungwuti) knows better than anyone that to play 125 minutes of high-level, high-pressure AFL footy, which is the way he plays, he’s got a lot of work to do still.”
Scott was pleased that the return of McDonald-Tipungwuti, the addition of debutant Alwyn Davey jnr and the imminent return of Matt Guelfi, coupled with the form of Archie Perkins and Jye Menzie, who were both impactful against the Hawks, has strengthened the forward pressure part of Essendon’s game which was sorely lacking last year.
“There’s quite rightly a lot of talk about (Brisbane’s) Will Ashcroft and (North Melbourne’s) Harry Sheezel, but I think if you talk to those guys at Vic Metro, they loved playing with Alwyn Davey,” Scott said.
“It’s hard not to get excited about Jayden (Davey), we’ll take a long-term approach with him as well (as he recovers from an ACL injury), but both Jayden and Alwyn have brought great energy and excitement to our club.
A moment to remember for the Davey family â¤ï¸ðŸ–¤@Team_Optimum | #AFLHawksDonspic.twitter.com/tUfL8DhfhH
— AFL (@AFL) March 19, 2023
“Combine that with Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Jye Menzie and Matt Guefli to come back into the side, there’s an area that really ‘Guelf’ had to carry on his own last year, and now we’ve got some more players who can come in and play those roles.”
Scott was also enthused by the performances of Will Setterfield and Sam Weideman on their club debuts for the Bombers.
“He (Setterfield) and Sam Weideman have been really important to the club, not just the team, and not just what they do on-field,” Scott said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do in terms of embracing what an elite AFL lifestyle looks like and it’s hard to do that if you don’t have role models.
“Both Sam and Will Setterfield are professionals. It should go without saying in AFL footy, but it’s not always the case. So they’ve been great.”
Essendon’s reigning best-and-fairest and 2022 leading goalkicker Peter Wright dislocated his shoulder on Friday, and Scott insisted he was in no rush to get him back on the field after he signed a new four-year deal on the same day he injured himself.
If that meant the former Sun missed most of this season, then Scott was happy for that to be the case.
“Get him right for the long-term and we’ll find a way around that and we’ll expose other players,” Scott said.
SCOREBOARD
HAWKS 4.5, 5.7, 5.9, 9.11 (65)
DONS 3.1, 8.5, 14.8, 19.10 (124)
RONNY LERNER’S BEST
Hawks: Worpel, Sicily, Jiath, Breust.
Dons: Redman, Perkins, Parish, Setterfield, Zerk-Thatcher, Ridley, Kelly.
GOALS
Hawks: Breust 3, Hardwick 2, Greene, Amon, Wingard, Jiath.
Dons: Perkins 3, Weideman 2, Draper 2, Menzie 2, Redman 2, Caldwell, Jones, A.Davey, Setterfield, Ridley, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Heppell, Durham.
INJURIES Hawks: Wingard (lower leg). Dons: Nil.
UMPIRES Haussen, Nicholls, Wallace, Rodger
VENUE MCG
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 Mason Redman (Ess)
2 Archie Perkins (Ess)
1 Darcy Parish (Ess)
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