No Gawn, no worries: Wet footy and hardened Demons expose Bombers

MELBOURNE 13.6 (84) d ESSENDON 10.7 (67)

Kysaiah Pickett of the Demons celebrates kicking a goal.Credit: AFL Photos

Pickett Power Too Much For Dons

Kysaiah Pickett has packed a lot into his first 100 games. He’s dished out some big hits, conjuring up memories of his uncle, the great (and often lethal) Byron Pickett. He’s kicked many electrifying goals, and played a big part in Melbourne’s drought-breaking 2021 premiership. And like Byron, he’s building a career notable for its versatility. He didn’t win a huge amount of the ball against Essendon, despite running through the midfield on occasions, but he was there in key moments: a blind turn at half forward to set up a Langdon goal, a mark and goal of his own in the last quarter that sealed the deal for the Dees, and a perfectly weighted kick to Dan “Disco” Turner just to make sure. It was a milestone well worth celebrating from one of the game’s most talented and watchable players.

No Gawn, No Worries

Wet weather and a hardened opponent exposed the Bombers on Saturday night. This was no night for neat, running, overlap football. It was a night for ruthlessness. Forget the late flurry that briefly raised pulse rates in the Melbourne coach’s box; this was Melbourne’s game. Pickett exemplified what the Bombers lacked. So too Ed Langdon, who ran his guts out. They might have been lacking Max Gawn and Christian Petracca, but you wouldn’t have guessed that Melbourne was the side expected to fade out of the season. Essendon had a top-two position there for the taking, and could hardly have wanted for a better time to take on the Demons. They needed to find a way and they didn’t. They will probably make September, but this game suggested they lack the maturity to make a deeper run.

Strong contribution: Nic Martin.Credit: AFL Photos

Martin Shows Fight

One bright light for the Bombers was the performance of Nic Martin. Martin worked his way slowly into the game, and with Zach Merrett well held by Alex Neal-Bullen, soon loomed as their most dangerous and damaging player. His last quarter was a testament to his fitness and will to win, kicking three goals to almost drag his team back into the contest late. He was one player who was anything but overawed by the occasion. It is extraordinary that this silky, damaging, instinctive player ended up a supplemental selection for the Bombers in 2022. Essendon will rebound from this setback, and you can bet Martin will be one of the players who shows them the way forward.

KEY STATS

That’s all we have for you tonight everyone.

Thanks for joining us over this marathon day and we will be back tomorrow afternoon with our AFL Sunday live blog so please join us then.

Bye for now.

Bombers coach Brad Scott spoke to the media post game.

Where do you think it got away from you tonight?

Well, probably a couple of errors in particular. We had defensive lapses on a nice that called for simple footy. We conceded some transition goals which are hard enough in these conditions. But we got beaten by what we knew which is first time I’ve said that in a long time. Poor execution, didn’t adapt to the conditions well early in the first quarter. Even though the game was pretty much going OK for us. But conceded some soft, poor goals. I thought Melbourne were quicker to the ground ball than we were around contest. Even though pretty convincing win in pressure on the numbers, it didn’t look like that, live. I thought they pressured us around the ball pretty well. And got across to the contest which was that sort of night. It was sort of ball on the ground slippery get across the contest sort of night. They did that better than us which is really disappointing. But, again, it’s really frustrating because Melbourne played well. We still generated 56 inside 50s. We still generated enough opportunity but conceded pretty ordinary goals. Really didn’t get the game played like we wanted it to until the last 10 minutes. It was all too little too late.

Zach Merrett gets a kick.Credit: Getty Images

What changed in those last 10 minutes? More aggressive ball movement or just trying to win the game back?

I think there were a lot of things. Number one, we got across the contest and won the ball. It doesn’t matter how you’re moving the ball if you can’t get it you can’t move it the right way. I thought, the method that we wanted to move the ball inside 50 given the conditions, which w didn’t adhere to. That was the most disappointing part of the night for me. That should be pretty simple. We didn’t do it. The first time I think I can say that in 18 months.

How did you see the ruck battle without Max Gawn tonight?

Well, I mean, a lot of contests, a lot of stoppages. Clearly, we had ascendency in the ruck. I have to breakdown the clearance numbers a little bit more in detail. It wasn’t like - you look at the contest, they won pre-clearance ground ball around the contest, which I’ve spoken about. But then we won it post the clearance then we won it post the clearance the ground ball. But it was probably the ground ball. It wasn’t inside players, it was more their peripheral players that were clearing the ball. First possession is even. That’s the sort of, in those sort of conditions that’s what you expect. The big part of the game, for us, was that we had ruck dominance. It wasn’t first possession that was an issue. It was more when the ball spilled around the contest they were first to it. Then when we were first to it, to their credit, their pressure was right on us. Didn’t allow us to move the ball we wanted to.

Demons coach Simon Goodwin spoke to the media post game.

What did you like about that?

I loved how he defended for a large part of the game. It was a contest game was strong all the way up until the last 10 minutes. You combine that with the younger players continuing to evolve in our football club. Some of the leaders really stepping as well. It’s a good night for the football club. I hope our supporters leave the MCG tonight proud of their group. They played the right way. The wet weather kicked in you handled those conditions a lot more effectively. Yeah, we’ve spent a bit of time on wet weather footy. It hasn’t been a forte for us last year. We spent time working on that. I thought we adapted to the conditions really well. I thought or contest and clearance work was strong. Obviously, not winning a lot of hit outs was challenging. I thought the midfield group did a great job enabling us to get some territory from that part of the game.

Bayley Fritsch of the Demons celebrates kicking a goal.Credit: Getty Images

How did you see that ruck midfield dynamic without Max Gawn in there?

Different. It’s unpredictable for us. It’s unpredictable for the opposition. When you don’t have a dominant ruckman like Max, you play a bit differently for the opposition. That gave us an opportunity to do that. We always went in with a plan to share the load with Petty, van Rooyen and Turner. That was just finding out what was going to work for us on the night. I thought they did a great job. It’s something that obviously we had to deal with, missing Max. We’ll continue to find different ways to do it. As long as Max is out of the team we’ll continue to keep every option available to us every week. Obviously Tom was there and we’ve got the boys tonight. We’ll look at those guys again this week.

Pretty influential first quarter from Draper. How important when van Rooyen went into the ruck with the large share in the rest of the game?

It was important. Jacob has done a fair bit of ruck work before. Obviously, we wanted to get him in the forward line as much as we could. The night demanded that we needed him up around the ball a little more than we had planned. He did a fantastic job in the second quarter to help us just get the game on an even keel for us. I thought by the end of the game, both Petty and van Rooyen were doing a great job for us.

Jake Melksham, he seems to ease the pressure on Bayley Fritsch who can excel as well?

He’s coming in. He’s a leader. I spoke about him last week. He’s a leader of our football club. He hasn’t missed a beat since he came back. He did a power of work to get in that position. He’s good in the air and on the ground. He provides a stability for us, that a lot of younger players and front half of the ground to lead them and give them an opportunity. He’s doing a fantastic job for us.

You found something in the last fortnight with the forward nicks being more mobile. Is that a noticeable difference?

Probably the last eight weeks. We’re building cohesion. Melksham is the only change we’ve had to the front half of the ground. We’re able to play Turner, van Rooyen and Fritsch with a good chunk of game. Cohesion is big in sport. To play that group together you can see them evolve and grow together. Which is exciting for our football club. It’s been an area of the ground that we wanted to keep working and getting better at. We think we’ve got some talls and mediums that win the ball in the air. Also at ground level.

Any concerns over coughing up those last four goals of the game?

I don’t like it as a coach. But there’s no concerns. We just lost contest and lost centre bounce. We didn’t play safe. We continued to try and play the right way. And win the game. Clearly, Essendon were rolling the dice in terms of how they wanted to play forward of the ball. Credit to our boys. We kept playing. We didn’t get it on the scoreboard that we would have liked. We walk away with a good win.

Any injuries?

Pretty sure we’re all-clear at this stage. You never know what Monday might throw up. At the moment we’re all-

Any updates on Max Gawn?

He’s progressing well. We’re not going to put a time limit on it. We’re not sure. But he did have a good couple of days last few days. We’ll assess him mid week and see where he’s at. We’ll make that call later in the week.

Essendon’s Nic Martin spoke to Channel Seven post game.

Tough night out there?

It was tough. The conditions early were slippery. Wet. I think the game was won in the contest early. The damage was done.

Sam Draper of the Bombers looks dejected after losing.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

It felt like Sam Draper got on top particularly early. You guys were controlling the clearance. Melbourne adjusted a bit. They started to get that momentum out of the contest.

Yeah, that’s how I saw it. Drapes was terrific early. He was terrific all night. He gave us first access. At times, he took it out of the ruck. It was a territory game. We handled that well at times. Melbourne handled it better than us.

And Melbourne, we know that they’re a contest side. Did they show or throw anything to you guys that it was unexpected or did they play the way you thought?

They played the way we thought. We know the quality they have inside like Jack Viney or Trent Rivers. They’re super contest players. We back our guys in like Sam Durham and Jye Caldwell. It was tough in there. I thought it was a good match up.

You had a terrific night personally.

It’s always nice to go on the end of a couple. I think the way that we attacked the game late in the game with a bit of nothing to lose mentality was quite pleasing. To show that fight at the end, I think it just shows how far we’ve come. How even this competition is, you have to keep fighting to the end.

ADELAIDE 10.11 (79) d ST KILDA 5.9 (39)

Riley Thilthorpe of the Crows celebrates a goal with teammates.Credit: AFL Photos

Dawson Sparks Turnaround

Wet weather separates the best from the rest and Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson was head-and-shoulders the most influential player on Adelaide Oval in a match-turning second quarter. Dawson started the match at half-forward, filling a gap vacated through Izak Rankine’s suspension, before switching onto the footy regularly.

The skipper spent large portions of the second term playing as a spare behind the ball and it was there where he really impacted the contest. Dawson racked up nine disposals for the term, gaining considerable metres with every touch, while his tackling in the wet stymied the Saints, whose forays into attack – after the visitors had employed a patient kick-mark method to dominate general play and territory early - became more and more infrequent. Several Crows followed Dawson’s lead, including hard nuts Rory Laird, Ben Keays and Sam Berry, who combined for 33 tackles.

Riley’s Return

Question marks were raised when the Crows named 201cm Riley Thilthorpe as their substitute ahead of the wet-weather slog, but the risk would pay dividends. Back for his AFL game of 2024 following a pre-season knee injury, Thilthorpe started with a deft, ground-level spin and pick-up more reminiscent of a smaller, more nimble player.

Sporting a shaggy beard and a massively bulked-up physique since his last senior appearance, Thilthorpe subbed in for Elliott Himmelberg at three-quarter-time and repaid the faith of the selectors, ragdolling Dougal Howard to mark Taylor Walker’s deep entry, kicking truly and celebrating wildly as every teammate made a bee-line for him. Three minutes later the big man had two goals on the board after converting a free kick against Howard. Thilthorpe is going to be a huge problem for opposition teams going forward.

Mattaes Phillipou of the Saints handballs over Jordan Dawson of the Crows.Credit: Getty Images

Marvellous Matteas

After his career-best breakout performance in last week’s shock win over Sydney, St Kilda midfielder Matteas Philippou continued his purple patch with another strong performance against Adelaide.
The South Australian product from Woodville-West Torrens was arguably best-afield in the opening term, wreaking havoc with his cleanness and workrate at the stoppages. Philippou’s best moment came in the third-quarter slog when he broke a 23-minute goalless stalemate by threading through a magnificent, boundary-hugging major from the left-forward pocket, which trimmed the Crows’ lead to one point. That was as close as it got for the Saints, who failed to add another goal to their tally after Philippou’s classy strike.

KEY STATS

MELBOURNE 13.6 (84) d ESSENDON 10.7 (67)

Kysaiah Pickett of the Demons celebrates kicking a goal.Credit: AFL Photos

Pickett Power Too Much For Dons

Kysaiah Pickett has packed a lot into his first 100 games. He’s dished out some big hits, conjuring up memories of his uncle, the great (and often lethal) Byron Pickett. He’s kicked many electrifying goals, and played a big part in Melbourne’s drought-breaking 2021 premiership. And like Byron, he’s building a career notable for its versatility. He didn’t win a huge amount of the ball against Essendon, despite running through the midfield on occasions, but he was there in key moments: a blind turn at half forward to set up a Langdon goal, a mark and goal of his own in the last quarter that sealed the deal for the Dees, and a perfectly weighted kick to Dan “Disco” Turner just to make sure. It was a milestone well worth celebrating from one of the game’s most talented and watchable players.

No Gawn, No Worries

Wet weather and a hardened opponent exposed the Bombers on Saturday night. This was no night for neat, running, overlap football. It was a night for ruthlessness. Forget the late flurry that briefly raised pulse rates in the Melbourne coach’s box; this was Melbourne’s game. Pickett exemplified what the Bombers lacked. So too Ed Langdon, who ran his guts out. They might have been lacking Max Gawn and Christian Petracca, but you wouldn’t have guessed that Melbourne was the side expected to fade out of the season. Essendon had a top-two position there for the taking, and could hardly have wanted for a better time to take on the Demons. They needed to find a way and they didn’t. They will probably make September, but this game suggested they lack the maturity to make a deeper run.

Strong contribution: Nic Martin.Credit: AFL Photos

Martin Shows Fight

One bright light for the Bombers was the performance of Nic Martin. Martin worked his way slowly into the game, and with Zach Merrett well held by Alex Neal-Bullen, soon loomed as their most dangerous and damaging player. His last quarter was a testament to his fitness and will to win, kicking three goals to almost drag his team back into the contest late. He was one player who was anything but overawed by the occasion. It is extraordinary that this silky, damaging, instinctive player ended up a supplemental selection for the Bombers in 2022. Essendon will rebound from this setback, and you can bet Martin will be one of the players who shows them the way forward.

KEY STATS

The Demons have scored an excellent win over Essendon.

There are hugs all around on the Dees bench, even after this fightback from the Dons.

Martin has just kicked his fourth goal and they remain in this match.

Martin has been a star, can his teammates find three more goals?

Dees 84, Dons 67 with just under three mins to go.

Nic Martin.Credit: via Getty Images

Surely they can’t come back from here?

Duursma has kicked a goal and now the Dons need four goals in five minutes to win.

They are running forward and it has dried out a little bit too.

Dees 84, Dons 61 with five mins to go.

Jake Stringer of the Bombers handballs.Credit: Getty Images