AFL round 3: Nic Martin equals Bombers disposals record, Essendon v St Kilda
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon believes some of his players were ‘looking for an easy game’ which left his side vulnerable to the Bombers.
AFL
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Three minutes into Essendon’s nailbiting four point win against St Kilda, Brad Scott was looking for a reset button.
The Bombers’ defence was under the pump but Scott held his nerve to allow his players to gradually chip away until they hit the front with little more than nine minutes left in the game.
The contest turned into what Scott called “a good game of cat and mouse” between him and his counterpart Ross Lyon as both sides allowed the opposition’s prolific half-backs to accumulate possessions at will.
Scott credited one of his assistants from keeping him focused on the most important aspect of the battle in the middle.
Essendon won the clearance count 23-10, including 9-1 centre clearances, in the second half.
“Ben Jacobs probably settled me a little bit because I was pretty close to flinching.”
Jacobs was high on Scott’s list of leaders to praise post-game with the former Port Adelaide and North Melbourne midfielder playing a pivotal role in Nic Martin’s rebirth.
The wing turned half back was “important” in equalling the club record with 44 disposals but Scott was more interested in Martin’s work without the ball.
“We put him back in the pre-season because we wanted a bit more flexibility in our options back there and a bit of bounce out of the back half. To be honest, he’s surprised me how well he defends,” Scott said.
“He’s a genuinely good defender. Ben Jacobs should take a lot of credit for the work he’s done with him as our defensive coach and Marto has held up his end.”
Scott also attributed the comeback to the leadership of captain Zach Merrett who won six centre clearances of his own to turn the tide of the match in the second half.
“He continues to impress me daily. Even his focus post-game. People attribute different things as to why you win and he just nails it,” Scott said.
“He’s as diligent and as professional as I’ve seen and I’ve been fortunate to be exposed to some pretty good players. He just continues to take a step forward each week in his performance.”
“He’s building into his role as captain beautifully.”
The man of the moment was Jake Stringer however, as his third goal also proved to be the match winner.
Stringer’s fitness has often been a point of criticism since he joined Essendon from the Western Bulldogs but Scott said there were no such concerns this year.
“There’s something about those sorts of players that you never want to bet against them, I’ll put it that way,” Scott said of Stringer’s game winning goal.
“You’ve got to do the work in this competition. He’s been criticised in the past. He would say some of that is his own doing and some that has been out of his control with injury and other challenges off field.
“I can’t speak highly enough of his effort to get his off field life right. That’s enabled him to clear the decks and be able to go to work to get himself as fit as he can possibly get, and he’s getting the rewards for it now.”
Match report: Dons snatch thriller on Martin’s record day out
An equal club record 44 disposals by Nic Martin and a scintillating second half by captain Zach Merrett inspired Essendon to a stunning come from behind four point win in a scrappy affair at Marvel Stadium.
St Kilda led at every change and were in front by as much as 22 points in the second term but the Bombers only needed to lead for just more than nine minutes to claim their second win of the season.
Essendon stayed within arms reach throughout the contest as the Saints failed to capitalise on their chances in front of goal to put their opponents away.
Jake Stringer gives the Bombers their first lead of the day! pic.twitter.com/2bAyS14lqT
— AFL (@AFL) March 30, 2024
Impressive Bombers.
— Nathan Buckley (@ncb_cfc) March 30, 2024
Bit of ticker in that win#edge
Xavier Duursma brings out the bow and arrow for the first time as a Bomber ðŸ¹#AFLDonsSaintspic.twitter.com/ZamkANThDP
— AFL (@AFL) March 30, 2024
Only one Bomber, the returning Darcy Parish, had multiple clearances at halftime compared to eight Saints, but after half time they gained the midfield ascendancy with Merrett winning six centre clearances of his own.
Merrett combined with ruck duo Sam Draper and Todd Goldstein as Essendon’s stoppage unit won the clearance count 23-10 in the second half, including 9-1 centre clearances.
COMPLACENT SAINTS?
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has lamented the complacency that crept into his side’s game.
After last week’s impressive win against reigning premiers Collingwood and hitting the lead early against the Bombers, Lyon felt that some of his players took their foot off the pedal.
“Sometimes a real positive start, you’ve had eight shots to two, off last week, you start to feel pretty good about yourselves. All you need is one player to go ‘I’ll let Steele do the work’ and then one becomes two and you’re looking for an easy game,” Lyon said.
“It’s a very demanding competition where people are dog hungry and you leave yourself vulnerable. I thought that’s what happened.”
Essendon slaughtered St Kilda’s midfield in the second half winning the clearance count 23-10 including 9-1 at centre bounces, with the Saints young on-ballers receiving an important lesson after Jack Steele and Seb Ross led the way early.
“It’s a brutal competition to come up. We’ve got Corey Enright and Robert Harvey (as assistant coaches). To be those guys you have to come up every week, not every second or third week,” Lyon said.
“That’s the feedback that they got today and that’s OK because they’re babies. We’ll wrap our arms around them and try to bump them up.
“As they get fitter and bigger and stronger, they can keep doing it week in, week out.”
MARTIN’S STAR TURN
Defenders Martin, Dyson Heppell and Andrew McGrath held the fort in the first half when under siege with plenty of disposals of their own.
Martin had 27 disposals to half time as the wing-turned-half back equalled Darcy Parish’s club record which he has achieved on two occasions.
Martin kicked the ball 31 times to serve as distributor and he operated at a disposal efficiency of 75% on a night when half backs were instrumental.
St Kilda’s Riley Bonner had a team-high 31 disposals and set a new league-wide season benchmark for metres gained with 960.
NO WRIGHT, NO WORRIES
In the absence of the suspended Wright, Kyle Langford and Jake Stringer stepped up as the focal points in Essendon’s forward line with Stringer nailing the match winning goal as they finished with three goals apiece.
Harrison Jones also put in an important performance after coming into the side as late inclusion for Will Setterfield due to knee soreness.
The 23-year-old key forward clunked two strong marks and slotted both resulting set shots against the run of play in the first half.
BOMBER BLUNDERS
Essendon’s defence was in the spotlight after last week’s loss to Sydney and it was shining brighter when they conceded two sloppy goals in the opening term.
A calamitous turnover by Martin that gifted Anthony Caminiti a goal on his return to the St Kilda side, and fellow inclusion Dan Butler dancing around Bombers defenders to dribble home a major, were emblematic of Essendon’s back-half issues.
Originally published as AFL round 3: Nic Martin equals Bombers disposals record, Essendon v St Kilda
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