After a 15-year period in which the Bombers had played in five grand finals and won three, this was a club that not only demanded playing in finals, but winning them.

The club’s 16 premierships speak to that.

It was an ethos quickly instilled in a young Lloyd by the likes of premiership stars Mark Thompson, Mark Harvey, Gary O’Donnell, Michael Long and James Hird.

“I was blessed in the era that I walked in because we got to play in so many preliminary finals, grand finals and big games but that’s what the expectation was,” Lloyd said.

“It was just a club that expected to play finals every year and win them.”

It didn’t take long for Lloyd to get a taste of September action.

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In his first season, he played in two finals and the following year, the Bombers suffered an agonising one-point preliminary final loss to Sydney.

In all, the champion goalkicker played in 10 winning finals, including the 2000 premiership victory over Melbourne.

But little did Lloyd realise his last finals victory with the Bombers — the 2004 elimination final against Melbourne at the MCG — would also be the club’s last.

Lloyd kicked four goals in the five-point win over the Demons that day as teammates Jason Johnson and Justin Murphy both amassed a game-high 28 disposals.

The following week, the Bombers’ campaign ended after a 10-point loss to Geelong.

Now, 18 years on and almost 6400 days later, the Bombers are still searching for their next finals win.

Last year’s 49-point elimination final loss to the Western Bulldogs in Launceston was the club’s seventh final since Kevin Sheedy’s men triumphed in the first week of September in 2004.

But it has been a rollercoaster for the Bombers since then.

“For so many years to go by, there has obviously been a lot that has happened,” Lloyd, the club’s all-time leading goalkicker, said.

“I think the initial period we were coming off such a great era for Essendon that we didn’t probably have great draft picks because of the success but then the last seven or eight has been marred by everything that went on at the club.

“To be honest now it is as exciting a time as there has been at the club in the last however many years it has been … since a finals win.”

Counting the cost

In the biggest penalty in the game’s history, Essendon was booted out of the 2013 finals, slapped with a $2 million fine, banned from the first two rounds of the 2013 national draft and also lost picks in the first two rounds of the 2014 draft.

As the fallout from the scandal rolled into 2014, the Bombers remarkably managed to make it into September, losing to North Melbourne in an elimination final by 12 points.

But it would take another three years to get back there. And there have been only three finals appearances since — 2017, 2019 and last year.

Lloyd said the club was only now emerging from the damage caused by the supplements saga.

“I think someone did mention to me at the time that this will take us 10 years to get over and they were right,” Lloyd said.

“There were a number of years where they were never going to challenge and it’s a 10-year process really to get back to recover from what the club has been through.

“There were missed drafts, broken relationships and players leaving. It did a lot of hurt (to the club).

“It was a 10-year recovery period and then last year was a great stepping stone and now I think there is a belief there that they can match it with anybody which is probably the first time they would have felt that way for 10 years.”

Jason Johnson, who played 184 games for the Bombers, said the cost of the supplements’ saga had been “significant”.

“Probably by the end of it it will probably be a decade (to recover from it),” Johnson said.

“It was significant. When was it, 2013? And we are just starting to get through that now to be in a strong position where we have paid off the debt and we have been able to recruit some kids over the last year which are going to be hopefully 200-plus game players for us.

“I think we are certainly in a good place now with the rebuild and (Ben) Rutten and the new kids coming through.”

The kids are all right

When key forward Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia all left the Bombers during the 2020 trade and free agency period, Lloyd felt “doom and gloom” was descending on the club.

But little more than a month later, the Bombers rebooted with not one but three top-10 picks in the national draft to ignite the start of the Rutten era.

Lloyd said the top-end haul — midfielder-forward Nik Cox (No. 8), forward Archie Perkins (9) and defender Zach Reid (10) — outweighed the loss of its established senior talent.

Cox, who stands at 200cm, and Perkins made an immediate impact last year.

Cox played 22 games and Perkins 21 in their debut season but Reid was restricted to just the one senior appearance after being struck down by glandular fever and a back injury.

The Bombers also had another exciting young prospect — forward Harrison Jones from the 2019 draft class — debut last year, playing 16 games and kicking 20 goals.

“When Daniher and Saad and Fantasia left the club there was doom and gloom, but what they have got out of it is better for the club,” Lloyd said.

“They are all top-10 draft picks and I think that is what it takes. I look at Melbourne’s top 10 draft picks and what they have done to help Melbourne win its premiership.

“I think those three quality players that Essendon brought in, plus the others with Harrison Jones (No. 30) and guys like that before them.

“I look at all premiership sides and the build … (Lance) Franklin, (Jarryd) Roughead, (Jordan) Lewis, (Cyril) Rioli, (Luke) Hodgey, all those (players) came through together.

“I think the list is in a really strong (spot). I think they are probably lacking a key forward while Jones stills develops but aside from that they don’t lack for too much.”

Johnson also rated the young talent the Bombers had brought in and said there was now serious pressure for spots in the team, particularly in the midfield, for the first time in years.

“I love the three kids in particular that debuted last year; Cox, Perkins and …. Harrison,” Johnson said.

“Then you’ve got Jordan Ridley who is now turning into an elite defender but is still a very young player, who has great composure.”

“The drive the younger boys seem to have to push each other to be better, I think that is really evident.”

Healthy balance

Sheedy likened the balance of the Bombers’ list to that of the team he took over when he started as Essendon coach in 1981.

Two years later, the Bombers played off in a losing Grand Final to Hawthorn before winning the next two premierships in 1984 and 1985.

“When I took over Essendon in 1981, the list was pretty similar, pretty similar in experience,” Sheedy said.

“We had a lot of young players coming through, a young Tim Watson, a young Merv Neagle, a young Simon Madden and Neale Daniher.

“I think the club is in that position right now. We have got a new young coach, who has just finished his first year on his own terms. I think the list is developing into a good strong list.

“If we get the drafting and the recruiting right in the next year or two … I reckon the next 40-50 games will be really right for Ben Rutten and the people at Essendon.”

Lloyd said the Bombers were “building a really great nucleus” to attack a flag.

“Great kids coming through, a great mix of senior core experience and a coach who has probably revisited the past and what the club stood for and so I think everything is heading in the right direction to change that,” Lloyd said.

“I love Jordan Ridley, I think he could be the best intercept defender in the game within the next two years.

“But I think it all starts through your midfield …. and I would say (Andrew) McGrath, (Darcy) Parish and (Zach) Merrett are the three that are the most important to Essendon.”

Johnson expected the growing midfield depth to turn up the heat on competition for spots.

“Their list has got good depth through the midfield … guys like Dylan Shiel and Devon Smith will be fighting to keep their spot in the team. I think they will be fine but they have certainly got some pressure,” Johnson said.

“It is the first time in a long time where 30 could be in the best 22 in Round 1 if they are all fit and ready to go.

“Competition around the list is really strong …. that’s the hardest part to get that competition for spots in the team.”

See the Bombers fly up

Triple premiership coach Mick Malthouse has boldly predicted the Bombers could win their first premiership in 22 years this season.

But Lloyd was more measured about their immediate prospects.

After last year’s elimination final loss to the Western Bulldogs, Lloyd expected the Bombers to be a top-six team in 2022 and to at least progress past the first week of September.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they are in the top six and I sort of expect that now to be top six. Then that means they have won a final,” Lloyd said.

“Then once you are in that position, who knows? Can you get into the final four? So I think that anywhere from four-six that’s my expectation for Essendon.”

If the Bombers can break through to win their first final in 18 years, how far are they away from a premiership?

Lloyd said it could happen within three years.

“They are extremely hard to win but … you’ve got to knock on the door consistently, it just doesn’t happen,” Lloyd said.

“It’s rare that you come from nowhere and win, you need to keep playing finals and build that experience.

“They have just got to get there and play a couple of finals.

“You see what Brisbane are going through, they are failing — and the Giants — but Essendon have got to do the same, just keep knocking on the door for the next year or two and I think their time will just about be there.”

Sheedy said the Bombers needed to stay on the right pathway to ensure a period of success.

“Bolters for the flags don’t often happen,” Sheedy said.

“Even Melbourne has taken a long time to get there, Richmond took years, six or seven years under Damien (Hardwick) to get there and the same with the ‘Scraggers’ under (Luke) Beveridge.

“I reckon we are on that pathway, we are not there yet necessarily but if the players really gel well together then anything can happen.

“I reckon we need just that next couple of years to be a strong contender.

“A lot of teams make the finals and (then) go nowhere. I don’t want that to happen to Essendon.”

Johnson agreed the timeline for a serious flag tilt was two-three years away.

“I wouldn’t say they are flag contenders (this year) but I would certainly say that they will be fighting for the top six and then you never know what happens from there — you could win one, you could win two or you could bow out,” Johnson said.

“But I think we are two to three years from really competing (for a flag).

“I would be disappointed if they did not play finals footy and at least win one. That would be classed as another step forward and a year they can look back on and set themselves up for the next two years and go that extra step further.”