AFL 2023: Element of unknown continues to haunt Bombers

Minus Jayden Laverde, the Bombers crumbled down back against the Cats. Their defence had been stout up until now, but their issues may have more dire consquences than just on the field.

Darcy Parish finds a way past Tom Atkins of the Cats. Picture: Michael Klein

Brad Scott had to break glass in case of emergency on Sunday.

Smashed out of the middle, Essendon’s makeshift and undersized backline was under siege as goals rained down around the defenders early.

So at half time, Kyle Langford was sent to play loose in the back half and, if he could, occupy the hole in front of eight-goal Geelong superstar Tom Hawkins.

It was an unenviable task which helped stem the bleeding as Geelong still cruised to a 28-point win at the MCG.

Importantly, Essendon showed considerable resilience fighting back, a trademark which is clearly building at the Bombers under Scott, which is perhaps in contrast to recent years.

But in the aftermath of the club’s third loss of the season, one question will worry Essendon bosses and another may haunt star midfielder Darcy Parish.

As much as the Bombers’ defence has improved in Scott’s new system, do they need to find one more A-grade key defender?

And for Parish, the query which may keep him up at night for the next few months is which club is closer to its next premiership beyond this season?

Is it the on-the-up Essendon? Or the always excellent Geelong? Parish has to choose.

The Bombers were mauled down back by Tom Hawkins. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Cats are interested in Parish who is yet to win a final in his career and will consider where he is more likely to enjoy some team success, at Tullamarine or down the highway.

Essendon can easily afford to keep Parish and fellow free agent Mason Redman, but Parish will also consider the state of the back and forward lines and the potential timelines around having a shot at the top-four and the prospect of ever lifting up the cup.

Clearly, Brad Scott would prefer to keep Langford forward, next to Sam Weideman, Jake Stringer and Peter Wright when he returns from a serious shoulder injury.

It’s a handy forward mix on paper.

But what about down back after the mauling from the Cats’ big men without Jayden Laverde?

First-choice fullback Laverde has left a huge hole in defence for up to two months as he deals with a shoulder injury, which meant Brandon Zerk-Thatcher was a sitting duck in the match-up on Hawkins on Sunday, and Jordan Ridley had to play tall on Jeremy Cameron, limiting his run.

It’s not all their fault. Essendon was cut apart at the clearance early, leaving the back line vulnerable, as Cats’ superstar Patrick Dangerfield turned on a blinder in the engine room in the first term.

But Brad Scott will always be thinking about the big picture in regards to the back line, and question, who is the centre piece?

Parish is a free agent after this season. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Youngster Zach Reid is waiting in the wings after a nightmare injury run including nasty stress fractures in his back.

Reid is set to receive a call-up in the next month or two and Scott on Sunday said he wants Reid to play a key role in defence “for the next 10 years” once he steps into the team.

But as much as Reid is a talented commodity, there remains an element of unknown.

“We want to set him (Reid) up to play some really good footy for us,” Scott said.

“It would have been nice to have a 205cm key defender out there today but while we are bitterly disappointed in the short term, we refuse to take our eye off what we are doing and what we are building here.”

Nik Cox is also a tall, but more of an outside player and talented ball-user.

And when the high balls came into the Essendon back line against Geelong’s superstar twin towers, the Bombers’ defenders had little hope.

The Bombers deserve credit for staying in the hunt after quarter time on Sunday as Jake Stringer booted four goals as part of a rare shoot-out at the MCG.

In one of his best games for the club, Stringer ignited Essendon and packed a punch in the midfield racking up an incredible nine centre clearances as Sam Weideman also booted a personal-best five goals after two goals last week against Collingwood.

The move to pick-up Weideman has been a clear success for Essendon, showing he deserved an opportunity out of the goal square at the top level after struggling to establish himself at Melbourne despite slotting three majors against Geelong in a final in 2018.

But the big decision and enormous temptation for Essendon officials is when to whip out the $2 million stuffed under the club’s mattress at Tullamarine. This year? Next year?

Mason Redman is another Bomber who will be in demand after this season. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

That’s how much salary cap room Essendon has after a series of player departures in recent years including Adam Saad, Joe Daniher and Orazio Fantasia forced the club to hit the draft again.

So the Bombers have a war chest, and there will be even more cash to spend if Parish exits to Geelong.

And if Scott wants to build a top-four defence at Essendon to help take the club to its first finals win in almost two decades, perhaps a premier key defender would be high on his wishlist.

Someone to confidently match-up on Hawkins or Cameron on the big stage. But when do they pull the trigger? That is the tough question.

Stopping Geelong was always their biggest challenge on Sunday, and without Laverde not much looks set to change over the next three weeks as the Bombers prepare to meet Port Adelaide’s Charlie Dixon, Brisbane’s Daniher and Eric Hipwood and Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt.

Zerk-Thatcher has a lot of work ahead of him, but Scott will go to work with the midfielders this week to try to ensure the defenders won’t be thrown to the wolves again.

Maybe Langford, the break glass in case of emergency option, has to start on the wing and drift back as a protective measure from the get-go.

Langford has been a versatile weapon for the Bombers so far this year. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Vice-captain Andrew McGrath said while the Cats’ midfield onslaught was hard to stop early, there were positives.

“It gives a lot of confidence that third quarter specifically and we came out after half-time looking like a bit of a different side,” McGrath said.

“We showed a lot of what our brand of footy looks like, but in saying that it’s not the position we want to be in fighting from that far behind.

“Compared to Round 1 last year (against Geelong) there’s a lot of steps (forward).”

McGrath said the pressure has to go up a notch out of the middle against Port, but he was adamant Reid was an exciting prospect coming through.

“A lot of their entries were clean and un-pressured at times,” he said.

“The midfield battle was going their way early.

“Zach Reid played three quarters in the VFL last week so he won’t be far off and that will help us in that aspect.

“But I think Jordan Ridley will have to play taller, Mason Redman did at times today, and we all sort of go up a match-up.”

Broadly, though, Essendon is heading in the right direction, he said.

“It feels consistent,” McGrath said.

“It has been a rough couple of years and the group is really committed to what Brad is building and we want to be good.

“I think we’ve shown we can match it against to anyone so far.”

HAWK-AMANIA BLOWS BOMBERS AWAY

— Ronny Lerner

Essendon coach Brad Scott admitted that he should have taken defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher off champion Geelong forward Tom Hawkins earlier than he did.

Hawkins kicked a career-high eight goals during the Cats’ 28-point win over the Bombers at the MCG on Sunday, six of which were booted in a devastating first half, including four in the first quarter.

Hawkins, who is listed as 14kg heavier than Zerk-Thatcher, was far too strong, and finished the opening term with four contested marks.

After half-time, Scott switched Jordan Ridley onto Hawkins, and it proved to be an effective move.

Zerk-Thatcher headed into the game in career-best form and was fresh from shutting down Collingwood’s Brody Mihocek on Anzac Day.

Hawkins was too much for the Bombers to handle. Pic: Michael Klein

“It was a good opportunity for him (Zerk-Thatcher) to play on a really good player,” Scott said post-match.

“We’re not teaching him (Zerk-Thatcher) a lesson, we were trying to support him as best as we could.

“The change we made at half-time was good for us, so (with) perfect hindsight I should’ve done that earlier.

“And while Zerk-Thatcher had a difficult day today clearly, he’s been terrific for us throughout this year and he’ll only get better for today and we’ll keep backing him and keep coaching him and keep working with him.

“Tom Hawkins is a generational player.”

In the second quarter when the Bombers started to get back into the game, a couple of costly kicks across goal in defence from Zerk-Thatcher and Mason Redman led directly to Geelong goals, stunting the Dons’ momentum, but Scott had no issue with his players taking the game on.

“We needed to take some risks,” he said.

“I’m certainly not concerned about that. I would’ve been more concerned if we went into our shell and played into Geelong’s hands, so we kept attacking and we still kicked 100 points, they just kicked 28 more.”

Brandon Zerk-Thatcher struggled to contain a rampant Hawkins. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Jake Stringer finished with 26 disposals (20 contested), 11 clearances (nine centre) and four goals, and Scott said it was “easily” the best game he had ever seen the former Bulldog play.

The Essendon coach was rapt with how his star player has performed recently after a delayed start to the year due to injury,

“While Jake will never make excuses, his groin injuries last year and some concussion stuff, those things really set him back in the pre-season,” Scott said.

“So I get the frustration, ‘Do you love to have him in great shape at the start of the year?’ But there were reasons why he wasn’t in perfect shape.”

Former Demon Sam Weideman was also a strong contributor for the Bombers, kicking a career-high five goals, and Scott believes the environment he now finds himself in has helped him flourish after seven frustrating years at Melbourne.

“He’s just been a great acquisition for our club,” Scott said.

“I think there are a lot of players in the competition who are really good players but they just don’t quite get the opportunity.

“When he’s had opportunities previously at his previous club, he’s got Ben Brown lurking in the shadows when he’s injured, then there’s other players coming back.

“Playing key forward at AFL level is hard enough without thinking you’ve got to grab every single opportunity otherwise you’re going to lose your spot in the side.

“I think part of it is just giving him the confidence that we’re going to back him and we’re going to work with him and put him in a slot where he plays his best footy.”

Scott said his players had enough “in-built excuses” to throw in the towel after the Cats kicked the first six goals, namely the fact that they only had a five-day break compared to Geelong’s eight, but the Essendon coach was pleased with how the Bombers played in the final three quarters.

Jake Stringer was a shining light for Essendon. Pic: Michael Klein

“If you don’t have a team that’s got the intestinal fortitude to fight it out and try and get the game back on our terms, then all of your systems, tactics, structure, doesn’t really matter,” he said.

“We want to play on Anzac Day ever year forever, so we’re never going to complain about a five-day break post-Anzac Day.

“I’m very, very optimistic about our future because I can see how much room we have to improve, and whilst we’ve probably played the three premiership favourites the last three weeks, and we would’ve loved to have won them all, but we’ve certainly shown that we can compete against them at various stages.”

Dyson Heppell (managed), Jye Menzie (managed) and Alwyn Davey (dropped) sat out Sunday’s match, but could all be in line to return for the Bombers’ huge clash with Port Adelaide next week.

DONS 2.0, 7.2, 11.6, 16.8 (104)

CATS 6.3, 14.4, 17.6, 20.12 (132)

LERNER’S BEST: Dons: Stringer, Weideman, Parish, Shiel, Martin, Kelly, Ridley. Cats: Hawkins, Dangerfield, Cameron, O.Henry, Stewart, Kolodjashnij, O’Connor.

GOALS: Dons: Weideman 5, Stringer 4, Shiel 2, Draper, Caldwell, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Hobbs, Redman. Cats: Hawkins 8, Cameron 3, Simpson 2, Bruhn 2, O.Henry 2, Close, Rohan, Holmes.

INJURIES: Dons: Nil. Cats: Bowes (calf), Rohan (hamstring).

LATE CHANGE: Zach Tuohy (back) replaced in Geelong’s selected side by Mitch Knevitt.

UMPIRES: Power, Gavine, Findlay, Mollison

VENUE: MCG

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

LERNER’S VOTES

3 Tom Hawkins (Geel)

2 Jake Stringer (Ess)

1 Patrick Dangerfield (Geel)

Originally published as AFL 2023: Element of unknown continues to haunt Bombers