Essendon Round 11 review

How good is footy!

Some – mainly West Coast supporters – would say I’m an ungracious winner, to which I would say you are most certainly correct. The Bombers went to the west and put together some very solid performances, but they had only beaten teams below them to this point in the season, and the Eagles had an average winning margin at Optus of six goals.

It was a big task to win, and even bigger to do so from 29 points down in the second quarter.

The package
Jake Stringer – or Packo, as the boys from The Sash would say – was back to his best this weekend, with three vital goals in the third and the fourth quarters giving the Bombers an important win. He was at his mercurial and demonstrative best on Saturday night as he began to justify the possibility of a large contract extension at the end of this year.

The highlight for me was the fact that he had five shots on goal and was able to use his forward craft and forward nous to get a lot of them. A moment in the second quarter he was able to draw a free kick by engaging with the Eagles player in a ruck contest to give himself a vital shot on goal against the run of play.

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

No backline? No problem
The Bombers and Ben Rutten have managed to jerry-rig a backline together from nothing. Nick Hind, Dyson Heppell, Jayden Laverde and James Stewart have spent most of their careers outside the backline. Laverde has been gargantuan in the backline as an undersized key lockdown defender for the Bombers as he has strung together the longest series of games across his short career. He ended up looking a bit like a boxer at the end of the night, as his face was battered and beaten after filling an integral role locking down one of the keys forwards the Eagles have.

Wh while Nick Hind continues to be one of the moneyball recruits of the year, in comparison with former Bomber Adam Saad he has easily bested the current Blue across this season in possessions, tackles, marks and disposal efficiency. Hind has been an early-season favourite for the Crichton Medal and is easily worth the paltry picks the Bombers traded for the halfback.

Finally, there was Dyson Heppell, whose disposal has let him down at times, but his gut running he has developed as a midfielder helps with the high press the Bombers love to do to lock the ball in their forward half.

Eagles wings clipped
The Eagles had their wings clipped on Saturday night. Their game relies on a high marking style, which the Bombers were able to take away from them through their high-pressure game style. The Eagles were only able to take 78 marks for the match as they went two down on the bench with injuries to Oscar Allen and Tim Kelly, and they were unable to stop the tide of the Bombers. Further exacerbating these problems was the Eagles taking Nic Naitanui and Elliot Yeo, both on managed minutes due to their history of injuries.

The Bombers were able to exploit this to full effect as the Eagles scored two goals five behinds for the second half of footy. The Bombers’ smaller forwards were able to work their way into the game with Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti having six score involvements and eight disposals in the second half to get over the line against the Eagles.

Finally, Jake Waterman contributed two goals to the Bombers with a horrendous play that resulted in two goals, much to the outraged Eagles’ chagrin. The win leaves the Bombers in the eight on percentage.

Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)

Kyle Langford: Mr Fix It
Kyle Langford has been the whipping boy of Essendon supporters, however wrongly in my opinion. But on Saturday night he was everywhere – in the ruck, on the half-forward flank, in the backline. There was nothing he couldn’t do. He is becoming the more skilled version of Zac Dawson to Ben Rutten, as he has become a plug-and-play type of player while copping criticism from the faithful fans of his own club.

With 28 disposals, four tackles and a goal, Langford acquitted himself ably and continues to go about his business in the Bombers line-up. With Peter Wright going down with a calf injury early in the warm-up, the responsibility fell to Langford and Stringer to provide the relief in the ruck department against one of the premier ruckman in the competition while still ensuring the Bombers could at least equalise the clearances for the Bombers.

Best six
Round 11
Jayden Laverde (4 votes)
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (19 votes)
Jake Stringer (14 votes)
Zach Merrett (33 Votes)
Kyle Langford (11 Votes)
Darcy Parrish (34 Votes)

Leaderboard
Darcy Parrish (34)
Zach Merrett (33)
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (19)

Final Thoughts
The Bombers have allowed themselves to win every game this year – aside from a couple of blowouts, they’ve put their best foot forward in every match. This is the first time we can say with any certainty that there is positivity around the Bombers and the line-up.

As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. What did you think, Roarers?