Essendon Round 23 review: The Bombers are finals bound

We’re in the eight!

I’m going to repeat it for extra emphasis: the Essendon Bombers spent two rounds in the eight this season and have completed the unlikeliest of charges for the finals series.

These are my key takeaways from Essendon’s Round 23 clash against the Collingwood Magpies.

109.1 the magic number
Essendon finished the season with a percentage of 109.1, a testament to the offensive might they have brought to bear and the miserly defence that is still a work in progress. It is also the highest percentage they’ve recorded at the end of a season since 2003, when they were also eighth. However, the Bombers have the fifth-best offence across the season and have done it without the offensive stars other teams have had.

Sunday was no exception, as they had an equitable distribution of goal kickers, with Peter Wright (four), Alec Waterman (four), Devon Smith (two), Jake Stringer (two) and Mason Redman (two) all recording multiple goals as the Bombers scored above 100 points for the seventh time this season. They’ve also begun to tighten the screws defensively, going from the bottom two defensively to ninth, which is a more accurate reflection of their skills.

The Bombers now face a curious test against the Western Bulldogs, and they’ll be hopeful of repeating the heroics of three weeks ago.

(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Dynamic Devon Smith
Maybe it was the prospect of being dropped for an elimination final, but Devon Smith played his best game of the year, with 23 disposals, two goals, four goal assists and ten score involvements. Smith has often been criticised as a little too hungry for his own good, but gone was that aggrieved entitlement that has infected his game previously. He played hard, he played clean and he played well in what was arguably a best-on-ground performance that has been sorely missing since his 2018 Crichton Medal-winning year. If he can bring that sort of performance more than once a year, he will go down as an even better Bombers player and a key component of Essendon’s next premiership.

Midfield kicks it up a notch
A lot has been made of Darcy Parish and Zac Merrett’s seasons. To be fair, each of their seasons has been spectacular to the point they can be declared the best one-two punch in the competition, but I think the news of Kyle Langford and Jye Caldwell making it through another scratch match and Nik Cox getting another week of valuable rest has the Bombers in a very, very good place as they head into the unlikeliest of finals charges. My overall point here is if the Bombers can routinely get their best midfield on the park next year, then they’re going to be an outside chance for the top four.

Two-metre Peter does it again
Seven-seater Ford Titanium Peter Wright was at it again, clunking marks everywhere and kicking goals for the Bombers. Aside from an atrocious shank in the second quarter it was the perfect game from the prototypical key forward. There’s now news of Harry Jones getting through the scratch match alongside Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, which will create issues for an Essendon selection panel that has shown the ability to get the most out of the blue-collar Bombers. The four-goal haul takes his season total to 29, which is his second-best return across his career.

Team-oriented Bombers
Darcy Parish was extremely heavily tagged, a sign of his growing influence on the game. But the deep tag from Jay Rantall wasn’t able to stop 11 players having 20 or more disposals. In particular Tom Cutler played his best game, with 24 disposals and eight marks, to make it a near certainty that he gets a contract extension despite appearing on the chopping block as recently as a month ago. Dylan Shiel and Andy McGrath appear to be relishing the reduced responsibility that comes with being the third and fourth-best midfielders in the Essendon engine room.

Essendon’s epic opportunity
The Bombers have an epic chance to win their first final in 17 long years. They play an atrociously out-of-form Bulldogs, who have had the wood on the Bombers in recent years with the exception of their most recent match. Their form of late has been shocking, with three consecutive losses to limp into the finals series. Just quietly, the Bombers midfield bats almost as deeply as the Bulldogs, but Essendon have a better and less injury-prone defence while the Bulldogs have appeared a shadow of themselves over the last month of the season.

I give my Bombers a red-hot chance to get over the Dogs and snap their drought. With the finals as compromised as they are, any side, even the Bombers, can do it. And Ben Rutten and co have me hoping against hope that they can pull off the miraculous.

Final thoughts
The air-tight NASA experimental lid is off, ladies and gentlemen. I am keen for the finals next week, when the Bombers can break their agonisingly long finals drought.

Best six

1. Will Snelling (16 votes)
2. Tom Cutler (two votes)
3. Jake Stringer (50 votes)
4. Mason Redman (26 votes)
5. Peter Wright (25 votes)/Alec Waterman (five votes)
6. Devon Smith (11 votes)

Leaderboard

1. Zac Merrett and Darcy Parish (65 votes)
2. Jake Stringer (50 votes)
3. Dyson Heppell (28 votes)