Footy Fix: Brilliant Bombers didn't just outplay the Dees... they totally outsmarted them

There’s something special brewing at Essendon.

False dawns have been something of a yearly tradition at Bomberland since their last finals win back in 2004. They’ve won about 10 trade periods, constantly replenishing their list with stars; they’ve embarked on mid-season runs of wins that have success-starved supporters daring to dream; they have an annual match where they absolutely dismantle a premiership contender and look, for two glorious hours, world-beaters.

Nothing about that script reads any differently to their latest showpiece, a stunning 27-point triumph over a totally outhunted Melbourne. It’s the most Essendon thing in the world to give their supporters a brief taste of hope before quickly succumbing to mediocrity.

But it’s hard to shake the feeling that this time is different. This is a stronger, fiercer Bombers outfit than the sporadic sides of the late 2000s and 2010s; one better structured behind the ball, more dominant at the coalface and not solely reliant on the brilliance of a certain few.

A past Essendon would have beaten the Dees with brilliance – dashing runs from half-back through the midfield, spectacular marks, incredible goals from the pocket. It would have been the sort of performance you look at, shrug, and say ‘Oh, the Bombers had one of those days’.

This was different. The Bombers didn’t just outplay the Dees – they thoroughly outsmarted them. It was a performance every bit worthy of a premiership contender. And the best news? Every moment was repeatable.

Brad Scott came into the top job with about as much pressure as any new coach could possibly have, and the results speak for themselves. He has instilled a defensive steel in the Bombers behind the ball, turned an undersized and unassuming backline into a perfectly functional outfit, and just as importantly, brought an all-consuming pressure to the mix that in previous years was so obviously missing.

Andrew McGrath’s safe ball use and cool head has been a revelation returning to the half-back role where he won the 2017 Rising Star award. Sam Durham and Will Snelling’s ferocious tackling and leg speed turned this team into a pressure beast that suffocated the Demons all afternoon.

Ben Rutten found success in 2021 playing typical Bombers footy: flashy runs from Nick Hind at half-back, the brilliance of Jake Stringer around the footy, and not a whole lot of substance underneath the style. When he tried to add that substance in 2022, not only did the style dissipate, but the players couldn’t adapt, and the bottom fell out.

The Bombers haven’t been a great pressure team in 2023 – up until Round 4, they were second last on the official AFL pressure factor rating. Yet facing the Dees, the side ranked second in that stat, they led it 180 to 168 at half time, having successfully set up the match.

Around the ball, Essendon have assembled their best midfield since… well, probably the halcyon years of the early 2000s? Few if any you’d say are stars – even Zach Merrett hasn’t been quite as eye-catching in 2023 – but they all provide a critical role, and for the first time in a long time truly fees like a unit rather than a bunch of good players thrust together.

Dylan Shiel is reborn as a specialist clearance winner, empowered to use his explosive speed and strength to break away from stoppages. He had seven clearances against the Dees, more than any other Bomber.

Will Setterfield, given a lifeline after falling badly out of favour at Carlton, is the big-bodied on-baller the Dons have been crying out for for a generation. He’s at once capable of winning his own ball, hitting the scoreboard and dominating contested possessions, as he did against Gold Coast, and sacrificing his own game to shut down Clayton Oliver, which he did to tremendous effect in the first half.

To half time, Oliver had just 11 disposals and two clearances – both far short of the great Demon’s exceptionally high standards. Setterfield may only have had seven touches of his own, but it didn’t matter – even after the hard tag was relaxed following the break and Oliver returned to his prolific best, Setterfield lifted too with a string of crunching tackles.

Merrett is now the outside user, with his contested possession count dropping but his brilliant left foot now more of a weapon than ever. Ditto Darcy Parish, once criticised for his disposals lacking impact: with eight inside 50s and a colossal 606 metres gained from his 33 touches, no one can say that anymore. Merrett, for what it’s worth, had nine, 565 metres gained, and 35 disposals, plus a team-lifting seven tackles.

It was that group who tore the Dees and their Oliver-Jack Viney-Christian Petracca midfield monolith to shreds in the third quarter at the Adelaide Oval. They dismantled them in the clearances, 12-5 – an advantage made even more crucial by the sudden onset of rain. Tough, wet-weather footy hasn’t been Essendon’s calling card in recent years. It seems to be now.

With that came territory dominance, and with it good looks for a suddenly dangerous-looking forward line no longer reliant on Stringer to kick winning scores. That’s the next part of Scott’s genius.

Sam Draper of the Bombers celebrates a goal. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

If the game was won by the midfield’s dominance, than the Bombers’ remarkable forward line efficiency against once the most miserly backline in the game set up the victory. Had it not been for yet more inaccuracy from the Bombers, a 17-point half time margin would have doubled.

The ball movement helps out – the Dons had a chronic issue with blazing away in 2022, lacking both the quality foot skills and dare to move the footy quickly and the patience to wait for options to present themselves.

It has been remarkable to see how much better Essendon are kicking the ball this season. They were the worst turnover team in the game last year, turning simple, unimaginative cross-field kicks into horrifying howlers regularly. It’s hard to pinpoint a reason for this turnaround other than a religious pre-season focus on turning this around from Scott, and having actual players leading up to kick the ball to.

Kyle Langford has been trialled on the ball, on a wing and even as a floating defender in his near-decade at Essendon, but it’s as a mid-sized forward where he finds himself now playing career-best footy. Strong enough in the air to warrant close attention, yet nimble enough at ground level to follow up when the ball hit the deck, he played havoc with the Dees’ defence all day.

Langford’s remarkable goal in the third quarter, pushing the great Steven May off the ball, picking up clean as a whistle, and kicking accurately from a tight angle, was the moment the Dons went from plucky upstarts taking the fight to a powerhouse, to being a clearly superior outfit.

Jake Stringer had one of the most impactful eight-possession, one-goal games you’ll see. His performance, after 4.6 last week, was another sign of the belief Scott has garnered from his players in such a short time: how on earth could you otherwise hope to convince Jake Stringer of all people to play as a decoy key forward?

Stringer hardly got near it, but he kept Steven May’s mind occupied for the entire afternoon, and could hardly have done a better job. May may not have had a worse day in red and blue – late to contests he’d normally have dominated, taking just three marks for the day – only one an intercept – and unable to marshal the Dees’ defence with any of their usual success.

Most importantly, Stringer keeping May out of the picture let in Scott’s newest trick: ‘Drillips’. Hey, if ‘Gawndy’ is good enough for Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, why not a nickname for Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips?

For the second week in a row, that pair ruled the skies in Essendon’s forward line. Both mountains of men and highly capable in the air, Harrison Petty and Adam Tomlinson were totally outmatched: if they weren’t watching a towering contested mark plucked just out of the reach of their despairing fists, then they were panicking and giving up simple free kicks.

Draper was, in all honesty, a harmless meme figure last year – his Goal of the Year win in no small part because it was among the unlikeliest goals ever kicked. But we can’t deny it now – this is a serious footballer developing before our eyes.

He’s no Gawn or Tim English, but he has improved out of sight around the ground. His mobility was always his biggest asset, but it’s one thing getting to repeat contests, and the other taking pack-splitting contested grabs.

With three goals at half time, he already had a career-high; Phillips, too, had two, and was just as impactful in the air.

As a pair, they’re now extremely competent as forwards, while having the double effect of running Brodie Grundy absolutely ragged.

They made a point of working their opposite number into the ground running forward, with the result that Grundy was a broken man after half time. It coincided with the Bombers getting well on top around the ball.

Coincidence? I think not. And facing a ruck-less Collingwood on Anzac Day next week, that duo must be licking their lips.

This was a performance for Bombers fans to savour: Scott and his boys effectively neutralised every Demon strength, and cleared a path for their own weapons.

Oliver? Kept in check. Grundy? Worked into the ground. May? Decoyed. Contested ball-winning? Overpowered.

Something special is brewing at Bomberland. Just how special, they might not even know yet themselves.