Jason Winderlich says the Bombers’ pressure around stoppages and ability to win the ball in close was key to their 38-point victory over Fremantle at Etihad today and something they will look to replicate next week against Carlton.

Winderlich said securing first use of the ball enabled Essendon to create options up forward and gave their forwards an easy opportunity to convert.

“It was a good game and just showed our guys that if we won the ball in close then it was easier to get it going our way,” Winderlich said.

“Jobe Watson and Heath Hocking were terrific in close and made it a lot easier for the rest of the team when they created a good contest in the middle. Their hard work ensured we got first use and got it going our way and into the forward line with a bit of space.

“When we are kicking to one on ones in the forward fifty, it makes it a lot easier to score. This week we kept rolling the ball and pushing the ball forward by hand in order to defeat the zones.""

Winderlich was among Essendon’s best performers for the match, collecting 27 possessions and posting two majors. While pleased with his individual performance, Winderlich said his fitness still needed improving before he could produce his best football.
Click here to read the live scoring report.

“I feel I have come a long way given I didn’t train for two months before Christmas,” Winderlich said.

“I am getting my match fitness back. I am still trying to find that extra 5-10% of fitness that I missed through the conditioning of preseason which I will get with a bit more game time.”

First gamer, David Zaharakis, drew plenty of interest from the match and Winderlich has pencilled the 19-year-old as a potential candidate for this week’s rising star nomination.

“He was terrific this week,’ he said.

“His start was fantastic and that was what we needed. We needed someone to come in and spark the team and he was fantastic.

“David has barracked for Essendon his whole life so I think he was in awe out there.

“It was just great to see the smile on his face and on Quinny’s (Michael Quinn) face.

“Quinny is still learning and although he made a couple of little mistakes, it is good to see him taking the game on and creating something from the backline.

“That was only his fifth game of AFL ever and seeing some of the passages of play that he was able to be involved in was terrific.

“Hopefully he can string a few games together because the more he plays, the better he will get.”

The win will give Essendon confidence going into a rivalry clash against Carlton next week but Winderlich said the team will not become complacent and will work on their deficiencies ahead of the match.

“There were a lot of little basic things like hitting our targets with the handballs, there were a few kicks that got smothered and we obviously needed to give ourselves a bit more room when we do take a mark so we can go back and kick it forward and maintain possession.

“Carlton are a terrific on ball unit who are up and going at the moment so we will need to make sure we get our basics right in terms of our skills otherwise they will hurt us next week.""
Purchase a Bomber Magazine subscription and save 25% off the normal price. Click here to subscribe today.