Essendon senior coach Ben Rutten was disappointed not to come home with a win, but said the effort, especially after half-time, was pleasing in his side's 16-point loss to Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

The Bombers dominated most of the third quarter and won the second half by 15 points.

They finished with just one less scoring shot, but had eight more inside 50s, and were in front in hitouts (38-30), clearances (36-34) and centre clearances (14-4).

"The way our guys adapted to the conditions and played that third quarter in particular was a real positive step forward for us," Rutten said.

"We're not where we want to be as a group, the guys are hurting because of that.

"I think there was enough out of tonight, I think, for us to be able to take with us and continue to work though."

Rutten lamented Essendon's inability to hit the scoreboard in the first half.

The Bombers trailed by 20 points at quarter-time after kicking 0.6 for the term, and went into half-time down by 31 points, with 2.9 on the board.

"We didn't quite convert our opportunities; scoring shots were pretty similar at half-time, we just kicked eight points, I think, to start with," Rutten explained.

"There was a fair bit of optimism at half-time, based on the way we were competing and the way the game was being played.

"It was just our inability to make the most of our opportunities."

Rutten also dismissed any concern over a verbal exchange between captain Dyson Heppell and star midfielder Darcy Parish during the quarter-time break. 

"I would imagine it's having an honest conversation about how we can get better," Rutten said.

"That is certainly what I want to encourage amongst our guys.

"There is enough level of relationship, trust, connection there that I would be really confident it is done in the right way and about how we can get better and how we can improve.

"That is important for us, to be having those conversations.

"It's problem-solving live, in the heat of the battle. That is what we need to be really good at doing."

Essendon has a bye in round 12, before hosting arch-rival Carlton at the MCG in round 13.