Essendon withstood a deluge of inside 50s, but eventually it proved too much with Richmond recording a narrow win in the Dreamtime at the ‘G clash.

The Tigers drove the ball inside 71 times compared to the Bombers 42.

Essendon midfielder Darcy Parish said the repeat entries the Tigers were able to generate was a key factor in the final result.

“We just went away from our game … the rebound 50s really cost us in the end, we butchered the footy,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll learn from this, train really hard and re-group and go again next week.”

Parish said the Bombers would focus on improving their ball use out of the back half ahead of the match against GWS on Saturday.

“It’s just that rebound and using the ball coming out of the defensive 50, that's a big key for us,” he said.

Parish ended the match with 24 possessions, five marks and four tackles.

With greater depth in the midfield this season, Parish has been able to spend more time in the forward half.

“I’m spending a bit of time up forward which is nice,” Parish said.

“I’m learning a new role which is great for my development. 

“It’s good to find a bit of the footy but we didn’t get the result and hopefully we can go again next week.”