Michael Hurley says Essendon’s players let the Club’s supporters down with their performance against Brisbane.

A crowd of 41,246 were in attendance for the match at Etihad Stadium – the largest turnout for a game between the two sides since 2009.

The Bombers struggled to find their rhythm but still managed to hold a 27-point lead early in the last quarter.

But the Lions surged home to win by eight points.

“It was a pretty stern message (after the game) that we need to take it upon ourselves,” Hurley said.

“We’ve made some mistakes, we’ve let each other down.

“There was about 40,000 people here today which is fantastic … but we let them down.

“There will be a lot to work on and we really need to improve.”

Hurley was one of the Bombers best, ending the match with a game-high 31 possessions.

He said Brisbane’s ability to control the tempo by spotting up loose targets helped swing the momentum late in the match.

By the final siren the Lions held a +30 advantage in uncontested marks (93-63).

“They were able to strangle us with the way they moved the ball,” Hurley said.

“The uncontested marks they took in the last quarter were extremely high.

“We couldn’t get the ball back off them, they used the ball well, we defended poorly and they got a run on.”

The Bombers slip to 11^th position on the ladder, two games out of the top eight.

The side has a six-day break before coming up against Collingwood at the MCG on Saturday.

“It was a disappointing day and there will be a lot to see on the video,” Hurley said.

“We’re going to need to look at the video, we're going to need to learn and we’re going to need to improve to try and get a win next week.”