Sitting fifth on the ladder after back-to-back wins, Essendon are hitting their stride in the 2023 AFLW season.

For Senior Coach Natalie Wood, the growing maturity amongst the playing group has been integral in establishing their good form, stemming from experienced leaders through to their emerging talent.

Speaking after Saturday’s 17-point Dreamtime victory over the Tigers, Wood highlighted the unselfishness of her star players and a focus on owning clearances as key starting points in securing the result.

“Both teams had some really good passages and Richmond were looking really good in the third, so I’m happy that we were able to find a way within the quarter, I thought the players wrestled some of that (momentum) back,” Wood said.

“’Mads’ (Maddy Prespakis) was wearing a pretty heavy tag, and I thought her maturity to wear that and allow us to get a free player in other areas showed great team growth.

“(Clearance improvement) has obviously been something we’ve been trying to chip away at. I thought Steph Wales was doing a great job in starting to get some good clearances and consistency for us. “

The willingness of her players to adapt in different roles has been another important takeaway for Wood, with the group working around injuries to important players such as Georgia Gee and Jacqui Vogt.

Wood highlighted the inclusion of Renee Tierney as a positive from the win, with the 21-year-old’s performance on return allowing other positional shifts around the ground.

“That was obviously disappointing (for Georgia Gee), but the silver lining is that Renee Tierney came out as a forward and we brought her in as that marking, leading forward,” Wood said.

“(Tierney) allowed us to use Sophie Alexander through the ruck a bit more and get her up in the middle of the ground. I thought Renee and Sophie did an excellent job for us in those roles.

“We asked Bonnie Toogood to do a really important job for us late in the game as a high forward around the stoppage to negate some of Richmond’s spread and movement that they clearly had in the third.

“When your leaders are willing to put the team first to get some ascendancy, it’s an easy message to send to the rest of the group and a lot of other players stood up around them as well.”

The Bombers continue to take the ‘one week at a time’ approach with three games remaining in the home-and-away campaign, with focus already drawn to Sunday’s matchup with the Eagles at Windy Hill.

“I know it’s cliché, but we’re trying to focus on the things we can control. We’ve been impressed with how we’ve worked through games, and to get the last two wins has been fantastic,” Wood said.

“It’s due to the players developing a strong sense of who they are as individuals and footballers, building that connection.

“They start their work and recovery now, but it’s with an eye to the next week all the time. I’m seeing a real sense of maturity in the way they’re handling themselves as athletes, which is terrific.”