That’s a way to bounce back.
Essendon booted the first six goals unanswered to blitz rivals Carlton at Windy Hill on Saturday, reaching a game-high lead of 44 points in the final term before eventually cruising to a 32-point win.
After the Bombers struggled to hit the scoreboard in the loss to West Coast a week prior, Senior Coach Natalie Wood was thrilled by her side’s ability to finish off their work this time around.
“I was really happy with the way we started the game. Obviously we spoke about being off our best last week and I thought today the players did a really good job of turning up ready to compete and took our opportunities when we had that in the first half,” Wood said.
“Carlton were really good in the second half and equalised a lot of that ball around the middle, but it’s a really good bit of growth for us in that we started well but were able to capitalise.”
Knowing Carlton’s stoppage strengths, a key facet for the Bombers was to negate their running game through the middle, which paid dividends from the defensive pressure of Georgia Nanscawen and Brooke Walker (19 combined tackles).
As the Bombers continue to build, that ability to stay diligent in the midfield battle remains an important component.
“Just being better around the ball (is a focus). We had better balance, we had some different personnel and roles, I thought we were able to take that (explosiveness) away from Carlton in the first half which gave us some looks forward,” Wood said.
“We’re trying to build our method and our style of play, (with) that challenge of still evolving as that younger group.
“We’re just learning how to handle different scenarios better.”
Another strong contributor was 50th-gamer Sophie Alexander, who lived up to the ‘Magic’ nickname on her milestone day with a brilliant three-goal outing.
In front of a bumper crowd at Windy Hill, it was one of many highlights on a cracking day for Wood and the Bombers.
“’Soph’ (Alexander) plays so well to our structure, she commands the others to get in a really good spot and I thought today she was terrific at taking her opportunities,” Wood said.
“When you see (players) have a successful day on a milestone game, it’s really special.
“Today there was around 4,000 people here, it’s just so terrific to have an old rival in Carlton and to have so many people supporting and the stands being filled, it feels like about (12,000) so it was a really good day.”
The Bombers look ahead to the final round of the home-and-away season, where a trip to Mackay and a clash with the Gold Coast Suns awaits.
For Wood, the game is yet another proving ground for a Bombers side looking to secure a maiden finals berth.
“This is a really good opportunity to test ourselves see how we stack up. Their strengths are different to ours and Carlton’s, so we’re really looking forward to this game and the travel,” Wood said.
