You can typically count on Dreamtime at the ‘G to be a hard-fought contest, and Essendon’s 12-point win over Richmond on Saturday night was no exception.

In dewy conditions and hosting a bumper crowd of nearly 80,000 people, the Bombers were forced into a four-quarter arm wrestle against the Tigers, who showed a much-improved effort on the big stage.

For Assistant Coach Dale Tapping, the Dons’ ability to withstand pressure late in tight games has been a pleasing element of their game in recent weeks, even though the coaching group are identifying clear areas for improvement.

“At the moment, there’s great growth for us to keep improving our footy but at the same time we’re winning in an arm wrestle, which is pleasing,” Tapping said.

“We’re really pleased to get to the end with another four points, but (it was) particularly frustrating at times throughout the course of the night, the conditions actually represented a bit of a challenge for us and we took a while to adapt.

“We felt as a coaching group we just overused the ball particularly early in the game, we missed some opportunities around that.”

Stoppage work will be one of the key areas for the Bombers’ growth going forward.

Despite a strong start to the year on that front, they’ve been outdone in clearance numbers by Richmond and the Kangaroos in the last fortnight, which the coaches are keen to address.

“It’s around getting your balance right at stoppage and when you are out, not giving the opportunity to the opposition to win it back,” Tapping said.

“We had opportunities to get the ball forward and overused the hand again and you do the job for them in terms of losing that territory battle.

“We tried a couple of different things throughout the course of the night in bringing an extra number up, bringing one just behind the ruck and those sorts of things, but we’ll continually try to evolve that part of our game.”

While the ladder positions of each side leading into Saturday’s game might’ve suggested a more one-sided outcome, Tapping knows you have to pay respect to every team in the competition’s current state.

With numerous upsets already seen over the course of the season and every side showing their capabilities at different stages, the Bombers are expecting each opponent to be at their best.

“(Richmond have) had some indifferent performances in the last couple of weeks but they’re going to respond and they responded tonight,” Tapping said.

“You always prepare for their best, they beat (ladder leaders) Sydney early in the year, so you’ve got to give them the utmost respect in a really, really tight competition.

“There’s nothing between top and 15^th in terms of ‘any given day, any given quarter, any given moment’, there can be a shift.”

The composure of Jordan Ridley down the stretch gave a massive boost for the Dons behind the ball, quelling Richmond’s momentum and generating counter attacks of his own.

Marking his first game back in more than 10 months following niggling quad injuries, a 31-disposal, 13-mark performance earnt Ridley the Yiooken Award as best afield.

Itching to return to the senior side over the past month, Ridley’s smooth comeback came as no surprise to Tapping, who hailed the 25-year-old’s importance to the line-up.

“We value him really highly, but (it just shows) the quality of him as an AFL player,” Tapping said.

“He’s a top flight performer, he’s been building over the last month or so with training and we’ve been really deliberate in terms of getting him right.

“He’s just a player that once we’ve got him back in and playing good footy, we want to keep him going forward.”

Alongside Ridley’s return, the debut of No.10 pick Nate Caddy was another storyline Bomber fans kept a keen eye on throughout the night, with the key forward showcasing some promising signs in game one.

With the 18-year-old taking marks up the ground and coming close to opening his scoring account on a couple of occasions, Tapping believes the performance gave a good account of Caddy’s development in the last month.

“(It’s) really exciting, he’s been really building,” Tapping said.

“He had a couple of little niggles (in pre-season) that just took him out of the program for a week or two and he couldn’t build momentum, but his last month or five weeks have been really promising.

“He deserved his opportunity tonight with ‘Jonesy’ (Harry Jones) unfortunately copping a week and he was good, could’ve ended up with a couple (of goals) and competed really well.

“We weren’t surprised by what he gave us and there’s a lot of upside with him, footy craft and forward craft that he’ll continue to build throughout his career.”

The next test for the Bombers comes in the form of Gold Coast at People First Stadium this Sunday, who’ve caused headaches for opponents travelling north so far this year.

Taking a lot away from Saturday night’s review, Tapping’s ready for the Dons to weigh up their credentials against a talented Suns side.

“We’ll digest and review this one first, there’s some good learning for us particularly late in the game,” Tapping said.

“Gold Coast’s best performances have been north of the border (in Queensland and the NT), so we’ve got to give them the utmost respect. They’re an improving outfit that’ve got great talent and depth, it’ll be another challenge for us but we look forward to it.

“We’ll prepare for their best and have another go.”