The results haven’t been ideal, but they’re not giving up the fight for finals.
That’s the mentality forward Kyle Langford says Essendon has taken with four rounds left in the home and away season.
Not shying away from the reality of three disappointing losses, Langford believes the Bombers can turn their fortunes around.
In a season which has seen constant form swings amongst the competition and an unsettled top eight, the 27-year-old states the hard lessons of recent weeks has galvanised the playing group into aiming to make amends.
“Our performance (against St Kilda) was not AFL level,” Langford told 1116 SEN.
“Although we’ve had a couple of bad performances, we’ve had a tough week on the track, some honest truths, and the reality of it is we have four games left to qualify for finals.
“We’ve seen teams fall for a month and then pick themselves up and get going again.
“That’s our aim and we are looking forward to going out and making amends this weekend.”
On a personal note, round 21’s clash with Fremantle will see Langford play his 150th AFL game and become a Life Member of Essendon.
Initially taken with pick No.17 in the 2014 AFL National Draft, Langford gradually found his feet in multiple positions throughout the early stages of his career before settling into a key forward role.
Langford’s career skyrocketed after a breakout 2023 where he was an All-Australian Squad member, runner up-in the Crichton Medal and a winner of the Matthew Lloyd Leading Goalkicker Award with 51 majors.
As he continues to star in 2024 as the Bombers’ leading goalkicker with 37 majors, Essendon’s No.4 wouldn’t change a thing about his journey and feels he’s just getting started.
“It’s a huge honour to have played 150 games of AFL football. I feel like I’m only getting started based off of last year and I’ve got the best footy in front of me,” Langford said.
“What I learnt over that journey has made the player I am today. The midfield time and craft I learned in those three to four years, I’ve put into my forward craft. If I stayed forward, I might not have got there.”
