Essendon coach John Worsfold has thrown his support behind the Bombers’ leaders following the side’s disappointing 72-point loss to Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
The Dons were comprehensively beaten in the contest throughout the game, finishing with 40 fewer contested possessions than the Giants in a frustrating start to the season.
The performance has since drawn scrutiny in the media for a perceived lack of leadership on the field, but Worsfold is confident the squad can respond strongly this week.
“I’m really proud of the young group we’ve got in our leadership group, they’re all going to be outstanding leaders at this footy club,” Worsfold said on Tuesday.
“They set a great example in terms of work ethic and what we want to stand for.
“Some individuals had average games on the weekend, but leadership is not just around having a great game and being the best player every week.
“They definitely learnt some lessons around that on the weekend.
“It’s how they respond, what they do during the week, how they get around their teammates, how they lead the way in terms of the response (that) is a big part of it.”
Worsfold said the heavy defeat was the result of several factors on the field, with a lack of intensity on the ball triggering a domino effect across the ground.
“It certainly doesn’t come down to one area,” he said.
“We didn’t score anywhere near as we’d like to score and we let the opposition score way too much, and we got smashed around the contest.
“All of those things are so linked to each other; if we were better at the contest we would have gone forward more quickly and created better scoring opportunities, and would have had more pressure on the ball going into our back half and would have defended better.”
John Worsfold addresses his side at GIANTS Stadium on Sunday.
Worsfold said there had been a mood of disappointment within the squad this week, but reinforced the players are fired up to return to return to their best.
“It wasn’t the way we want to play. The players are well and truly aware of that, they don’t need me to tell them that.
“They’re telling me that they’re disappointed, that it wasn’t what they stand for, it wasn’t what they want to be known for and they want to address that.”
With just a six-day break heading into the Bombers’ important clash with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, Worsfold said changes to the side are a distinct possibility.
Young midfielder Darcy Parish – fresh off the back of an impressive five-goal performance in the VFL side’s 100-point practice match thrashing of Coburg – is among the chances to be included in the senior side this week.
“He’ll be in the mix, well and truly in the mix. But there’s a couple of other players that played really well in the VFL, so we’ll assess what we think’s our best line-up.
“We’ll pick our best midfield and if we think Darcy is in that, he’ll be in it.
“The reason he missed out last week was he couldn’t force his way into that midfield.
“(If) you look at the performances even of our more senior midfielders, they didn’t really perform at the required level.
“Is that enough now to say right, they’re out of form and we drop them? Or do we back in their resolve, their experience and their passion that they’ll rebound?”
The first bounce on Saturday is set for 4:35pm.
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