Leadership group

In the absence of Brendon Goddard, Mark Baguley and James Gwilt – Essendon needed the remaining members of its leadership group to step up and they more than delivered.

Zach Merrett in his first game as Captain continued his brilliant season, collecting 38 possessions.  David Zaharakis was back to his best, gathering 40 touches through the midfield, while Joe Daniher took eight marks a kicked a goal.

Defence

Gold Coast had 25 more inside 50’s than Essendon, yet the Dons defence held up.

Patrick Ambrose kept Tom Lynch to just one mark inside the forward 50, while Matt Dea overcame a 10-centimetre height differential to keep Sam Day in check.

Michael Hartley courageously returned to the field to resume his job on Peter Wright after a blow to the face broke his nose.

Martin Gleeson (23 possessions) and Conor McKenna (22 possessions and two goals) provided drive from defence, while Mitch Brown again showed the benefits of his versatility switching to the backline to help cover Hartley. 

Senior standouts

Mathew Stokes returned to the side for the first time since round 15.  He had the ball 32 times, including 14 in the last quarter. 

James Kelly (26 possessions), Craig Bird (25) and Jonathan Simpkin (24) were also influential.

All four players have tasted premiership success and their calmness in the last quarter as the Bombers took the lead was evident.

Long’s debut

He ended the game with 13 disposals and the crowd cheered every one of them.

Long showed he is quick, evasive and his tackling skills belie his frame. 

His pass to Daniher gave every Essendon fan a nice, warm feeling.