Emerging Essendon midfielder Andrew McGrath says the side’s brigade of youngsters have helped drive the standards at the club with several experienced Dons on the sidelines.

The young guns stood up brilliantly in Essendon’s 41-point defeat of Carlton on Sunday, handling the tough winter conditions with aplomb.

The side’s inexperienced midfield was particularly effective, with McGrath, Dylan Clarke, Darcy Parish and Matt Guelfi stepping up to the plate in the absence of stars Devon Smith, Dylan Shiel and Jake Stringer.

“On the whole, it was a great team performance; we had a lot of contributors across the board,” McGrath said after the victory.

“I was really happy with how the young boys played tonight, I think we all lifted with a few key players going out and moving onto next week, that’s our benchmark now.

“Us younger guys are really pushing and really driving to increase the standards and push those older guys to new levels.”

Andrew McGrath and Darcy Parish were brilliant in the absence of some star midfielders on Sunday. (Image: AFL Photos)

That is not to say the club’s experienced heads didn’t also play a key part in the win as captain Dyson Heppell led impressively from the front with 36 disposals, 22 contested possessions, seven clearances, five inside 50s, two goal assists and a goal of his own.

McGrath – who turned 21 on Sunday – claimed 32 disposals, 11 contested possessions, six marks and four inside 50s himself, and said the important victory came off the back of sticking to the side’s system.

“We wanted to hunt the ball, we wanted to run and we wanted to communicate, and we did all those three things really well throughout the night, stuck to it and we knew we’d break them in the end.”

Greater opportunities in the midfield have seen McGrath take career-high averages for disposals, tackles, inside 50s, clearances and contested possessions into this week’s mid-season bye.

He said he feels he is “going well” in his transition onto the ball after spending the majority of his first two seasons across the backline, but he is looking forward to taking the week off to refresh ahead of the back half of the year.

“The body’s a little bit tired now, but we get to reset again and face the Hawks in a fortnight’s time.

“I’m sure we’ll enjoy the break, but also with the Hawks in the back of our mind.”

McGrath has thrived with more opportunities on the ball in 2019. (Image: AFL Photos)

The Bombers are sitting at five wins and six losses in 10^th position on the ladder and while McGrath admitted it has been a disappointing start to the year, he said room for improvement provides some excitement for the remainder of the season.

“We’ve been a little bit inconsistent and haven’t really played a full game of Essendon footy yet.

“It’s exciting, but also a little bit disappointing and hopefully we can turn the corner at the break and start to put more consistent performances together.”

The players will return to training at the end of this week as they prepare for the huge clash with Hawthorn in round 13.