The rise of young Bomber Kyle Langford continued in Essendon’s exciting victory over North Melbourne on Sunday and the midfielder admits he and the side are “on a roll”.
Langford has impressed since his return to the line-up in round nine, tying together the longest string of senior games he has competed in since 2016.
The 21-year-old gathered 22 disposals, had eight contested possessions and laid seven tackles in the 17-point win, and said his purple patch of form is the result of great effort.
“I’ve worked really hard on my game and it’s good to see it come out in the AFL,” Langford said after the victory.
“It’s satisfying as well, but I’ve still got a long way to go so I’ll continually work on that.”
Langford’s contested play has been a feature of his strong form, and he said he takes pride in his grit in the midfield.
“I love doing it, I love trying to hurt a few blokes if I can,” he said.
The strong win keeps the club’s season well and truly alive having now won five of its last six clashes, and Langford said it was satisfying to start to reap the rewards of the side’s hard work.
“It’s awesome, just another win. We’re on a roll now, we’re getting consistency so another win (and) another step towards finals.
“It’s all the hard work that we’ve been doing over the past couple of months, everything is starting to click and come together.
“It’s so satisfying when it all comes together and you get a win.”
The Bombers were blistering in the opening half, booting 13.6 (84) to the Kangaroos’ 10.4 (64) in the league’s highest-scoring half since 2009.
Langford said he was always confident the team could maintain that standard after the main break and can continue to produce the dashing, attacking style that has defined its impressive form spike.
“We know we’re a fit team and we roll a lot of mids through the middle, so we knew we’d get them in the second half,” he said.
“We’ve had almost two byes, so the boys are pretty fresh. It was a pretty fast game today, but we’re pretty fresh and have got a seven-day break, so (we’ll have a) good recovery and go again.”
Essendon faces another huge challenge next week against the high-flying Magpies at the MCG on Sunday.