Footy was a little different in 1993.

Essendon entered its round six clash against Geelong with just one win in the bank, despite the Dons boasting an average score of 123 across the opening five games.

And the feast of scoring only hastened when the side played the Cats.

The two teams engaged in a 42-goal thriller.

At one end Gary Ablett was proving unstoppable. By the final siren he’d kicked 14.7.

“I was looking on in awe, especially of Gary Ablett,” former Essendon player Darren Bewick said. 

“I think Chris Daniher had to start on him and we thought if we could keep him to five or six goals, then we’d be a chance.

“The fact he’d kicked seven or eight by half-time went against what we’d thought.”

But the Bombers had a spearhead of their own also enjoying a day out, with Paul Salmon kicking 10.6.

“To watch the two of them, both completely different players, go about their craft was, as a player, really surreal to see it unfold like that,” Bewick said.

“It happened to be my 100^th game as well, so it was a special day for myself, but to see everything unfold and see who I think it probably the best player I’ve ever seen, Gary Ablett, do what he did – it was a really good day.”

Salmon’s double figure haul looked unlikely when he hobbled to the three quarter time huddle.

He’d injured his hamstring and would end up missing the next three games.

But Essendon Coach Kevin Sheedy wanted one more goal from his full forward against the Cats. 

“I got this really soft free kick and I got ten and hobbled off,’ Salmon said.

“Steve Alessio came on and kicked three in the last, so the big guys did pretty well that day.”

The Bombers ended up winning by 24 points.

The final score read 23.18.156 to 19.18.132. 

“More than just the sideshow of Gary and myself, it was an important turning point in terms of self-belief for that team and it went a long way to giving us the confidence that we could be a contender,” Salmon said. 

Just a few months later, the Bombers were celebrating a premiership.