The VFL coaches have reviewed Sunday’s loss to Coburg thoroughly and are hoping for significant improvements for this Sunday’s game against Footscray.
Senior coach Mathew Egan said the 31-point loss was really disappointing and that there was plenty to learn from the match.
“It’s a game that we wanted to be really competitive in and work really hard to get the win,” Egan said.
“Credit to Coburg, they are a really competitive team that have lost a couple of close games against Port Melbourne and Box Hill. They were right up and about and used the ball really well.
“We were a little bit off in parts of our game, our contest work and in our defence – we let them go from end to end too easily. We have a bit to work on.”
The Bombers trailed at half time, but kicked three goals to one in the third term to take a six-point lead heading into the final quarter.
“To be in the game when I thought we weren’t playing that well is the positive, we had our chances to get the win,” Egan said.
“I think our execution hurt us, we probably weren’t direct enough with the ball. At times we got some really good overlap and instead of going long and deep to a one on one, we went sideways and turned it over and that put us under pressure.
“When we did use the open side of the ground and switched the ball and our defenders joined in with some good overlap, we were scoring and we looked really dangerous. It’s just a matter of trying to recreate that."
Jordan Schroder and Josh Freezer returned to the side while Ben Dobson made his Essendon VFL debut.
Egan said the Bombers can learn from their previously winless opposition, whose win elevated them from the foot of the ladder.
“They worked really hard and spread well, we probably dropped our head when they got a run on. It’s trying to learn from those situations and no matter what, you have to really earn wins and Coburg earned it,” Egan said.
“We are clear with what we need to work on and footy moves pretty quickly, once we have done the review we will work hard this week and tidy up some areas.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom with several players showing signs of improvement as they try and work their way into the seniors.
“I thought it was Shauny Edwards’ best game of the year, that’s his second week in a row and he's showing some consistency. I love seeing him run and carry the ball forward,” Egan said.
“Marty Gleeson was damaging at half back, he took four mark intercepts and rebounded really well.
“Hamsy again - he has always been an inside midfielder but is starting to get them on the outside a little bit more.
“Yestin Eades' work rate to get up the ground and give us release options from defence but then work his butt off to get back in the forward line was outstanding. It was his best game of the season.
“It was probably Aaron Heppell’s best game as well, he is having a really consistent season and I thought he was one of our cleanest players on the day which was great.”
The fourth placed Essendon will host the seventh Footscray at Windy Hill from 12pm on Sunday.
It is a big game for the Bombers with both sides sitting on three wins and three losses and desperate to stay in touch with the top four.
“Footscray are a really good side, it’s a huge test for us,” Egan said.
“Similar to their seniors (Western Bulldogs) they press the ground really aggressively and in attack they move the ball with real fluency and speed.
“Our defence has to be really strong and we have to work hard on that this week but it’s just tidying up our basic fundamentals like our contested ball and our method around the contest which is first and foremost.”
The Bombers will be without James Ferry who injured his knee early in the first quarter on Sunday.
“It’s disappointing because he is one of our better players and does impact forward or back,” Egan said.
“He’s a big loss, we haven’t got the full results back yet but hopefully it isn’t long term which it doesn’t look to be at this stage which is great news.”