Essendon's VFL side has risen to second on the ladder after demolishing Frankston by 94 points at Windy Hill over the weekend.
The Bombers were never challenged, as they carried over their scintillating form from last week, kicking seven unanswered first quarter goals.
“We had a big focus on starting the game well and I thought we did that,” Coach Paul Corrigan said.
“We come out of the blocks early and we just played really predictable football in the first quarter and it really set us up for the rest of the day.”
The spread of nine different goal kickers for the afternoon told the tale of the all-round team performance.
“We spoke about 'team care', and I thought there were times where there were guys in better positions to kick goals, and we gave it off to them.
“And that’s what you want to see from your side, and if you can get that even contribution from all the players it’s great.”
It was the Bomber big-men who stole the show up forward, as Shaun McKernan booted five goals, Tom Bellchambers four, and Jon Giles three.
Corrigan admitted there was, at times, the tendency to rush the ball movement going forward, however he was pleased with how the team used the ball overall.
“Sometimes when you get the luxury of having those talls, you can bomb the ball, but our focus was to still get the ball in quick and get one-on-one match ups and put it to their advantage.
“I thought the boys were able to do that really well and we were able to get some mismatches.”
Courtenay Dempsey was excellent in responding to being left out of the side to play West Coast.
He gathered 28 disposals and played a number of different roles throughout the game.
“I thought his effort forward to apply pressure, then to be used as a hit up and get to the right spots for ground balls was really pleasing. His four quarters were really consistent.”
Jason Winderlich was able to get another VFL game under his belt, building on his performance from last week. The smooth-mover looked more comfortable picking up 20 touches, as he gears up for an AFL call up.
Nick Kommer got through his first game since 2013 unscathed. The menacing 24-year-old showed he hadn’t lost his hunger for the contest, laying a number of nice tackles and creating a few opportunities up forward.
Along with the AFL, the VFL Bombers enjoy a break over the bye, before they begin preparations for Port Melbourne in a fortnight.
“We’re halfway through the season now, so it will be good for the guys to have a little break and freshen up mentally,” said Corrigan.
“When the guys come back, hopefully we can carry that good training form into Port Melbourne and keep that consistent form going that we’ve been building on over the last month.”
Essendon 24.6 (150) defeated Frankston 8.8 (56)
Goals:
Essendon: S. McKernan 5, T. Bellchambers 4, M. Purcell 3, J. Giles 3, L. Dalgleish 3, D. Coghlan 2, J. Merrett 2, J. Schroder, A. Browne
Frankston: J. Cass 2, N. Gardiner 2, J. Newman 2, W. Crowder, J. Douglas
Best:
Essendon: S. McKernan, T. Bellchambers, C. Dempsey, N. O'Brien, K. Aylett, J. Merrett
Frankston: B. Cavarra, J. Pollard, G. Valles, J. Jennings, J. Pongracic, J. Newman
