The Essendon coaches have drawn a number of positives from their honest assessment of the loss to the Eagles in round 11 of the 2015 season. 

Competitive early in the game, Essendon were unable to stop the immense attacking pressure of West Coast who ran out winners by 50-points.

James Hird highlighted the improvement from last week’s performance against Geelong believing that there was much more ‘guts’ to the teams’ performance.

However, he also noted the growing problem of not being able to match the opposition’s intensity for the entire quarter with the Eagles able to score freely in the dying stages of the term. 

“I thought the boys’ effort and intensity was there,” said Hird

“They came with that effort and intensity and I think it slipped away a bit in the second quarter.

“We’re really struggling in the back end of quarters.”

Midfield:

Midfield coaches Mark Harvey and Hayden Skipworth were pleased with the efforts of Carlisle, Daniher and Ambrose in the ruck against Naitanui after the club decided not to play a recognised ruck man. 

The inexperienced three prong combination were able to win a total of eight clearances compared to Naitanui’s six. A small victory but something that Skipworth believed the boys could be pleased with.

Playing without a ruck did mean that the Eagles were able to win the majority of the stoppages and move the ball on to targets around the ground, with the final clearance tally clearly in the opposition’s favour. 

“Quite simply, we allowed their best players to play well,” said Harvey

“They really dictated around stoppages where the ball was going to go.” 

Harvey was also clear that the over possessing was not necessarily a negative. Rather, he believed that the inability to transition the ball forward from this possession was the real problem.

“If we’re going to have 400 plus possessions we need a better return than 35 inside 50s.

“That’s something that’s a clear focus.”

 Forward:

After a poor performance last week there was a lot of pressure on Essendon’s forward line to score heading into the game this week. 

When Dyson Heppell opened the scoring through a nice transition play involving both Zach Merrett and Joe Daniher, it appeared that our forward structure’s movement and communication was much improved on the week before. 

The Eagles defence, however, proved to be too much for the club’s young forwards.

The addition of Shaun Edwards was one of the highlights for assistant coach Nathan Bassett, who believes that his speed and creativity were both great assets throughout the game.

“Shaun Edwards certainly showed something,” said Bassett

“He showed some good dash and a bit of run.

“It was good for him to get a couple of goals.” 

Defence: 

It was another tough night for Essendon’s back six who were once again bombarded by the opposition’s constant attack.

Once again it was the reliable Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley, Michael Hibberd and Mark Baguley who were able to hold-up for much of the night allowing only 12 marks from 55 Eagle inside 50s. 

Matthew Egan believes that although the all around pressure was greater from the whole team, there were still too many easy goals from turnovers, an area that the club continue to work on. 

Egan also praised the effort of Hooker on Eagle Josh Kennedy, who was kept to three goals for the entire game.

The team will now have some time off over the bye to regroup and refresh, before coming back for the remainder of the season. 

“We’ve got 11 games to go and we’re certainly going to have a crack,” said James Hird

“I want 11 wins.”