Essendon captain Jobe Watson has praised the combination of Jake Carlisle and Joe Daniher, following the on-field absence of ruckmen Tom Bellchambers and Patrick Ryder to injuries.

Watson described the recent performance of Carlisle and Daniher as ‘admirable’, with the pair having to shoulder ruck duties during Essendon’s 81-point win over Carlton on Sunday night.

“Last week when Paddy wasn’t going to play, we said to Jake and Joey ‘look you guys are going to have to do the ruck’ and they both said ‘sure, we’ll have a crack’ which is the type of philosophy you want from young guys,” Watson said.

“They weren’t concerned about their own position on the ground, they were keen on what was best for the team and what they could do and I thought they did an admirable job on Sunday night.”

Speaking in the lead up to the club’s clash against Fremantle on Sunday afternoon, Watson revealed how important the additions of Paul Chapman and Brendon Goddard had been to him in a leadership capacity.

“It’s been really beneficial to add some older, more experienced guys and I think we’re really fortunate that we have a good blend of older and younger guys in the leadership group now too,” Watson told 6PR.

“We added David Myers this year, we also have Dyson Heppell and Heath Hocking in there and I think it’s a bit undervalued how much experience really does count for in games these days and how important it is to have some older heads in your football club.

“I suppose one of the benefits for us under the free agency rule is that we have been able to add a couple of older guys in Chapman and Goddard who have been really able to help with the experience and teaching of the group.”

The Bombers face the difficult task of making the trip west to tackle Fremantle at Patersons Stadium, a fact that wasn’t lost on the 29-year-old skipper.

“It’s a big challenge to go on the road and try to beat Fremantle and we’re obviously going to have to play really well to be competitive and we’re hoping to do so,” Watson said.

“But you don’t get to Grand Finals by accident so we’re going to have to be on our measure to be able to perform against them.

“With a Ross Lyon coached side, there is always a philosophy that the sum of all players is more important than any one individual and we’re expecting it to be a really physical, hard game on Sunday.”