Essendon’s plan to run several quality ball users off the halfback line was a contributing factor in Saturday night’s win over the Power.
Midfielder Brendon Goddard believes starting Jason Winderlich and Brent Statnon down back caught the Power of guard.
“It was probably something that surprised them a little bit,” Goddard admitted.
“A lot of the midfielders went through there to be honest, I spent a little bit of time there along with David Myers.”
“But for Stants and Licka the plan was to set up there and to be honest they’re some of our most experienced players and are guys that are great communicators, so it helped in that area.”
“In the end it was a good plan and essentially set up the game for us and the win.”
The star Bomber midfielder said it was quality over quantity in the team’s ability to apply pressure around the contest in the two-point win.
“It’s not so much about getting numbers around the footy, it was the (quality of) guys that were around the footy to beat them essentially,” he said.
“Then there we can set up our game get it in our forward half and get the upper hand because they do like to play quick footy and it was about trying to slow them up to get the game on our terms.”
It was a scrappy contest for both teams in greasy conditions with Essendon obliterating the Power in the tackle count finishing 96-62, and having the upper hand in close.
“It was an area we focused on because they are a good contested ball team that essentially sets up the rest of the play,” Goddard said.
“A lot of the time they do get the game on their terms and play the way they want to and if we could take that away from them it was definitely going to go a long way to winning the game.”
Despite the trying conditions, the 29-year-old said he was happy with the Bombers ability to apply scoreboard pressure.
“It was a bit of an arm-wrestle and we did manage to hit the scoreboard when we did go forward,” he said.
“That was obviously important because our conversion rate has been poor probably in the last month, month and a half. But it was definitely an area we felt like we did well in.”
