Essendon coach James Hird believes theBombers 67 point loss to Geelong on Friday night was a timely reminder to histeam of what was needed to be a genuine contender in the competition.

Watch James Hird and Tom Bellchambers post match press conference here on Bomber TV ?

Hird said Geelong had shown throughout thegame – and in particular, in a stunning first quarter – that they could play aswell as any team in the AFL.

""They are as good as we've played thisyear,"" Hird said.

""Maybe we didn't come up to the mark,but in terms of the way an opposition pressured us around the ball and defendedthe ground and were able to move it through the midfield, that was as good aswe've played against.

""They had 15, 16 premiership playersin their side tonight so I can't see why they're not up there with thebest.""

The loss was Essendon's second heavy defeatin three weeks after the 71-point thumping from St Kilda a fortnight earlier.

""It's a sign of how good we had toget. But we certainly didn't come up to the mark in the pressure and how wehandled that pressure and applied it to them. That is a great lesson for us asa team, how good we need to get in that area,"" he said.

""I'm glad to a certain extent we gotit now and not a final like we did last year. It's good to get the lesson, butwe need to learn from those lessons. We're a fair way from being where we wantto be. Whether you guys (the media) believe it or not, we want to develop, wewant to learn and we want to get better with every game we play.""

The Bombers face an in-form Hawthorn nextweek in a match that could turn out to be vital in the final order of the topeight. Hird said that game would give his team another strong indication ofwhere they sit in the league's pecking order.

""The great thing about the rest of theyear for us is we play another outstanding team next week and anotheroutstanding team the week after. We're going to find out a lot about ourselves,how good we are and how much we learn through the year for the next six weeksof the season,"" he said.

""There's no bigger challenge than theHawks next week. Their pressure will be great, they'll move the ball reallywell and they have a potent forward line.

""It's right in front of us.""

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