In a game he describes as one of the greatest ANZAC day wins, assistant coach Ashley Prescott said the victory over Collingwood was one of the best finishes the club has seen.

Speaking on Weekend Rewind, Prescott said while ANZAC day provided some tense moments for the coaching staff, they couldn’t have been happier with the team’s performance.

“I think all day our intensity and desperation at the football was great even though we didn’t take our opportunities when they came. I think we deserved to walk away with the victory,“ he said.

“I definitely thought Dyson would kick that goal from the boundary late in the game, it was on his left side and it was always going to favour him. He’s a fantastic kick of the football and he didn’t look like he was ever going to miss.

“He gave us more of an opportunity then anything, it’s amazing how quickly the game can turn, you only need a few seconds to get the ball out of the centre and fortunately we were good enough to do so.

 
Prescott praised the games of Paddy Ryder, who won the ANZAC day medal, Adam McPhee who kept Travis Cloke out of the game and young gun David Zaharakis who kicked an amazing goal to win the game.

“That goal sums up the sort of player Zaharakis is, he is only young but he is so strong. His ability to take a tackle whether that’s when he handballs or take the pressure when he kicks is an outstanding quality,” he said

“He is a lot like a Joel Selwood in that regard, not worrying about anything else and just executing his skill that really allowed him to kick the goal.

“There are some fantastic photos of him being pushed off balance in mid air but to see it sailing through is a dream come true to him and a lot of Essendon supporters.

“Paddy Ryder was tremendous in the way he took the game on, not only that but his centre bounce work was really good, Josh Fraser is no mug and to get over the top of him and do what he did is fantastic.

“Probably above all from a coaching point of view, even his team-mates point of view, he laid about 19 tackles and his intensity and desperation was first class. He also put a very good tackle on [Shane] O’Bree late in the game which was really important.

“Last week [against North Melbourne] wasn’t Adam McPhee’s best game but he was absolutely brilliant on ANZAC day and it was great to see him do it on his 150th.

“To be switched from forward in the first five minutes, to go down and play on Cloke in the backline was a huge task. Not only did he stop Cloke, but he generated 26 possessions for himself.

“Some of his corridor runs and his use of the ball with both his hands and feet set up his team mates up and proved Adam to be hugely instrumental in the win.”