Essendon has made a late charge for a top four position after they demolished Fremantle today by 60-points. It was an outstanding team performance by the Bombers, which was led by the skipper James Hird. Assistant coach Mark Harvey said Hird was at his brilliant best today and definitely led by example. “It was a credit to him the way he conducted himself. He finished with 26 touches and also contributed on the scoreboard. It was a fantastic effort by him,” Harvey said.

Essendon led at every change today but it wasn’t until the final quarter when they kicked away and put the final result beyond doubt. “There was a passage in the third quarter where we didn’t score a goal for close to 20 minutes, so to boot four goals in the final 10 minutes of the term really hurt Fremantle and put us in a good position at three quarter time,” Harvey said. Essendon puts its foot on the accelerator in the final term and added another further six goals to its tally.

Spearhead Matthew Lloyd was in outstanding form again today. He booted six goals to bring his tally for the past three games to 23 goals. He currently sits on 85 goals for the season and is on target to kick 100 goals for the third time in his career. “I think Matthew has been in the best form of his career over the past month and definitely the best form I have seen him in. His marking has been outstanding, along with his work at ground level and accuracy in front of goal. He is playing with confidence and hopefully he can carry this form into the next few weeks,” Harvey commented after the match.

David Hille’s performance in the ruck and up forward was also a catalyst to the victory. The 22-year notched up 11 kicks, five marks and six handballs and booted three goals.“Hille kicked a couple of goals and created headaches for Fremantle in the ruck. He played for the majority of the game and was moved into the forwardline in the final term to give Aaron Henneman a run in the ruck. I thought both players worked hard and did well in the ruck and gave us first use of the ball at stoppages,” Harvey said.

The victory today is Essendon’s sixth successive and they have now won eight of its past nine games. Questions have been raised over the quality of opposition Essendon has defeated in recent weeks, but today’s performance against a top eight side should answer some of these critics. “You can only beat your opponent and that is what we have done. To play two top eight sides leading into the finals’ series is a bonus for us. Today’s win will give us confidence heading into the match against Collingwood next week and maybe we are a chance to finish in the top four.”