Essendon coach James Hird says his side's inability to copewith West Coast's pressure was the biggest reason for its 57-point loss atPatersons Stadium on Saturday.
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The Bombers were competitive against the Eagles for much ofthe match and even led at half-time but faded out late in the game as the hostskicked 12 of the last 15 goals to win 20.14 (134) to 11.11 (77).
Although Hird said injuries to Andrew Welsh (face), JobeWatson (concussion) and Stewart Crameri (shoulder) ruined their interchangerotations late in the game and left them fatigued, the bigger issue was WestCoast's greater intensity.
Hird said that was an area Essendon would have to improve into match the top sides in this year's finals.
""We certainly played okay in the first half but thesecond half was a bit disappointing,"" he said.
""I wouldn't use the injuries as an excuse today, wewere out-pressured. West Coast certainly had the better of us and would havewon the game anyway.
""The Eagles were terrific, their pressure all through thegame was fantastic. They just didn't allow us to use the ball the way we wantedto use it. For the amount of ball we had, they stopped us using it effectively.
""We're physically still trying to get ourselves to thelevel of the top sides and we'll be doing that over the next 12 or 18 months.""
Hird said one positive for the Bombers was that the initialdiagnoses for Welsh, Watson and Crameri were all positive.
The first-year coach said that Michael Hurley and TaytePears, who both missed the game with general soreness, were certain to returnfor Essendon's must-win game against struggling Port Adelaide next Sunday.
Despite the loss, victory against the Power will all butguarantee Essendon a finals spot, and Hird said the return of youngster Hurleywould be a major boost.
""They (Watson and Crameri) are okay. They'll be alrightfor next week, or we hope so anyway,"" Hird said.
""Crameri hasn't had any problems with it before and itwent back in pretty easily, so he'll be alright.
""But it's too early to say with Welsh. When you get aknock to the head, you just want to make sure they're okay early in the week,so we'll reassess.
""We'll be bringing Hurley and Pears back into the team,we hope Crameri is all right and we hope Watson and Welsh are all right.
""We know in our minds that we have to beat PortAdelaide to give ourselves any chance and we've got eight days to prepare. Wejust have to beat them, there are no two ways about it.""
