While Dreamtime at the ‘G ended up as a disappointing night for Essendon, it started with a moment Jake Stringer will “cherish forever”.

The gun Bombers recruit ran onto the MCG for his 100^th AFL game on Saturday night and was thrilled to be able to share it with his two young daughters.

They may have been overawed by the occasion of the annual blockbuster, but it didn’t tarnish the precious time for Stringer.

“It was good, they got a bit of stage fright with the loud crowd. Milla was crying at the start and then I calmed her down and then Arlo started crying,” Stringer said post-match.

“It was really special that I got to have that 10 seconds with them and it was something that I’ll cherish forever.”

Stringer had career-high tallies for disposals (29), contested possessions (16) and clearances (nine, including five centre breaks), but said his efforts meant nothing to him after the 71-point loss to Richmond.

“It’s always good to be able to finish the game off without an injury, but in saying that its disappointing the loss that we’ve had tonight.

“So it doesn’t make it any better or any worse if I’ve had a career-high, all you want is the win each week.”

The Tigers are famous for their vicious pressure, but Stringer highlighted strong structure as their greatest asset.

“They’re a good outfit, they set up really well defensively. We probably got caught too high, which made it hard for us to be able to score.

“That’s something that we’ll work on this week and hopefully get the tidy up that we need during the week on Thursday and hopefully we can go up to Brisbane and get the job done.

“I think they always talk about (Richmond’s) pressure and everything – their pressure is elite – but the way they set up defensively is quite impressive.

“They set up their six defenders really well and their mids get back and transition and work hard forward, so they’ve got a good formula and they’re the benchmark.”

The former Bulldog regretted the side’s slow start to the game after Richmond put the Bombers quickly on the back foot with the first five goals of the game.

“It was obviously a disappointing night for the boys. It probably started in that first quarter, we let them get out to a five-goal lead, which makes it hard,” Stringer said.

“To the boys’ credit they fought back there for a little bit, but just weren’t able to contain it for the four quarters.”

Stringer said it is crucial that the Bombers stay focused and motivated to ensure they can bounce back quickly in their clash with the Lions with the season on the line next week.

“Next week’s a big week for us going up to Brisbane, they’re always good up there. So we’ve got to go up there with our best mindset and get ready to put the hard work in.

“And then we’ll enjoy the bye just to freshen up and then get ready for a big second half of the year. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do, so we’ll just continue to grind away.”