The revitalisation of Essendon has taken a massive step forward, with the Bombers thrashing the Western Bulldogs by 55 points at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

James Hird's men ran their highly-rated opponents ragged in the second quarter, booting six goals to one and setting up a 34-point lead at the long break.

From there, the Bombers largely did as they pleased, getting their season off to a flying start with a 16.17 (113) to 8.10 (58) victory.

Essendon's new game plan smothered the Bulldogs, whose usually fluent running play was nowhere to be seen.

So good was Essendon's press in the second term, the Bombers recorded 24 inside-50s to eight. By the end of the match, the inside-50 count read 71 to 40.
 

Bombers skipper Jobe Watson was best on ground, while young midfielder Jake Melksham, and ruckmen David Hille and Paddy Ryder, were all influential.

Essendon had 10 goalkickers, with Watson among a host of players to finish with two.

The Bulldogs actually started the afternoon in good touch, and raced to an early 13-point thanks to goals from Hall and recruit Nathan Djerrkura.

But after leading by three points at the opening change, they fell apart in the face of Essendon's relentless pressure, and managed to boot only four more majors for the rest of the game.

Star midfielders Matthew Boyd, Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen and Daniel Cross all topped the 20-possession mark, yet they were unable to exert any influence on the contest.
 

Essendon 3.4 9.12 13.15 16.17 (113)

Western Bulldogs 4.1 5.2 7.5 8.10 (58)

GOALS

Essendon: Ryder 2, Watson 2, Monfries 2, Hurley 2, Stanton 2, Zaharakis 2, Crameri, Winderlich, McVeigh, Myers

Western Bulldogs: Hall 2, Giansiracusa 2, Djerrkura, Wood, Grant, Hill

BEST

Essendon: Watson, Hille, Hocking, Stanton, Jetta, Melksham, Ryder, Heppell

Western Bulldogs: Hudson, Higgins, Ward, Picken, Markovic

INJURIES

Essendon: None

Western Bulldogs: None

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Farmer, Kennedy, Findlay

Official crowd: 42,617 at Etihad Stadium