Injured midfielder Dylan Shiel has praised Ben Rutten’s ability to get his playing group aligned to his vision, as Essendon seeks back-to-back wins for the first time under its senior coach. 

Shiel said Rutten’s level-headedness and consistency as a leader were positively influencing the young and exciting list at the Bombers, who sit at 3-6 in Rutten's first season at the helm since he took over from predecessor John Worsfold.

“Ben certainly looks like he’s enjoying the role. He’s embracing that position of head coach and he looks like he was made for it,” Shiel said.

“He’s done so much work in recent years, he’s learnt a lot since becoming a coach. The way he has operated our football program since taking over has been really good.

"Regardless of the result, I’d imagine it would be really challenging being the head coach of a big football club where there is a lot of noise after a win or loss.

“Ben doesn’t let that noise influence the way he coaches the group or goes about meetings. He’s very consistent, he’s got a vision in mind and he’s well on his way to executing that."

Speaking with RSN Breakfast on Thursday morning, Shiel was probed about Rutten’s tactical nous, highlighting the successful positional changes of teammates Jayden Laverde and Dyson Heppell this season.

Shiel joked that Rutten, an All-Australian backman over a distinguished 229-game career with Adelaide, had a backline bias.

“He thinks everyone should be a defender," he said.

“But (the transformation) of a player like Jayden Laverde is a great example. He was drafted as a talented, athletic forward and it probably just didn’t work out for him in his initial years with a few injury setbacks and form. But the way he’s embraced Ben’s suggestion to go back – he could’ve said no – he's been one of our best defenders all year.

"(Laverde's turnaround has been) largely off his development but (also his) connection with Ben, so he’s been having a great influence on our defenders too.

“It’s the same with Dyson (Heppell) going down back. Ben has had a massive influence on that with the other coaches as well.”

With the Bombers not shying away from their developmental phase with a young crop of talent - they've blooded six AFL debutants this season - Shiel said Sunday’s win over Fremantle was an important and “gritty” win for the emerging group.

“It was a messy win, but it was good and the guys just had to grit (it out). Part of our development right now means that wins aren’t coming easily so we just have to grit through this phase of development,” he said.

“Obviously we’ve been part of some really close games this year, but on the weekend, we were on the right side of one which was great for the guys. Certainly the mood is a lot better around the club during the week.

“Fremantle are a good stoppage team – they have Fyfe, Mundy and Serong who ended up doing a job on Merrett. But we were able to prevent them and stopped them scoring from stoppage so we knew there were areas of the game they were really good at and that we were able to execute. It didn’t look that sexy on the field, but we walked away pretty happy (to get the win).”

The stunning emergence of Darcy Parish as a full-time midfielder has been "phenomenal" according to Shiel, whose own omission from the side due to injury has created an opportunity for the 23-year-old to shine.

Parish has been in scintillating form in his past four games, claiming the Anzac Medal, averaging 35 disposals and collecting 22 votes in the AFL Coaches Association's AFL Champion Player Award. 

“Darcy’s rise has been phenomenal. The way he hunts the footy and accumulates it is as good as anyone you see in the competition at the moment. It’s great for 'Darc' to be getting more midfield time," Shiel said.

"Part of a team that has good depth is that you have players who learn to play outside of their primary role. Some of the best teams in the competition are able to cycle through their players in different parts of the ground.

“Darcy’s game on the weekend was really impressive. He’s had a great month block to be honest and I wouldn’t be surprised if opposition teams start turning their focus off Zach and on to Darcy because he’s having a lot of influence at the moment. Darcy has always shown he’s capable of it and it’s now just being able to do it over the length of the game, and week after week.

“He’s entering that age now where he’s getting consistent with his footy and it’s been really good to see.”

The Bombers will face North Melbourne at 4:40pm in their home game at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

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