Essendon will make history on Saturday when it faces Casey Demons in an elimination final at Casey Fields from 12pm, having finished fifth on the VFLW ladder.

It will be the first time the Bombers have played finals since their inauguration in 2018, with the side finishing the home and away season on eight wins and two losses.

This is a significant milestone for Essendon’s VFLW program and for head coach Brendan Major, who has been at the helm since their establishment, with a maiden finals appearance highlighting how far women’s football at Essendon has come.

“It’s just fantastic for the players to experience on-field success. In the first couple of seasons, it was a lot about building and trusting the process and staying the course,” Major said.

“They stuck through that when results didn’t go our way so it’s exciting for the playing group to get that on-field success.”

Essendon recorded its first win of the season against the Demons back in round two, prevailing by eight points in a close encounter.

The two teams could hardly be separated on the ladder at the end of the season, with Casey claiming fourth position by a meagre 0.6 per cent.  

While the round two win was reassuring, Major said his team wouldn’t take too much from it due to the significant changes in line-ups for both sides.

“It’s probably too early in the season and a lot of things have changed. We’ve had a lot of personnel change throughout the team,” he said.

“Since then, they’ve had a really successful season. They’ve been really competitive, finishing above us on the ladder, so they’ve worked on their systems a lot and they’re playing good football.

“So it’s nice (to have won) and I think going there doesn’t hold any fear for us, but we can’t take too much away from the round two game.”

As the Casey Demons are affiliated with Melbourne’s AFLW side, they can rotate top-level players through their VFLW side, making it challenging to predict who will line up for them on Saturday.

But Major said the Bombers’ improvement since their round two clash would help them overcome the strength of the Demons and any AFLW player who may come into the side.

“We are in a really unique situation where they don’t really have a continuity of a team - they can rotate AFLW players in and out,” he said.

“I think across the park we are going to field a really strong side this week. Our systems are a lot better than they were at the start of the year, so we’re confident that we can match up well. It’s just whether we execute on the day.”

The Bombers have struggled against AFLW-aligned clubs this year, going down to North Melbourne, Geelong and Western Bulldogs.

But in a confidence-boosting display, they managed to get within 10 points of the ladder-leading Collingwood in round eight, with the Pies finishing the season undefeated.

Major admitted his side struggled against the AFLW clubs because of their high-intensity levels, but said his side was better placed heading into finals after suffering those defeats.

“Our biggest struggle when we’ve come up against AFLW teams is maintaining our composure when we are really pressured, so that’s something we will be working on to just play our systems even when the pressure comes,” he said.

“When we have played AFLW teams, especially through the middle of the year, we struggled to continuously play our football and move the ball the way we wanted to. The goal for us this week is to just stick to our game-plan and the way we want to play, and not get drawn into how the other team wants us to play.”

Although the Demons can bring in more experienced players, Essendon could utilise youth and expose the next generation of stars to finals football.

Throughout the season, the Bombers have had nine players step up from the NAB League and all have had a significant impact on the team.

In their final home and away match against Darebin, Calder Cannons players Emilia Yassir, Georgie Prespakis and Tahlia Gillard were among the Bombers’ best.

Their addition to the Bombers’ line-up has been extremely beneficial, with Major attributing their composure and ability to confidently take their game to the next level to the preparation they had at underage level.

“They’ve been fantastic. We’ve been very lucky to have the two feeder clubs that we have in Bendigo (Pioneers) and Calder (Cannons). The players have come in really ready. They’re really well conditioned with great attitudes, and they’ve played their roles,” he said.

“It has been a testament to the programs they’ve come out of and the individuals themselves to come in and play the type of football that they have at this level, because it is a big jump with the strong bodies, so they have presented themselves quite well.”

With the help of the NAB League players, the Bombers will head into their maiden finals series with back-to-back wins after defeating Williamstown by 21 points and Darebin by 51 points.

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These two convincing victories, coming off the back of the month-long lockdown, has given Essendon confidence and lifted its spirits.

Major said despite these wins, his team would continue to focus on the same goals it has had throughout the season.  

“I think it’s just positive energy. Players are coming in and playing their role and they are understanding better what they need to do as lines, as groups, and as individuals, so it’s given us a really good understanding,” he said.

“We’ve built week in and week out. We talk about what we can do in the next five minutes, what can we do in this game that builds on what we’ve been trying to build on. We won’t change anything in a week like this, we just try to keep going in the direction that we are going.”

Although the Bombers’ focus is on the elimination final against the Demons, Major said making finals was just a part of the journey for the future of women’s football at Essendon.

“For us, it’s exciting that the players have had some success and this is another stepping stone for us,” he said.

“Any successful program wants sustained success but it’s about continuing to stay the course and work on what we’ve been building.”