Zach Merrett was just 18 and playing his 14th game when he tasted his first victory over the Bulldogs.

Seven seasons later, and with the honour of leading out his teammates as stand-in skipper, Merrett finally got to savour his second win over the Dogs, ending Sunday evening with the E.J Whitten trophy in his hands.

Reflecting on a proud moment, Merrett said the Bombers backed their stoppage plan to dismantle a powerhouse midfield at full strength and break the hoodoo in a landmark win.

“When you look at their team on paper, you’re working out how you try to stop them all. There are so many players with so many strengths at the Doggies, and it’s pretty hard to know which ones to stop at the right times,” Merrett told SEN 1116 on Monday.

“We know how good the Doggies’ hands are in close, and their ability to find the free (man) is probably the best in the comp.

“Stoppage scores went our way on the day and that was probably based off some scouting early in the week. We did a lot of training on how we thought we could go about it and to bring the attitude that we would not be intimidated or shy away because of how good they are, but (instead) play our way.”

“On the night we were able to complement each other well enough. Even though Bont (Marcus Bontempelli) and Macrae got a fair bit of the ball, I thought we were able to number off reasonably well and force some pressured kicks.”

After surrendering a 13-point lead at quarter-time, the Bombers dominated the No.1 clearance side in the competition to comprehensively win the count 47-31.

Their advantage in the centre clearances (18-12) in particular was telling, with Jake Stringer (five), Darcy Parish (four) and Dylan Shiel (four) feeding off emerging ruckman Sam Draper, who registered career-highs in hitouts (39) and score involvements (nine).

Merrett said former Bulldog Stringer provided valuable intel on his former side, along with assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa, who crossed over to Essendon ahead of this season after 20 years at the Bulldogs as a player and coach.

“It definitely helps having Gia (Giansiracusa). He’s a very good coach in general, but to come across from the Dogs last year, he had some great insights,” he said.

“To also have Jake Stringer who was there a few years ago, he understands individual players probably almost better than what Gia does. His insight was awesome. A lot of guys went to him throughout the week to learn how they could play on the opposition players this week, so it’s definitely beneficial and I think a lot of guys took some great learnings into the game to beat their opponent.”

The Bombers, who sit two points outside of the top eight, will look to keep their finals hopes alive when they face Gold Coast this week.

The details for the round 21 clash are set to be confirmed on Tuesday.