They were miserable last year, but Essendon are two from two to start the new season.
Forget the opposition, the Dons just need to win and build something from that and against a Gold Coast Suns side that were incredibly disappointing last week and looking for something to prove this week, this was an interesting game, to say the least.
It delivered and then some. It was a quality game with lead changes in every quarter and a margin no greater than three goals up to three quarter time. Both sides clawed, tackled and ran themselves until the fittest was left standing.
In the end, it was the Bombers who stood tall when it mattered. The Suns will be left to rue their missed opportunities in the third term – kicking 4.6 off 19 inside 50s in a term that could easily define their season.
But we’re two weeks down now from a 23-game season, so maybe I’m being hyperbolic. But the Suns are now 0-2 and staring down the familiar well of missing finals and by some way.
RED DOG MILLIONAIRE
Mason Redman has been on an ascendancy the past two seasons and has started the 2023 year on a brilliant note.
Last week, he carved through what I thought looked like Hawthorn’s team but sort of resembled witches hats. He’s one of these defenders who can do both the offensive and the defensive things extremely well. When given the chance (and trust me, you do not want to give him it) he’ll burn you with his speed and impact with his disposals.
Unlike last week, there was no goals from Redman but he was one of a few stars across the Essendon defensive third. There were many occasions where he was forced to leave his direct opponent and force himself to either contest the ball or intercept mark – and that’s where Essendon have found some improvement this year and that’s overall team defence.
I’ll touch on the work of Brandon Zerk-Thatcher a little bit further down the piece, but as far as impact for four quarters go, he was the man here; 22 disposals, six tackles, seven marks (five intercept marks) and nine intercept possessions from him in this one.
Redman finished in the top four of Essendon’s best and fairest count – just two votes behind Matt Guelfi – but on the back of the first two games. I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be on the high-end of the count once again this year.
KYLE LANGFORD CAN PLAY SOME FOOTY
How satisfying is it for a side when they win with their best tall forwards out? There’s no secret that the game today is more about the key forwards and how many goals they can put through a week.
Essendon have Peter Wright out for a long period of time this season and Sam Weideman was a late withdrawal in this game, which meant it was just Harry Jones as the lone hand up forward. They also had Sam Draper often float forward whenever the Bombers got themselves a centre clearance and offered some presence.
Jones had an absolute lesson handed to him by Sam Collins and Draper offered plenty of contests. But the mid-sized and the small forwards stood tall in this game, none more so than Kyle Langford, with a career-best five goal bag.
He’s been a unique player for some time Langford. At 191 centimetres, he’s not tall enough to play as a crash and bash key forward and not quite as elusive and dangerous as a small forward, but he has always provided a steady head in front of goals and leads extremely well nearly every time I watch him play.
Particularly in the second half of this game, we saw him leading Charlie Ballard to the footy often. I rate Ballard as a player, but as we saw from him giving away a silly 50-metre penalty, he was frustrated.
Langford had six marks inside 50 from his seven overall along with his 14 disposals and nine score involvements – seven of which were scores (5.2) and another one was a direct goal assist. In an afternoon where someone was required to stand up, it was him.
UNSUNG DON HEROES
It’s worth mentioning a few players in this part – the first one is going to be Brandon Zerk-Thatcher. You hope that the ankle injury he sustained during this game doesn’t hold him out for the next few weeks, because he is a very important piece to Essendon’s defensive structure.
A lot of people are going to make mention of his goal-saving effort in the last quarter, when a kick from Alex Sexton was really shallow – not a great kick from him to start with – but with no one on the goal line (also not great on the Bombers end) Zerk-Thatcher took the responsibility to bust his backside to get his hand on the ball before it crossed the line.
Millimetres… just millimetres in it from the ARC but that act alone changed the complexity of the game in the Dons favour, and it’s not that the Suns didn’t want to match it, because they went pound for pound with them in the opening three quarters. They just couldn’t match it.
It was the highlight from what was a really strong game – six marks and five intercept possessions from 11 disposals
The other player I’d like to mention here is Will Setterfield. I’ve been on the record many instances since his arrival to Carlton that his best footy is in the middle of the ground. But let’s be honest, he wasn’t going to overrun Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh in the midfield and the inclusions of Adam Cerra and George Hewett, alongside the re-emergence of Matt Kennedy, meant that Setterfield was a fair way down the pecking order.
Essendon’s most glaring deficiency in their midfield is that they don’t exactly have that tall, big-bodied midfielder that many sides do. At 192 centimetres, this was basically it for him; sink or swim in the AFL.
Last week was a great step in the right direction and this week was followed up with another couple of them. You can already tell that he diverts a lot of attention off of Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish – Merrett is a great running player and Parish can be allowed to extract more often without the added nuance of trying to create something in general play.
Setterfield’s influence in the middle helped the Dons massively. He was second for the club behind Parish for contested possessions with 13 for the game. But his defensive abilities were outstanding – nine tackles led all Dons in the stat and 17 kicks at 82 percent efficiency is signs that the fella is doing his bit.
ROWELL-MANIA
Sorry to the Suns fans who have to read through the first half of this, I promise I haven’t forgotten about you!!
There were some bright spots to take out of this game. Probably none brighter than the performance of Matt Rowell, who looked like he’s on the verge of elevating his game to another level this year.
We all know the Suns as Touk Miller’s midfield, and whilst he was pretty good in this game, it looked clear that the Dons had a design to target him every time he had the ball. Not maliciously, of course, but Touk was often met with a Dons player; I reckon I counted at least four times he was done for holding the ball. That’s more a credit to the Dons than anything to do with him.
But Rowell was the man that stood out in the middle for the Suns in this game. He was strong in the clearances and worked very hard defensively. There were a few times where he was forced to chase down Essendon players and it’s that sort of work rate that young players should really look at when it comes to when you don’t have the ball.
Rowell had an incredible 37 pressure acts in this game. The next highest player was Darcy Parish who had 14 less – that’s a sizeable gap and a testament to just how badly he wanted to make the game his. He only recorded six tackles for his trouble though, but it shouldn’t be underestimated how important pressure acts can be in a game of football.
Offensively speaking he had 22 disposals, 13 of which were contested. He also came through with 10 clearances – four of which came from centre bounces – along with eight inside 50s and seven score involvements.
WHAT ELSE CAN WE TAKE OUT OF THIS GAME FOR THE SUNS?
Plenty. I’m sure Gold Coast fans will be sick of hearing about ‘honourable losses’, but the Suns were a bit under fire during the week for a paltry effort against the Swans, and they responded very well in this game I thought for three quarters.
Ben King got another game logged and while this wasn’t his best game, he still came through with two goals and a couple of good contested marks. Suns fans can’t expect him to give them the world just yet, but so far it’s been a good, slow build back his form in 2021.
I liked the forward pressure from Malcolm Rosas, he needs to stay in this team. Because small forwards like him don’t grow on trees. He’s a natural at reading the play at the front of the packs and he provides great effort. Could’ve been a big day for him if he converted – 0.3 included some bad misses in the early goings of the game, but he wasn’t alone in the forward 50: Joel Jeffrey and Ben Ainsworth combined for 2.4 – all three of them combined 2.7 – they got their opportunities.
liked the games of both Darcy McPherson and Charlie Constable – both players played roles across the defensive half and intercepted and provided great drive off the defensive half for the Suns. It’s been a renaissance for McPherson, who looked on the outer at the end of last year and for Constable, he is finally showing that he can belong at AFL level.
And lastly, Sam Collins. Sure, he bullied a much younger and inexperienced opponent, but he was enormous in a lot of moments for the Suns; eight intercept possessions, five intercept marks and 10 spoils for him, whilst Jones had just the seven disposals and not much impact in the air.
OTHER BITS
Wanted to give Jye Caldwell some props in this game. Pressure and effort were the big themes in this game and Caldwell was one of a handful of Dons who really cracked in and worked to force the opposition into turnover; he had seven tackles, three of which were inside attacking 50, along with 13 pressure acts, 15 disposals and nine contested possessions.
From one Jye to another, I really was impressed with Jye Menzie in this game. Looked a real likely lad over the pre-season and kicked two very nice goals in this one and had the opportunity to add another, if it weren’t for a botched set shot.
61 disposals, 22 contested possessions, 16 ground ball gets and 15 clearances between the pair of Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish in this one. Quality games from quality midfielders.
Not sure where I see Dyson Heppell at this season. Was subbed out of this game and had the 14 touches for very little influence on the contest. He was on the wing mostly, but looked a step or two slower than a lot of the opposition.
The man that came on for him as the sub; Matt Guelfi – I’ve been pretty big on him for a while and I don’t understand where the negative criticism comes from. Maybe it’s the hair, but he gives it a fair crack as good as any. Kicked two pretty big goals in the last quarter.
I thought it was a good afternoon from Jarrod Witts. He had 36 hitouts and 12 to advantage to the pair of Draper and Andrew Phillips’ 38 and seven. What I thought was important was both his work in the contest and his ability to peel back and be an effective player behind the ball – had three intercept marks in this one.
Great to see Lachie Weller back and playing footy. His kicking efficiency only went at 55 percent but I thought it was a great effort considering he was running and providing good links between the defensive half and the midfield.
It was an interesting game from Jack Lukosius. Started really well in the opening term, kicked a goal and was really damaging by foot, but then sort of drifted in and out of the game. Finished with 17 disposals, five score involvements and 503 metres gained.
Bodhi Uwland – strange name and even stranger player. Got caught out a couple of times where he was stuck in two minds with what to do with the footy. Has got high wraps on him at the Suns apparently, but he’s definitely one who attacks strong – it’s the one hallmark to his game. Only five kicks, but he had nearly 250 metres gained from them. There is something about him.
And on that note, that will be me for this one. A big win by the Bombers in an entertaining game of football. They move onto next week where the Saints, who are also 2-0 (strange timeline this one is) will be waiting for them in their 150th anniversary game. The Saints under the new and improved ‘cuddly’ Ross Lyon has done them wonders so far – even with a depleted forward line and injury hit roster – should be an interesting game at least.
As for the Suns, they are two losses from two to start the year and will find themselves against another win-less team next week. Unfortunately for them, it’s the reigning premiers Geelong, and they’re going to be under the pump this week for being the first reigning premiers team to start the year 0-2 since the 2009 Hawthorn team.. and we all know how that one went.
Nonetheless – both teams enter round three with must-win games – one to keep the unbeaten start alive and the other, just to stay alive in the race (more like marathon) to the final eight.
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