Bombers Gain Their Revenge For Anzac Day Humiliation

The Sunday Age

Sunday July 27, 2008

Martin Boulton

ESSENDON used this year's humiliating Anzac Day loss to Collingwood as extra motivation for yesterday's 48-point win at the MCG, which left Magpies coach Mick Malthouse questioning his side's depth of talent.

Bombers coach Matthew Knights said the win was "very satisfying" and a credit to the way his players bounced back after a deflating four-point loss to Richmond last week.

Essendon has now won five of its past six games and holds on to 12th spot on the ladder and the hope of playing finals in Knights' first year in charge.

After Collingwood cut the margin to three points early in the third term, the Bombers steadied through an Angus Monfries goal - the first of five consecutive Essendon goals that stretched the margin back out to 32 points.

The Magpies fought back early in the last term before the Bombers again steadied and went on to register their seventh win of the season.

"We didn't discuss it much, but we were bitterly disappointed with the way we played Anzac Day," Knights said after the game.

"We felt we just didn't take the game on enough and let Collingwood dictate, so we certainly came here today with a more aggressive mindset - to play on our terms and play it our way."

Knights dissected North Melbourne's three-goal win against the Magpies last week, but said Carlton's two wins over the Pies had also been carefully researched.

"We probably took a little bit more out of the two Carlton wins and felt we had to keep the speed on the game," he said. "And we had to give our forwards a look at (the ball) inside 50 in isolation because if Collingwood get back and team up in defence, they're really difficult to play against."

Matthew Lloyd was inspirational for the Bombers, leading hard, pushing up the ground and finishing with a goal in each quarter.

"The skipper played high up the ground and I'm thankful, as a coach, that he's really embraced that," Knights said.

He also praised the efforts of Andrew Welsh, who kicked four goals in a dominant display and Kyle Reimers, who finished with three goals from his 12 valuable disposals.

"He lives for the moment . . . that's the wonderful thing about coaching him," Knights said when asked about Reimers.

"He played forward and caused some trouble at times, then in the last quarter I put him on the wing because he was fresh and he kicked two goals early."

David Hille boosted his All-Australian prospects with another dominant ruck performance and had 24 disposals, while Jobe Watson collected a game-high 41 touches.

"Jobe, he's had a lot of criticism over the journey, but he continues to step up and it's nice to see him and (Brent) Stanton developing together and developing their game as midfielders," Knights said.

He said the side's recent good form was reflective of a more settled team and club, which had grown stronger in the face of adversity.

"When you lose (Mark) McVeigh and (Sam) Lonergan . . . on top of (Scott) Lucas, (Alwyn) Davey, (Courtenay) Dempsey and (Leroy) Jetta we lost our way.

"But, the football department and the players, the unity through that period was absolutely staggering . . . it was superb.

"Everyone continued to believe (in) the vision of the club. It's about bringing a young group through together, so when we get good, we stay good."

Malthouse was almost lost for words when asked what went wrong.

"Essendon were very good, we were very ordinary and the eight goals was very reflective of how they played and how we played," he said.

"We were extremely poor early . . . got back and gave it up again and never really got to the stage of putting enough together, we just seemed to give up soft goals.

"Quite frankly, I don't know whether we're good enough."

© 2008 The Sunday Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home