Bombers back from the brink, keep their finals dream alive
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Essendon coach Brad Scott remains unsure whether his side is ready to play finals football this year, but emerged full of pride after an escape act against Fremantle kept their season alive.
The under-siege Bombers faced the prospect of a second straight season-destroying fall from grace extending their September absence when they fell 25 points behind the Dockers early in the final term at the MCG on Sunday.
Brad Scott had a bit to say to his men at the final change.Credit: AFL Photos
A stunning five-goal Essendon surge dramatically changed the match’s course, but it still took a clutch centre clearance from captain Zach Merrett with barely 30 seconds left to set up Sam Durham’s match-winning point.
Having already lost three matches in a row to tumble from fourth to 10th, Essendon would have been six points adrift of the eighth-placed Carlton – but now they are back knocking on the door.
“I said last week, and I honestly believe this: We played last week like, ‘Gee, I hope we win,’ or ‘I hope we don’t lose’ – and that’s just a terrible way to attack your footy, but the pressure of results impact everyone,” Scott said.
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“Until you’re a really good, consistent team, and you’ve got confidence in your method and your system, and you do it repeatedly under pressure, I think there’s always going to be some doubt.
“But we’ve got to overcome that, and we will. It’s not a matter of if – it’s a matter of when – but I know that if we get all consumed with outcomes, we won’t handle the pressure well.”
Essendon were second with an 8-2-1 record through 11 rounds, and still fourth at 10-5-1 a month ago before losing their top-eight spot in what looked a repeat of last year’s embarrassing fadeout.
They are still long odds to feature in September because of their pedestrian percentage and a challenging run home against Gold Coast and Sydney at Marvel Stadium before a trip north to face Brisbane at the Gabba in the last round.
However, this gutsy victory offers a hint of progress, given how uncompetitive they were down the stretch a year ago, particularly after Scott said on Thursday they had failed “the pressure test” in key moments in 2024.
Essendon players celebrate on the fial siren.Credit: Getty Images
“Would you choose to lose close games to learn lessons? Of course, you wouldn’t,” he said.
“But the unfortunate reality is you do learn more from them because when you win the tight ones, and whether you get away with it from an opposition mistake or something like that, it can paper over the cracks.
“I was upfront with the players, and the public last week. We had pressure on us and what you’ve got to understand is that if you want to play at the pointy end of the season, against the best teams, there’s going to be pressure on you.
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“But again, it’s not what happens. It’s how you respond. We’ve been really frustrated the last couple of weeks … but [today] the fight was there right until the end, which is what all of our supporters want to see.
“We are under no illusions that our supporters want to be proud of their footy club, and we’re working every minute of every day to achieve that for them.”
On the flip side, the defeat could be incredibly costly for Justin Longmuir and Fremantle, who lost their top-four spot and dropped to sixth ahead of a torrid run home against Geelong, Greater Western Sydney and Port Adelaide.
“We’ve been talking about the scenarios for a while now, and I think our players have largely been handling that pretty well,” Longmuir said.
“Melbourne was do-or-die [a fortnight ago], last week was a derby, and in large periods we handled it well today, but it’s the pointy end of the season, and probably the game’s mean a little bit more, so what we’re trying to do is just normalise it and try to focus on our footy rather than the scoreboard.
“It’s going to be important this week. We have a six-day break against another team near the top of the ladder, so they’re all important, but we can’t focus on the outcomes. We need to make sure we focus on our process.”
Essendon’s Xavier Duursma (hamstring) came from the ground late, but Scott was unsure on whether the injury would sideline him.
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