Some short-term pain has reaped significant rewards for Essendon on ANZAC Day.

In the corresponding ANZAC Day match last year, the Bombers fielded a side with eight players aged 22 or under and nine players with 20 or less AFL games experience.

The Dons were soundly beaten by Collingwood that day, but turned the tables in latest ANZAC Day blockbuster.

Darcy Parish said the experience of playing in that game last year, helped him prepare for the 2017 instalment.

“Last year coming in nerves got the better of me on the day,” Parish said.

“I think there is obviously such a huge crowd and it’s such a great game to be a part of.

“Come the second game … I handled it a lot better and it’s great to play in front of the big crowds and to get the result we did today was fantastic.”

The Bombers called on their experience from round three against Carlton as well, with the match against the Pies beginning with steady rain falling.

After struggling to cope with the conditions against the Blues, the Bombers thrived in the wet against the Pies, kicking four of the first five goals.

“We’ve had a bit of practice in wet weather footy and adapted pretty well today,” Parish said.

“We worked hard with our method around the footy, including our offensive ‘snap’ and defensive ‘snap’ – we worked really hard on that - so it was good to get the result.”

When the weather cleared, the Bombers were able to respond to the Pies challenges, always seeming to find a steadying goal when required.

Parish was one of the driving forces in the midfield.

The 19 year old finished with 25 disposals, including 18 uncontested possessions.

“We’ve got a few more senior heads in there … so it’s nice to get a bit more uncontested footy than last year,” he said.

“I’m holding my width and that was something I had to work on, so it’s good to see it all coming together.” 

The Bombers have a five-day turnaround before taking on Melbourne on Sunday.

“Bring it on, we’ll recover all of this week and be ready to go by Sunday,” Parish said.