Plenty of question marks remained after Essendon’s JLT Community Series loss to Richmond, but a brilliant victory over Geelong in its second JLT hit-out on Sunday showed the Bombers are well and truly on track.
The Bombers showed plenty of grit to chase down the Cats for a thrilling four-point win and coach John Worsfold said he was always confident his side would respond the way they did.
“I think the last game we went in pretty well prepared, but there were a few factors around that whole game that we were disappointed but we weren’t concerned about,” Worsfold said after the win.
“We knew a lot of that stuff was going to write itself (off) with just basically having a chat to the players.
“They’re really keen to learn and keep attacking the game the way we want to play and they just went a little bit overboard around worrying about that (rather) than letting it unfold, so they addressed that today really well.”
Worsfold praised the efforts of his players who showed versatility in attack with 10 different goalkickers including four multiple goalkickers.
“We’ve got a forward line that we know is fairly dangerous with the players that go through there,” he said.
“Some of our midfielders are starting to get a bit more dangerous in terms of attacking the game from there as well, which is great.
“Overall they shared the load really well I thought, they changed up their roles a bit.”
Worsfold said he was disappointed with the way the forwards jelled against the Tigers, but was happy with their positive response on Sunday.
“That was one area that we were a bit disappointed with against Richmond, the way the forwards worked together, but the chemistry was there today,” he said.
Experienced recruits Devon Smith and Jake Stringer played with several of their seasoned new teammates for the first time on Sunday and Worsfold said it was a good opportunity to see how the team would mesh in the midfield and forward line.
“We’re getting a feel for what the blend is going to look like throughout quarters and throughout games,” he said.
“We learnt probably more today because Stringer got the whack in the head last game and Zach Merrett only played 10 minutes, so we had our midfield together today for a lot more with Bellchambers rucking pretty well.”
While Marty Gleeson is set for an extended period on the sidelines due to a nasty foot injury, minor concerns about David Zaharakis and Michael Hurley – who both left the field early – were quickly put to bed.
“Zaharakis I think was just a kick on the side of his leg, so that’s fine,” Worsfold said.
“Hurls might have got a kick late as well so we just took him out, he was right to keep going but we just said ‘that will do’.”
The confidence-boosting win has the Bombers optimistic of another strong performance in its blockbuster match against Adelaide in round one on March 23.
