Bomber young-gun Zach Merrett believes Sunday's 64-point smashing of Collingwood was a result of getting off to a fast start.

Essendon jumped out to a three goal lead early in the opening quarter and never seemed troubled by the Magpies in a dominant team performance.

Merrett said getting off to a strong start was a key focus for the team heading into the match.

“We had a huge emphasis on the first five minutes of the game and just carried on from there and just worked together to play as a team,” said Merrett.

“It was a great all round performance. We obviously wanted to strive for consistency each quarter and each contest - I thought we did that tonight.”

The Bombers were missing key personnel throughout the midfield, yet Merrett says head coach Mark Thompson didn’t allow it to be an excuse leading into the match.

“Bomber was big on the team performance, it doesn’t matter who’s in the team. I thought all the midfielders were fantastic today and we really beat them in the inside.”

Drafted with the club's 26^th pick in the 2013 National Draft, the 18-year-old has missed just three games during his debut season and ranks third in the competition for both inside 50's and tackles among the competitions first year players.

In just his 13^th AFL game on the weekend Merrett starred for the Bombers, gathering 24 disposals and booting two goals in his best game in the red sash.

Speaking of his miraculous bouncing goal from the boundary during the third term, the rising Bomber says it all happened pretty quickly.

“I didn’t have much time to think about it, he was right on my back, so I just chucked it on my right boot and it went through luckily, so I’ll take the goal,” Merrett said.

“We were obviously up by a bit and putting a bit of icing on the cake was good.”

The win elevates the Bombers into the top eight, leapfrogging Collingwood into seventh position on the ladder.

Merrett admitted there was no time for the team to get ahead of themselves as they face the Western Bulldogs this Sunday.

“Obviously we have to reassess and start again but hopefully recover well tonight and get ready for next week.”