Assistant coach Ashley Prescott has said the Bombers' ability to match Sydney’s contested possessions and out tackle them was the instrumental factor in the 35-point win at the SCG on Saturday.
Speaking on Weekend Rewind, Prescott said that the game was ""huge"" in context of where the Bombers want to be at the end of the year and to walk away with the four points gives his side confidence going into the latter part of the season.
“Sydney has a fantastic record at the SCG and they play that ground particularly well,” he said.
“I suppose some people out there would have thought the SCG being a small ground, wouldn’t have suited our running style of play.
“We were fantastic inside and really got our head over the footy. Prismall, Welsh and Watson really lead the way in that area.”
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Prescott admitted the club is taking it one week at a time in relation to finals and that the next seven weeks will be left to tell the story.
“Knighta has always spoken about playing finals footy. We develop hard during the week but on the weekends we play to win and that is the way to do it,” he said.
“If you keep on winning, you are going to play finals footy; finals are the reward for getting all those things right during the week and on match day.
“Obviously we won’t look at finals as such at this stage, but that is definitely our end goal and where we want to get too.”
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Prescott had plenty of praise for 23-year-old Brent Stanton who played one of his best games for the season, racking up 29-possessions, kicking one goal and providing plenty of run through the midfield.
“I think Stants is really benefiting from the form of Prismall, Watson, Winderlich and Lovett, it really starts to spread the load a bit through the midfield,” he said.
“His run has always been excellent, but also defensively I think he is working particularly hard.
“It might not be something people notice as much as the coaching group but we really see him working hard to push back and help out in defence. His ball use is getting better each week too.
“Stants is a great player and but I think we need to remember he is pretty young. At only 22 or 23-years-old, he has played over 100 games and looks to be a super player for Essendon in the future.”
