Both sides were minus senior players – the Bombers without Dean Rioli, Adam Ramanauskas, David Hille, Mark Johnson and Dean Solomon. The Lions were without Michael Voss, Simon Black and Nigel Lappin among others.
It was Daniel Bradshaw who was the difference between the two teams – his six goal haul came courtesy of some strong leading and his kicking for goal is as good as anyone going around.
The Essendon coaching staff continues to tinker with the Bomber line up as Round 1 approaches. Nathan Lovett-Murray again lined up across half back and did a good job on Jared Brennan. Tristan Cartledge spent more time in the ruck and some of his ruck work was encouraging.
Despite the result there were again some positives for the Bombers, not the least being the form of youngster Jason Winderlich. He had plenty of the football despite starting the game on the bench and his run was a real highlight for the Bombers. That hard running was rewarded with a goal in the third term and looks to be a very good chance of forcing his way into Essendon’s Round 1 team.
Nathan Lovett-Murray was again serviceable across half-back, particularly in the first half and that position might just be the making of him as an AFL footballer. He kept Brennan quiet for much of the night and took some solid marks under pressure.
Angus Monfries did some nice things including a classy goal late in the final quarter. But it was his courage that impressed most. Twice in the second quarter he put his body on the line - got crunched - but got up and kept running. It is just the sort of ticker the Essendon coaching panel like to see.
Of the more seasoned players, it was Scott Lucas and Adam McPhee that were most impressive. James Hird was relatively quiet while Matthew Lloyd looked better as the game wore on. Mark McVeigh and Damien Peverill got a bit of the football but had no real influence on the game.
Essendon plays Geelong in Bendigo next weekend to wind up its 2005 pre-season program.
