A season-best effort from Andrew McGrath proved vital in Essendon’s eight-point win over Sydney on Saturday night.
The Vice-Captain held his nerve in a nail-biting finish, racking up 35 disposals for 745 metres gained in an inspired performance as his side improved to 5-3 for the season.
Essendon’s fast start set up the game nicely, allowing them a solid platform even as the Swans pushed to steal the result late – in a competition as even as it’s ever been, McGrath’s thrilled to take good results as they come.
“It was looking really good for us (early), we were able to move the ball really freely and put goals on Sydney,” McGrath said.
“The AFL competition is so even, teams try to mitigate what you’re good at and we do the same. We saw a half tonight of exactly what we want our game to look like.
“Unfortunately, they brought their best in the second half, which we knew they were very capable of doing, we had to hang in there and win a different way.
“They are a quality team and have been for a long time. Credit to our guys, we stuck in there.”
The Bombers’ backline was instrumental in their victory, dominating in one-on-one contests, maintaining healthy positioning around the field and working tirelessly to contain the Swans’ second half surge.
McGrath was quick to highlight the combination along the Dons’ last line of defence, with particular praise for their key backs in Ben McKay (five intercept marks) and Zach Reid (27 disposals, 14 marks).
“It’s been amazing to play with those guys,” McGrath said.
“’Buckets’ (McKay), ‘Rids’ (Jordan Ridley) and ‘Reidy’ haven’t played a heap of footy together but they are starting to build a bit of continuity, it feels like we are getting really stable”
“’Benny’ Jacobs (our Backline Coach) really prides ourselves on defence and winning our moments. I thought Zach Reid again tonight was super, ‘Benny’ McKay was awesome with his one on ones, ‘Jacko’ (Jaxon Prior) just sits in the hole like he does every week.
“It felt like a pretty decent performance from us.”
Another crux of the side’s performance came in the form of a 43,799-strong crowd at Marvel Stadium, who provided plenty of volume for the Dons down the stretch.
McGrath expressed his gratitude to the crowd and wider Bombers faithful for their unwavering support, acknowledging the crucial role they played in the victory.
“Firstly, thank you for coming out, we are happy to keep playing at 4:15pm if we can continue to get 43,000 on board,” McGrath said.
“Sometimes those games can be really hard (and) you feel like the world is against you. When the crowd is lifting us back up, it makes a world of a difference.
“You got us over the line.”
