After four wins and six losses, Essendon is in 12th position on the ladder and Dylan Shiel acknowledges the ladder is an accurate representation of the Bombers’ performances in 2019. 

Shiel said football is an “honest game” with clubs unable to hide from results. 

“I think where we are is an accurate reflection of how we are performing and where we are at as a team at this stage in our journey,” Shiel said on RSN on Thursday.

“We are losing to the supreme teams of the competition and we are winning against teams that are around our mark or below us.

“Footy is an honest game and you can’t bluff your way through a season. We have a lot of work to do.”

Shiel said the team has a system in place to perform consistently but the onus is on players to execute it. 

“I think at the start of the season, when there was talk about finals and expectations and new recruits were going to be the difference behind that, I was pretty adamant in saying that we still have a long way to go, even before we had played a game of footy,” he said.

“It’s about how can we get consistent footy to set us up for sustained success and to play a brand of footy that can hold up in big moments and games, we are yet to be able to do that. That is our first challenge.

Shiel and Zach Merrett embrace after Essendon’s Dreamtime at the ‘G loss on Saturday. (Image: AFL Photos)

“We are a result focused industry but all we can focus on at the club is getting our system right and our process right to play consistent footy in order to be competitive every week and not having lapses in concentration against great teams.

“We want to challenge the better teams in the competition more frequently.”

After the Bombers secured the talent of Jake Stringer, Adam Saad, Devon Smith and Shiel during the 2017 and 2018 trade periods, the external hype around the club was inflated.

Shiel said internally the group knew they had a lot of hard work to do to ensure sustained success.

“It is important to understand that talent isn’t going to win you games and it certainly won’t win you premierships,” Shiel said.

“Team systems and team predictability to each other, is what is going to win.

“I have come from a club that is regarded as one of the most talented in recent decades but in my last few years we were getting beaten by teams that had better systems. We came out short against teams that were able to play a better brand of footy in finals.

“Talent can get you so far but it’s about molding that talent together and that is our biggest challenge at the moment.”

Essendon will take on Carlton in a clash of traditional rivals at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.