Nik Cox was a dominant presence as Essendon VFL got over the Tigers in their Dreamtime clash at Windy Hill on Saturday morning.

The 200cm utility produced easily his best game of the campaign in the 15.17 (107) to 14.5 (89) result, taking 11 marks (four contested) and slotting two goals from 21 disposals in a towering performance.

Elijah Tsatas and Will Setterfield were withdrawn on the morning of gameday to ensure better player availability for the AFL side next week, which saw Jake Egan and Charlie Naish don the sash for the first time - neither looked out of place at VFL level.

Richmond provided an early scare when they rallied to shoot away to an early lead, but an often inaccurate Bombers managed to work their way back and regained an ascendancy which they held for most of the day. The fixture was shifted from ETU Stadium to Windy Hill earlier in the week, with the Dons clearly lifting in front of their home faithful after half-time.

Jackson Hately (28 disposals, 10 clearances, two goals) and Kristian Ferronato (29 touches, 13 contested) packed on the pressure with 13 tackles between the two - both were well within calculations for best on ground, with Ferronato taking home the honours.

Tyler Sellers had 14 intercepts from his 22 disposals and took 10 marks, regularly standing up in high pressure moments and cutting off Tiger entries. Jared Eckersley and Huss El Achkar displayed strong presence in front of the big sticks, combining for seven majors.

Despite going down early with a lower leg injury, key forward Will Bella battled through the pain to keep providing a target inside 50, with several crucial contest wins leading to scores. Jayden Nguyen's early tenacity was also pivotal in turning the tide, at one stage setting up a forward foray by bouncing straight up from a brave one-on-one collision running back into traffic.

The Bombers will look to improve to 5-4 on the season when they face Werribee at Windy Hill on Sunday.

RICHMOND          6.3     9.5     10.5     14.5 (89)
ESSENDON          4.5     10.8     12.11      15.17 (107)

GOALS
Eckersley 4, El Achkar 3, Cox 2, Hately 2, Nguyen 2, Binns, Bella

BEST
Ferronato, Cox, Hately, Eckersley, Sellers, O’Neill