Essendon assistant coach Ashley Prescott says a flat first quarter and a lack of contributors across the board were the primary reasons for the Bombers’ 16 point loss to Hawthorn.

“We just didn’t play with enough intensity in that first quarter,” Prescott said on Weekend Rewind today.
“We put ourselves on the back foot, we gave them the ascendency, they grew a leg, and in the end they were a bit too good. We didn’t have that mix of 22 contributing.

“Around the stoppages and the midfield we were pretty reactive. Often Hawthorn would get inside us and block that area, and they just played with a lot more grunt.”

Prescott said the way the Bombers lifted their intensity for the next three quarters was a far more encouraging with the defence in particular managing to consistently repel the Hawthorn attack.

He praised the efforts of Alwyn Davey and Jason Winderlich inparticular.
“We rolled the sleeves up and started to get our hands dirty defensively, and started to play with a bit more flair,” he said.
“The group started to show a bit more resolve, and it’s amazing how much that inspires everyone. The crowd gets involved and all of a sudden we started not worrying about anything, and had some self-belief.”
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Defender Cale Hooker was given the job of playing on Hawthorn star Lance Franklin, and although Franklin kicked five goals, Prescott was happy with Hooker’s performance.

“He’s going to be a fantastic player. It was a big ask, and as a team we didn’t help him (Hooker) out as much as we needed to,” Prescott said.

“Cale keeps attacking the footy, he plays in front, and he doesn’t go into his shell and start grabbing or holding.”

Prescott shed some more light on the injury sustained by promising defender Tayte Pears.

“From a footy point of view, and for Tayte, it’s a really nasty injury,” he said.

“It’s not life threatening ... but he’s going to need a lot of support and looking after over the next eight to ten weeks.”
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Sam Lonergan said on Weekend Rewind that the players were hit hard by Friday night's loss.
“We came here to win, and to walk away with losing... the boys are pretty upset about it,” Lonergan said.

“After that first quarter we knew what we had to do, and we nailed it and did it well for three quarters, but three quarters doesn’t get you a win in AFL footy.

“A few of the guys will go away and just have a bit of a mental break, go and see their family, and come back fresh and looking forward to the next half of the season.”