At the half-way mark of the season you had the opportunity to tell us who your Essendon best 22 was. After two successive losses (Brisbane and Melbourne) the knives were out and you could tell the match committee if you thought the problem was at the selection table.

Essendon fans have spoken! Just over 500 Bomber supporters took up the chance to name their best 22 at the half-way mark of the 2004 season. The selections have been collated and we can now present you with the final Essendon team.

B: Andrew Welsh, Dustin Fletcher, Mark McVeigh
HB: Dean Solomon, Mark Bolton, Sean Wellman
C: Adam McPhee, Jason Johnson, Adam Ramanauskas
HF: James Hird, Scott Lucas, Dean Rioli
F: Nathan Lovett-Murray, Matthew Lloyd, Justin Murphy
R: Matthew Allan, Damien Peverill, Mark Johnson
Int: David Hille, Joe Misiti, Ben Haynes, Ricky Dyson

There were no arguments about the preferred player to hold down each book-end. Dustin Fletcher received 98% of the votes for full-back and Matthew Lloyd was the overwhelming choice for full-forward. He polled 98% of the votes for full-forward.

Fans felt that Scott Lucas was clearly most value to the side at centre-half-forward and Mark Bolton was the choice for centre half back. Adam McPhee has become a spare-parts man this season and been used at both ends of the ground and recently in the mid-field. He polled votes in nearly every position, but the preference by fans was for him to play in the centre.

Matthew Allan was the preference in the ruck. Ninety percent of the fans selected him as the first ruck option. David Hille was named on the bench, as was Joe Misiti, Ben Haynes and Ricky Dyson. Former rookie Nathan Lovett-Murray has impressed Bomber fans this season. He was named in the forward pocket, alongside Matthew Lloyd and Justin Murphy.