Essendon’s “nightmare” narrative that played out on Friday night against Sydney has become far, far too familiar – and Brad Scott’s simply “not going to bother arguing” it.
Having now lost five of their last six games and eight of their last 11, Bombers fans are nothing short of delirious – having been conned like many by their 8-2-1 record as the halfway mark of 2024 approached.
And instead of pushing for the club’s first finals win in 20 years, they have labels such as “inconsistent” and “panic merchants” sticking to Brad Scott’s side like glue.
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Scott reveals where Dons are lacking | 05:50
Speaking post-match, Scott placed the spotlight on his side’s costly “trend” of failing to capitalise on dominant patches during games — Essendon’s efficiency inside 50 on Friday finished a measly 38 per cent compared to Sydney’s economic 52 per cent.
“Unfortunately, it’s been a trend in our season … (they) are probably the hardest parts of the game in terms of giving yourself opportunity and creating opportunity in the contest,” he said on Friday evening.
“To be +20 for most of the night in contested possession, double the inside-50s (of Sydney) in the first half, and in most facets dominating the game in the first half outside of the scoreboard against a really good team.
“You always get the feeling that if you don’t take your opportunities, they’re going to take theirs at some stage — which they did.
“The players are incredibly frustrated, doing all the hard work (but) not having the ability to finish that work with our connection inside 50 and ability to score and put a gap on the opposition.
“And that’s hard enough against anyone, but against the best teams it’s going to come back and bite you, and it did (tonight).”
The Bombers doubled the Swans’ inside-50 tally at half-time 36-18 but only led by seven points — their incompleteness in the final third again undid them.
Scott wouldn’t place blame on his side’s ability nor talent, instead lamenting their decision-making going forward.
“I think it’s unfair to just say it’s personnel,” he said. “I mean, you haphazardly kick it in and hope someone marks it.
“If you contrast it with a lot of the ways Sydney scored — long-range set shots, building the ball up, kicking accurately — a whole range of things.
“But it’s not just a one-off for us, unfortunately … it’s been an issue for too long, so it’s a clear focus area for us to get right.
“But as I said, the harder part of the game is to compete against the best teams and give yourself opportunity, and it’s not often you’re playing against the team that’s been on top of the ladder all year and you double their inside-50s, plus-20 in contested possession at half-time and yet (just) seven points in front.”
The three pillars to Swans’ success | 02:57
As has been the case in press conferences past, Scott was hesitant to make comparisons between his current side and that of this time last year — despite the irrefutable similarities in late-season fall-offs.
“I mean, I get the correlation, but it’s like … I’m not going to bother even arguing against it, I just look at it in terms of where we’re at,” he said.
“Four weeks ago is ancient history (let alone last year) … the foundation of what we’re doing is really solid.
“We were incapable of competing against the best when it mattered last year — if you want the comparison — right now, it’s a bit of polish, a bit of system, and a bit of class that is the difference between us and the best.”
With a fortnight to play in last year’s home-and-away season, the Bombers totally butchered their September chances with two grim losses – an 126-point thrashing at the hands of GWS before finishing the year with a 70-point loss to rivals Collingwood.
“They were competitive all year (in 2023), they weren’t far away from finals, and this is the last two rounds – which I know gives Essendon supporters nightmares,” Melbourne great Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy’s post-match coverage.
“Do you know how hard (those results) that is to swallow, and chew on over the next six months until you can get back again?
“So, they’ve come here tonight, at half time they’re leading by seven points … I know it’s not the same (as last year), but they’ve given up 12 goals to four in the second half – that is a horror result from a team that are panic merchants.
“I know it sounds cruel, and if it was Melbourne, I would say exactly the same thing!”
The Bombers matched the Swans at the clearance (-1) and comprehensively won the contested possession (+20) and territory (+6 inside-50s, including +18 at half-time) battles, but their efficiency going inside forward 50 was more than 13 per cent worse than John Longmire’s side, proving fatal to their chances of winning.
And in addition, during the third term, the Bombers created 15 chains of play from defensive 50, with only two actually making it inside the attacking arc – a morbid statistic for Bombers fans to lay their eyes on.
“The moment that third quarter started, all of a sudden Sydney brings some pressure, they bring a bit of heat and it was just a procession of panic, panic, panic!” Lyon continued.
“The anxiety builds … and then you make one mistake on top of another mistake.
“You can see it in their eyes; they get nervous, and then the next bloke gets nervous – there’s no calming influence.”
“When you watch good sides when the pressure ramps up, the basics just get done well – there’s nothing flashy about it. The marks get taken, the handballs get made, the tackles get taken; everything is clean,” four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis added.
“The fundamentals and the basics … those parts of their game are inconsistent, or not at a level where they should be.”
Despite sitting in the AFL’s top four between Rounds 9-17 of this season, Essendon’s current tally of 11 wins is the same as in 2023 after it lost seven of its final 10 games to finish 11th.
A similar fate awaits the Bombers this season — currently sitting 10th with another 11th-place finish well within the realm of possibility — as their finals hopes are all but terminated, barring the pinnacle of miracles in Round 23.
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