Essendon

Port Adelaide have survived a mighty fright from lowly Essendon to bank a 16-point win and creep within touching distance of the AFL's top eight.

"There was a fair bit of optimism at halftime based on the way we were competing and the way the game was being played, it was just our inability to make the most of opportunities." The Bombers trailed by 14 at three-quarter time and couldn't make headway in a goal-less slog of a last term. The Bombers were 31 points down at halftime but added four consecutive goals in the third quarter, the last of which - from Sam Durham - left them just eight points in arrears. Port kicked four goals to none in the first quarter and, after adding another three unanswered majors in the second, held a commanding 44-8 lead. Essendon produced a spirited fightback in the third quarter with four consecutive goals to sneak within eight points. After five-straight losses to start their season, the Power are now in 11th spot with five victories and six losses - just a win outside the eight.

THEY'LL take the four points, but if Port Adelaide is to play finals, and be a force in September, plenty of improvement is required.

The rain arrived at the start of the second, with the Bombers trailing by 31 points. With rain forecast for Sunday’s clash, Essendon took the unusual approach of turning the sprinklers on for training at The Hangar on Friday. And, it paid dividends. He finished with two goals from 10 touches and will no doubt be better for the run. Port Adelaide key forward Charlie Dixon returned for his first game of 2022, after experiencing ongoing ankle issues. Dixon snapped truly on his left foot from the forward pocket. The second half was played in slippery conditions, with heavy rain arriving at the start of the third quarter, and the Bombers seemed to relish the wet weather.

We love a bit of mongrel here, and Sam Powell-Pepper brought it as Port Adelaide did enough to hold off the Bombers in Round 11.

He looks like he grows in confidence when he gets a decent start to the game. It was still a points win for Laverde, but if you were in Dixon’s corner, you’d be raising his hand and relieved to get this one out of the way. A decent win by Port, but to lapse like they did in the third would be something to worry about if you’re a Power fan. Speaking of Martin, he continues to impress, and would be top-five in the Crichton Medal right now. Anyway, the battlers wearing red, with just a little bit of black just looked like they were up for the fight and Port seemed to be hoping that they could phone in the second half and cruise to the win they set up earlier. With him, Hobbs, Durham, and Martin coming through, things don’t look so bad for the Bombers. That s particularly so if you use their performances in this one as the baseline. Whilst Laverde was good, the fact that he is the only real defender with any decent power to his game is an indictment on the Bombers’ list management. They were reactive and appeared to still want to play the same style that had established the lead in the first half. I wouldn’t blame the big fella for throwing his hands in the air, giving Stewie Dew a call, and asking if he can head up north again. Instead, let’s look at a couple of the players who are supposed to thrive in the water-logged conditions. My belief in footy was shaken a little recently, with the way umpires (at the direction of the almighty rule makers) seemed to wage war on any act that even looked remotely aggressive. His tackling, bodywork, and willingness to put his head over the footy when it was his turn to go were the highlights of this game for me.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten will consider "little tweaks" to try to revive a playing group hurting from a...

"But ultimately ... some of the basic stuff that we have to continue to go to work on and keep building on." "Whether that be some of the composure and our method inside 50 and that real discipline to be able to continue to play our way, whether it be the contested fundamentals, sticking tackles ... they are little things that we need to continue to improve on. "Because there is still a bit of that costing our game when we are not getting that right - good opposition are able to punish us and hurt us too much. "We probably haven't quite had the cohesion and the chemistry and continuity of our squad, that has been something we have wrestled with most weeks in terms of ins and outs and availability." "We will certainly take a bit of time to digest the first half of the season," he said. "And certainly have a look across the board about how we have been tracking and what that looks like moving forward.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten will consider "little tweaks" to try to revive a playing group hurting from a disastrous AFL season. The ailing Bombers enter ...

"But ultimately ... some of the basic stuff that we have to continue to go to work on and keep building on." "Whether that be some of the composure and our method inside 50 and that real discipline to be able to continue to play our way, whether it be the contested fundamentals, sticking tackles ... they are little things that we need to continue to improve on. "We will certainly take a bit of time to digest the first half of the season," he said.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten will consider "little tweaks" to try to revive a playing group hurting from a disastrous AFL season. The ailing Bombers enter their mid-season bye in 16th spot with just two wins from 11 matches. Advertisement.

"But ultimately ... some of the basic stuff that we have to continue to go to work on and keep building on." "Whether that be some of the composure and our method inside 50 and that real discipline to be able to continue to play our way, whether it be the contested fundamentals, sticking tackles ... they are little things that we need to continue to improve on. "Because there is still a bit of that costing our game when we are not getting that right - good opposition are able to punish us and hurt us too much. "We probably haven't quite had the cohesion and the chemistry and continuity of our squad, that has been something we have wrestled with most weeks in terms of ins and outs and availability." "We will certainly take a bit of time to digest the first half of the season," he said. "And certainly have a look across the board about how we have been tracking and what that looks like moving forward.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten will consider "little tweaks" to try to revive a playing group hurting from a disastrous AFL season. The ailing Bombers enter their mid-season bye in 16th spot with just two wins from 11 matches. Advertisement.

"But ultimately ... some of the basic stuff that we have to continue to go to work on and keep building on." "Whether that be some of the composure and our method inside 50 and that real discipline to be able to continue to play our way, whether it be the contested fundamentals, sticking tackles ... they are little things that we need to continue to improve on. "Because there is still a bit of that costing our game when we are not getting that right - good opposition are able to punish us and hurt us too much. "We probably haven't quite had the cohesion and the chemistry and continuity of our squad, that has been something we have wrestled with most weeks in terms of ins and outs and availability." "We will certainly take a bit of time to digest the first half of the season," he said. "And certainly have a look across the board about how we have been tracking and what that looks like moving forward.

AFL commentators were divided on Sunday after watching Essendon star Darcy Parish blow up at his own team during a tight loss to Port Adelaide.

“He didn’t have that responsibility, hence the confusion. “I think that was the difference in the first half then I felt the way that our guys adapted to the conditions and played the third quarter, in particular, was a real positive step forward for us.” “Just sit there and solve it. “There was a fair bit of optimism at half-time based on the way that we were competing and the way that the game was being played, it was just our inability to make the most of our opportunities,” Essendon coach Ben Rutten said. “We’re strongly into it now and at least we’ve given ourselves a chance (at finals) in the second half of the season.” “To get to this stage after our start, I’m pretty proud of the way that we’ve managed to get back into the competition,” Hinkley said.

Essendon coach Ben Rutten has dismissed any concern over a verbal clash between two of his star AFL players. Captain Dyson Heppell and gun midfielder Darcy ...

That is what we need to be really good at doing." "There is enough level of relationship, trust, connection there that I would be really confident it is done in the right way and about how we can get better and how we can improve. Other teammates appeared to join in while Parish continued walking to the quarter-time huddle.