Eagles vs Bombers Review

Beyond the scoreboard.

Once again, a quick reminder, my reviews aren’t based on wins, losses, or the four points. They’re grounded in the process: what Essendon is trying to do, how it’s being executed, whether it’s effective now, and crucially, whether it will be effective into the future.

In this review, I will refer to several quotes from my preview of this matchup to highlight what the opposition has been capitalising on against West Coast and what they have successfully restricted. It's no coincidence the Eagles currently sit at 18th on the ladder.

As is usually the case, I will break down the game into the two headline aspects of modern football. Defensively, without the ball, which includes defending transition from one end of the ground to the other, the ability to defend the ball going inside 50 by winning contests, and stopping those entries from becoming shots at goal. The other aspect is what happens when the ball is won, either from clearance or intercept, and what eventuates from that based on the method used to take it forward.

Let’s not waste time: that was a performance that wouldn’t beat 16 other teams most weeks, and it came dangerously close to being 17.

It was the worst of times… (First Half)

Without the football.

There weren’t many positives to be drawn from the first half defensively. The scoreboard was worse in the first quarter, but structurally, the second wasn’t much better.

-Quote taken from preview.

“While not every clearance results in a score, having the ball consistently going in your direction has obvious benefits.

No team is beginning more possession chains further from goal than West Coast in 2025…

They’re ranked 18th for transitioning the ball from defensive 50 to forward 50. When they do lose possession in their back half, it often results in scores going over their head.

West Coast are conceding over 47 points from chains starting in their defensive half, ranked 17th in the AFL (Carlton last week had 18 shots at goal for 68 points from this area), and Essendon will be looking to pile onto that trend.”

Clearance numbers were close early, with Essendon having the edge at centre bounces by one. But the real disparity came in what followed, West Coast simply did far more with the ball once it was in motion.

Forward of centre, Essendon struggled to win contests, and when West Coast regained possession, they moved the ball with ease. That was a trend the Eagles hadn’t been allowed in recent weeks, they’d averaged fewer than 16 uncontested marks per quarter across their five games. In the first 20 minutes on Friday, they took 20. That helped them gather 51 uncontested possessions, which aided their ball movement.

Despite such little difference in winning the initial clearance, West Coast was able to gain almost 400 metres more in territory compared to Essendon. (Yes, I will cover later the other reason why Essendon lost that much territory.) This put the defenders at a disadvantage, and when it was their turn to win contests behind the ball, they weren’t up to the challenge either.

The Eagles had 12 entries for the quarter and were able to take four marks in that zone at a rate that was over 13% better than their early yearly average and over 10% better than what Essendon had conceded after four games.

The backline simply couldn’t cope with the pace and directness of West Coast’s ball movement. All five of the Eagles’ first-quarter scores came directly from Essendon turnovers, and every single one was a goal.

The first-quarter method of defending territory wasn’t a great start; in some aspects, the second quarter was worse.

“In 2024, the Bombers struggled against fast, direct ball movement. Geelong, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, Melbourne, and yes, West Coast, were the five most direct sides in the league, and four of those games ended disappointingly for Essendon.

“That speed of ball movement exposed lapses in the team's structure behind the ball and in individual defenders during one-on-one contests, both in the air and on the ground.”

The clearance battle was clearly in Essendon’s favour in the second quarter, winning centre bounces by three and stoppages around the ground by another three. However, the issue remained when West Coast was given time and space.

At least Essendon managed to claw back into the game via contest this time. After losing this battle by six in the first 20 minutes of play, Essendon turned the tables, winning it by nine in the next 20 minutes.

But once the battle moved outside stoppage and contest, West Coast once again slingshot from the back half into dangerous territory in the front too easily.

From just 45 kicks in quarter two, they hit 25 uncontested marks, a rate more than 20% higher than their previous opponents had allowed and it erased any territory advantage Essendon had built.

West Coast currently leads the competition in metres gained per disposal, averaging 18.62. This primarily stems from their frequent need to move the ball quickly under pressure, often clearing their defensive zone to ease the burden on defenders. This, coupled with their ability to capitalise on easy outlet marking options, resulted in 21 possession chains for the quarter, nearly 24% of which ended in a shot at goal. This efficiency an improvement of over 6% compared to their first quarter and over 5% above their 2025 season average. It’s a rate that would rank as the 6th best in the league right now.

Of the Eagles' 21 possession chains, 16 originated through intercepts, and Essendon’s structure was once again tested in order to defend them. Unfortunately, 36.6% ended in a shot at goal, which was more than 20% better than the Eagles' average coming into the game.

With the football.

“Last week we all saw a shift in the way Essendon attacked the game with ball in hand.

In the first three outings, it was quicker with run and carry to link up by hand. However, against Melbourne, they adopted a more measured approach, using kicking and uncontested marks to control the tempo and dictate the game’s pace.”

Early on, it was clear Essendon was sticking with the slower, more controlled approach seen against Melbourne. But against this opponent, that proved to be the wrong call, and later, it became obvious the players and coaching staff realised it too.

West Coast's defence had been regularly questioned in the media, and this week they made a concerted effort to address those concerns by pushing extra numbers back behind the ball. Essendon played a part, maybe a big part, in this.

By going slow and indirect with the ball in hand, it gave more than enough time for the Eagles to shore up their defensive line, making it much harder for the Bombers to penetrate.

In 2024, Essendon averaged the least amount of metres gained per disposal at 15.5. At the start of the round, they were still 18th, with an average even lower than last year at 14.5. In the first quarter of this game, that average was 12.7. This made things extremely difficult when they did win the ball back off intercepts to cause any damage, with only two shots at goal coming from 21 intercepts.

“West Coast have conceded 29.1% of turnovers into scores, the most in the league, allowing an average of 69 points from 18 shots on goal.”

There was very little run from behind to create overlap by hand, get West Coast defenders on the move, and create any separation to give the forwards space to work in. Once this wasn’t done in the initial moments, it became too late.

“In the defensive half, Essendon and West Coast rank first and second respectively for one-on-one contests.”

West Coast's opposition to date has gone much quicker and more direct with possession chains in order to separate their defenders and make them more vulnerable to losing contests.

It wasn’t just an issue for the Essendon defenders to win contests but also for the forwards.

While the defenders had to compete in even-numbered situations, the forwards had to contend with being outnumbered. This was evident, as no Essendon player managed to take a mark inside the forward zone for the quarter.

“When it comes to turning possession chains into shots at goal, Essendon rank 9th at 23.25%, while West Coast sit 17th at 19.38%.”

The Bombers managed to convert just over 10% of possession chains into scores for the quarter, a figure that only marginally improved in the second to 12.9%. Once again, their “go slow” approach with the football proved problematic, resulting in only 12 metres gained on average from 95 disposals. Essendon seemed to forget the fundamental requirement of playing winning football: to score.

It was the best of times…( 2nd half)

What a contrast between the first 40 minutes and what followed.

With the football.

Essendon had 59 possession chains in the first half and 56 in the second, but what happened during those chains made all the difference in the results at the end of them.

When Essendon won the ball through clearance, it went forward. When the ball was intercepted, decisions were made quicker, and the players ahead were afforded more space to work within, allowing the damage from those intercepts to count.

After averaging 12.35 metres forward with each disposal up until halftime, Essendon increased that to 18.57 in the second half. The length each chain traveled also improved, going from just over 36 metres to over 54 metres.

Only 21 entries into the forward 50 in a half of football, against a team that had been conceding over 32 in the same period, placed a heavy emphasis on defending well and being efficient inside 50. But in the all-important 3rd quarter, Essendon gave themselves more chances to hit the scoreboard.

50% of possession chains entered the forward 50 in the 3rd quarter, and from those 15 entries, Essendon took six marks. This meant that 60% of the time the ball went into the front third, it resulted in a score.

From 20 clearance wins in the second half, 29.2% ended in a shot, 5% more than West Coast had conceded on average in 2025. With the added damage caused by intercepting the ball back, the scoreboard kept ticking over.

There wasn’t enough reward from the hard work to win the ball off intercepts in the first half, with only 10.3% of those turnovers converted into scores, over 14% lower than Essendon’s improving season average coming into the game. However, in the second half, that rate rose to 26.46%, better aligning with the rate the Eagles had been conceding to start their year.

Without the football.

Winning clearance was the first piece, but the second was more important: stopping the ball from moving from the front half to the back half.

38 uncontested marks in West Coast's back two-thirds of the ground in the opening half helped them transition from one end to the other. However, in the closing half, things became much more difficult as they were restricted to just 18 uncontested marks to aid their ball movement. This played a significant role in Essendon allowing only four shots from 32 West Coast intercepts.

Short sharp notes.

In the last quarter, Essendon went inside 50 only six times but managed four marks and six shots at goal.

Wright's impact on the game was highlighted by his 20.5 AFL Rating Points, the highest from both teams and the highest of any forward for the round. It was the 5th most impactful performance of his 134-game career and his most impactful since 2021. His eight shots at goal equaled his career-best, and his six goals were the second most he has ever scored.

Essendon conceded 58 points from turnovers, the most West Coast have scored this season to date and the 4th most in their last 50 games.

After winning just 77 contests against Carlton last week with a differential of -59, West Coast bounced back this week, winning 119 contests to Essendon’s 117.

Essendon lost hardball gets 13 to 18. Coming into this game, they were ranked second in this metric with an average differential of +4.5 per game.

Far, far better things.

There are much tougher assignments ahead for Essendon, and it’s imperative they get their own game in order much earlier. At the moment, there’s been a real need to stop, reset, and reassess at the breaks, often forced to shift gears and change method just to stay in touch.

So far, the Bombers have only won one first quarter for the season, with a total differential of -58 points. The second and third quarters have become about fighting their way back, usually by moving away from the initial plan that clearly hasn’t worked. The positive in all of this is that, for the most part, those in-game adjustments have worked, Essendon has only lost one last quarter this season and sits at +45 points in final terms across five games.

But this game was an opportunity to take control from the start. To be more aggressive and dynamic with ball movement, to ask questions of each matchup early, and to put a side already struggling to impose themselves under immediate pressure.

We’re only five games in, and there’s still a bit to figure out about what Essendon’s best version looks like. But right now, the default setting should resemble the simpler, more attacking brand of footy they’ve shown in second halves, including in this one.