Updated ,first published
A sombre Brad Scott says Sunday’s heavy defeat against Fremantle was won and lost in the first quarter, lamenting that the Bombers’ contested footy was “as poor as I’ve seen it”.
As lowly Essendon slumped to a 1-9 record, Scott offered a defence for the paltry MCG crowd of 25,100, noting that while the club’s fans could see what the Bombers were striving to achieve long-term, it would be “frustrating in the short term”.
Fremantle extended their winning streak on a wet and wild outing at the MCG, belting the Bombers by 43 points, thanks to an eye-catching five-goal display from Patrick Voss.
Never shy for a post-goal celebration, an omnipresent Voss fired his side to a 16.8 (104) to 8.13 (61) win against his former side, while Essendon endured a goaless second quarter in front of the underwhelming crowd – the Bombers’ lowest MCG home crowd since the 1990s.
“It’s unbelievable,” Voss told Fox Footy after the Dockers notched their ninth straight win. “There is a good vibe around the group at the moment, so much fun to be a part of and we all feel like we are playing our role. That’s all you can ask and [if you do that] then the win will take care of itself.”
Excluding the COVID-19 seasons of 2020 and 2021, Sunday’s attendance was the lowest crowd Essendon had has for a home game at the MCG in the past 30 years. It was also their ninth-lowest crowd for a home game at any venue in that period.
For the brave poncho-clad Bombers fans who did show up, it was a rough first quarter on Sunday with an imposing Fremantle booting three goals in four minutes thanks to terrific efforts from Shai Bolton and Josh Tracey.
The Bombers were steadied by a goal from rising star nominee Sullivan Robey, after an earlier miss from Nate Caddy – but were haunted by some sloppy errors in their defence, worsened by the drenched conditions.
Robey’s goal would be Essendon’s only goal for at least an hour.
Post-match Scott said Essendon’s contest and “mindset to come out and compete against a very good team” was nowhere near the level needed in the first 30 minutes.
“The contest is the non-negotiable part of it, and that was just in the first quarter, nowhere near where it needed to be, particularly given against any opponent, but an opponent that’s won eight in a row,” he said.
Scott said his team looked entirely different in the second half and praised the team’s young players who fought back in the final quarter, with goals from Robey and Archer May.
When asked about the poor crowd numbers, Scott noted today’s weather conditions were “putrid” but said while things were frustrating in the short-term, hopefully Essendon fans could see what the club was trying to achieve in the long run.
“Blind Freddy can see what we’re trying to do and it’s frustrating in the short term, but we’ve tried to patch this together in the past and we’re not doing that again,” he said.
The Bombers showed occasional glimpses of promise, but every mistake or fumble they made – Fremantle were there to capitalise on it.
At one point Jacob Farrow lost his feet trying to gather the ball inside-50 and a sprinting Isaiah Dudley effortlessly snatched it up and booted truly. Dudley left the field later in the quarter, helped by two trainers after getting hit by a crunching tackle.
Despite an animated quarter-time address from Scott, Essendon’s struggles continued with botched centre clearances, missed tackles and inaccurate kicking.
A soaring kick towards the goal square was missed by two Bombers players and scooped up by Tracey who fed it back to Voss for another goal.
It was also a memorable match for fellow Docker Christopher Scerri who kicked his first AFL goal after a rundown tackle inside-50.
Ignoring jeering fans from the sidelines, Voss closed the second quarter with his fourth goal to boost Fremantle’s lead to 52 points at half-time – a deficit the Bombers were never going to be able to recover from.
As the rain grew heavier, back-to-back goals from Archer May and Caddy saved the Bombers from a goaless third quarter, but the Dockers countered with their own goals.
Essendon opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals – from May and Darcy Parish – to made the scoreboard look a little brighter, followed by another from Caddy and another from an impressive Robey.
Importantly, it was terrific fourth quarter performance from the Bombers that, however, came far too late. Their last-minute resurgence wasn’t enough to catch the Dockers who have now recorded their ninth win of the season – a feat also achieved by Sydney.
Fremantle’s winning streak has equalled their club record, however coach Justin Longmuir said it wasn’t a talking point before or after the game.
“Next week it will be about St Kilda, it won’t be about breaking the record or setting a new bar, or whatever, we just got to control we can control,” he said.
Longmuir would not entertain questions about finals aspirations, but said he was absolutely proud of what the group has achieved so far.
“It’s round 10 … there’s a long way to go, we aren’t the best team in the comp, and we’ve got work to do.”
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.