Essendon Bombers should take heart, is Bailey Smith the most important player for Geelong Cats?

Friday night, MCG

Essendon defeated Richmond by 23 points

Matthew Lloyd said on Friday Essendon are likely to finish among the “bottom seven or eight” teams. On Sunday, he had revised that, declaring the Bombers had resembled a bottom six team on Friday night. And that may, ultimately, prove to be the case. But right now, in a world where criticism comes fast, and it often feels wrong to just take stock, Bombers’ fans should enjoy, and take heart, from their team being outside the top eight only on percentage. That’s six wins – two more than supposed finals contenders Carlton, Sydney and Port Adelaide – in a season where their top two ruckmen are hurt, and they haven’t yet had Darcy Parish in the senior side. Friday night’s win was another example of why the Bombers are not a top-eight side. Their overall ball use, including forward-50 entries, was sub-par in the first half, and they won this game on experience, as Tigers coach Adem Yze pointed out post-match. “We had a really young side in, we just spoke about it post-game – a lot of their A-graders played really well, like their execution, [Zach] Merrett, [Nic] Martin, [Andrew] McGrath, they all had over 30 possessions, wet conditions, and their talent shone through,” Yze said. Great mates: Isaac Kako and Nate Caddy celebrate a Bombers’ goal. Credit: Getty Images “But they’ve all played over 150 games. Our front end had [Luke] Trainor, [Sam] Lalor, [Jonty] Faull, [Tom] Sims, who have played 10 games of footy each.”

Now, Yze had his reasons for making those remarks – the Tigers had 13 players with fewer than 50 games under their belts, the Bombers had six – as it reaffirmed to supporters the patience needed in the Tigers’ rebuild. The Bombers have also lowered expectations this season, and know they still need more talent before they can compete for a flag. “A hamburger with the lot,” was how Bombers chief executive Craig Vozzo explained the multiple needs his team still needs to this masthead’s Jake Niall. Those needs may become even clearer over the next month, for they face Brisbane (Gabba), Carlton, Geelong and Fremantle (Optus Stadium) before the mid-season bye. Gold Coast (Marvel Stadium) wait immediately after the break.

That’s a brutal stretch, and is likely to go some way to proving Lloyd right. But, for this weekend, the Essendon faithful should enjoy where they are at, the superb year Zach Merrett is having, the hard work of Sam Durham, and the promise Nate Caddy and Isaac Kako offer. Tomorrow will come quickly enough. Hawks need their Allen key Saturday afternoon, MCG

Brisbane defeated Hawthorn by 33 points

There has already been plenty written and said about the Hawks’ interest in Oscar Allen. But the robust forward – and Eagles skipper and impending free agent – was just the man the Hawks needed against Brisbane on Saturday. Dirty afternoon: Nick Watson was a non-factor against Brisbane on Saturday. Credit: Getty Images Sam Mitchell made mention post-match of a worrying drop in clearances from centre bounces, despite dominating the hitouts. That nine players, including skipper James Sicily, failed to lay a tackle was a concern, but it’s inside 50 where the Hawks are brittle. The Lions had Jack Payne blanket Jack Gunston, while Mabior Chol appeared, at times, to have a defensive job on Harris Andrews, dragging the intercept master away from the play. Without major input from Gunston and Chol, the Hawks had few marking options. But if Allen was on board, the Hawks would have stretched the Lions, and had another marking tall who could have thrived in the wintry conditions.

If Allen had not marked, he almost certainly would have brought the small forwards into the game. Mitchell wanted more from his men when the ball hit the turf, but prime mover Nick Watson had a shocker – held goalless and to only four disposals (as had happened in opening round against Sydney, although the Hawks won that). It’s not time to panic, but the Hollywood Hawks have lost their sheen. Where they had shaped as a premiership threat, the Hawks now look more like a fifth-to-eighth team. We await Friday’s blockbuster against Collingwood with interest. Dark skies for Blues Saturday afternoon, Marvel Stadium

Greater Western Sydney defeated Carlton by 28 points

As this column pointed out last week, the Blues are in dire need of a midfield line breaker to complement the bull work of Patrick Cripps, Sam Walsh and George Hewett, and the steady run of Adam Cerra. They came face to face with the type of player they need in their dire defeat on Saturday: Lachie Ash. The hard-running half-back had 28 disposals and a whopping 699 metres gained, enhancing his bid for selection in the preliminary All-Australian squad. Metres man: Lachie Ash gave the Giants tremendous drive on Saturday. Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

A week after Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner had torched the Blues with their run and creativity, it was Ash’s turn to take charge. And all this on a day when the Giants were without several key midfielders, including Finn Callaghan (shoulder), Stephen Coniglio (glute) and Josh Kelly (hip). By comparison, veteran Sam Docherty, in probably his final season, led the metres-gained for the Blues, but his tally was a more modest 492m. Adam Saad, who the Blues look to similarly as Ash, had 336m. Teams need freewheeling runners to win games in modern football, but the Blues aren’t built to do this. Or, at least, not well enough to do it consistently against finals-type opponents. Jesse Motlop, given time at centre bounces, and Ollie Hollands have been used at stoppages to provide a burst of speed, but they aren’t the answer. Loading Whether coach Michael Voss can conjure a miracle similar to 2023 when the Blues vaulted from the depths of despair at the mid-season bye to reach a preliminary final appears unlikely, although their three immediate games after the break – against Essendon, West Coast and North Melbourne – gives hope of at least building momentum. “We are really keen to have a break, reflect and reset. We have been in this position before and been able to turn the season around. We are definitely not happy where we are. We are going to use this break to come back really strong,” Cerra said.

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