Essendon coach John Worsfold assesses Friday night’s win over Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.
On how the Bombers fought back to win from 20 points down at three-quarter time …
“We shouldn’t have been 20 points down, in my opinion, at three-quarter time, not through the way we were playing and the effort we were putting in. We had coughed up way too many balls that allowed Adelaide to take that lead.
“(At three-quarter time) We basically said, ‘We’ve just got to believe in ourselves. We can’t play safe, we’ve just got to keep playing our way’. We’d seen enough to say that we could outscore them in the last quarter.
“We were a bit stronger at the contest in the last quarter. We felt they probably got on top there (in the third quarter). We saw a big uplift in that (in the last quarter) and that made a good difference.”
On the frustration of wasting scoring opportunities particularly in the first half …
“There was certainly a degree of frustration through, maybe, it’s Round One and the boys were keen to go flat out. They know we like to attack fast but, maybe, they just didn’t read the cues quite right. They went a little bit (too) fast at times and sprayed some kicks. (We) played on at times where we coughed really good scoring opportunities up and presented Adelaide the opportunity to quickly rebound against us.
“We know we didn’t play anywhere near the perfect game, but we still hung in there and had a strong win.”
On whether he sensed the Bombers could out-run Adelaide in the last quarter …
“I certainly wouldn’t have sensed that. Obviously, having Zach Merrett down (in the first quarter) I was probably more concerned the other way, that will we find the zip in the last quarter to get the run we need?
“Credit to them all. I thought Conor McKenna (in particular) ran really hard in that last quarter and set up some good, attacking ball for us.”
On whether having a shorter pre-season after playing in a Grand Final is a significant disadvantage …
“I coached a Grand Final team (West Coast) that lost a Grand Final and then won the Grand Final the next year. I think if it’s cumulative (shorter pre-seasons) over a number of years, it may start to wear on you but it shouldn’t be too much (difference) in one season.”
On whether he was happy with Essendon’s defensive effort …
“We did play a team that have been a very good scoring team and kept them to 87 points.
“That’s just about a pass, maybe, not quite.”
On the performance of star recruits Jake Stringer, Devon Smith and Adam Saad …
“It’s hard to put my finger on their individual performances because I’m looking obviously at the way we’re playing as a team. But suffice to say we bought those guys (Saad, Stringer and Smith) in to play roles for us. I thought they knew what their roles were tonight and they all stuck to those roles and added value to the way we want to play.”
On the success of Essendon’s tall forward line of Joe Daniher, Cale Hooker and James Stewart …
“It was pretty effective last year for us. Last year, Stewart, Green and Hooker hadn’t played any footy together really with McDonald-Tipungwuti as well. We think they’re going to build a lot of chemistry and over the summer I think we’ve seen that. They really complement each other’s roles really well.”
