Essendon put themselves in the box seat to play finals last night, coming from 30 points down to beat the Crows at the Adelaide Oval.
Missing key personnel and with their backs against the wall, the Bombers proved their credentials and Dermott Brereton was full of praise for who he dubs the ‘dirty rottens’.
“How good are they going. This is not music to my ears, but for a team that has been out of it for so long, it’s a wonderful display of just how even the competition has become and how well Essendon has turned it around,” Brereton told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“They’ve got some weaponry at their disposal, are they as good as the big three up the top end of the ladder, their best footy is not far off them.
“I think they’re going to play in September, which is tough for me to say!”
Kane Cornes, who declared the Crows a certainty to win on SEN Mornings on Friday, believes it was one of the best wins of 2019.
“I know we can be prisoners of the moment a little bit, but in terms of any teams and wins, that’s right up there for the season,” Cornes said.
“When you factor in no ruck, not even a back-up ruck, they lost hit-outs by 18 and clearances by 22, the captain was on one leg, Michael Hurley and Orazio Fantasia aren’t there and it’s a mini-final being basically an eight-point game.
“It’s as good a win as any team has had this year.”
Essendon sits sixth on the ladder and travels north to take on Gold Coast next Sunday afternoon.
