Essendon locked themselves into finals on Saturday night, downing Fremantle over in the west.
It came after the club’s embarrassing 104-point loss the Bulldogs last weekend and David King praised the Bombers for turning things around.
“The exit of a coach was happening before our very eyes. There wasn’t a person in the football world that said he’d be right. Let’s back him in,” he told *SEN’s Whateley.
“They lost contested possession by 54, they lost clearance by 14 and yet they had total control of that game.
“I think the leadership of Michael Hurley on this group is profound. He’s their best leader. Make no mistake about that.
“His organisation, the way he handles that back six, the way he steers that club.
“Clearly they had a week last week that no club wants to have. By all reports, they gathered during the week, had a good couple of meals together and all that sort of stuff. To get the result is huge.”
Essendon brought back Michael Hurley, Darcy Parish, Adam Saad and Aaron Francis back for the game, while Dyson Heppell continues to play through a foot injury.
However, King feels the Bombers will have to take it easy this weekend against the Magpies and let key players re-cooperate for week one of finals.
“There is no bigger certainty than Collingwood this week. No bigger certainty,” King said.
“Essendon will have to rest some players. They are limping to the line. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s four or five changes to a winning team, just to make sure they’re ready to go for finals – they’ve earned that right.
“That win was a special one. I don’t know what it does for them in 2019, but it has a massive affect on 2020. It’s a huge win for Worsfold.”