Essendon board member Simon Madden isn’t wavering in his belief that the current Bombers playing group can not just make finals in 2020 - but win one for the first time in over 15 years.
After a bright start to their campaign, the Dons have lost three of their last four games and face a must-win clash against Gold Coast on Wednesday night.
Madden says Essendon, who haven’t won a final since 2004, are in desperate need of a finals breakthrough purely for their own self-belief.
“I still think this group is going into their window of opportunity,” the Bombers great told SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“You don’t say, ‘Oh we’re going to win the premiership this year’ but we’ve got to get good enough to win a final.
“When you win a final and I have the viewpoint of being involved in football for a long period of time … we lost three elimination finals in my time (at Essendon) and you doubt you can do it and then suddenly you win a final and all of a sudden you go, ‘This is what they’re talking about’.
“I think our group has got the capacity of getting into the finals and winning a final and once you do that, you can start looking at getting into a top four.
“Nobody can say that we’re going to win a premiership in a specific timeframe but we can position ourselves to contend for a premiership because so many things come in to play.
“You get yourselves into a position to contend for a premiership and the easiest way to do that is getting yourself into the top two or top four.
Madden said all Victorian clubs were bound to struggle at some point while living interstate to complete the season and urged Essendon to fight their way through and qualify for finals.
“I know there’s a lot of frustrations with a lot of teams," he said.
“Melbourne teams have gone into the hubs and people are saying they’re handling it well … just look at St Kilda who had a down game against Geelong. Every team is going to have a downer up there because not having a normal life can add pressure.
“If we can struggle through this mid-point (of the season) and get some of our good players back, I think we’ve still got an opportunity to get into the finals, winning one and taking the next step.”
The Bombers are currently battling somewhat of an injury crisis, with the likes of captain Dyson Heppell, star forwards Joe Daniher and Jake Stringer, Cale Hooker, Patrick Ambrose and Orazio Fantasia all on the sidelines.