Essendon is peaking at the right time of the year and a win over Collingwood in Round 23 will see them playing finals.
Andrew McGrath, Dylan Shiel and Dyson Heppell have returned from injury and the team overall was dominant in their 68-point win over Gold Coast on Sunday.
Given they’ve proven they can knock off a team like the Western Bulldogs, could the Bombers win a final? Club great Tim Watson believes they have the potential.
“I think they can win a final, but I’m not sure how much further they can go after that,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“Getting Andrew McGrath back yesterday, that midfield mix is very good. You get Jake Stringer, Darcy Parish, Zach Merrett, Dylan Shiel, who they used for run more than anything yesterday, and then Sam Draper is such a good ruckman.
“They can compete with anyone in that part of the ground.”
Garry Lyon agrees, believing the prospective top eight will make for a very interesting finals mix.
“Any of those bottom four of the top eight, Brisbane and Sydney aren’t making up the numbers, the Giants have gathered themselves and I wouldn’t want to play the Bombers so that makes for a fantastic finals series,” Lyon said.
“The improvement has come across the board, I don’t know if you can pencil it down to one particular part.
“Their midfield has been strong, but I love their back six.”
Kane Cornes was full of praise for Jake Stringer, who has put his name firmly in the All-Australian side in the second half of the year.
“I haven’t given him enough credit so apologies to Jake, what you’ve done is phenomenal,” Cornes added.
“I’ve almost been waiting for the form to dip off, which it hasn’t.
“There’s one clip at the start of the second quarter, he starts in the centre bounce, gets a matchup that he likes and that’s Touk Miller and he just goes forward.
“He plays the exact Dustin Martin role, so I think he’s starting to get the smarts of what he’s capable of as well. ‘I’ve got a mismatch here, I’m just going to go forward and take a bit of a risk’.
“If you don’t have that type of player in your side, you’re at a massive disadvantage because they’re the most valuable type. Jordan De Goey, Marcus Bontempelli, Patrick Dangerfield … if you don’t have one of those, you’re starting from a fair way back.”
Watson wished to give a shout out to Bombers defender Jayden Laverde as well.
“No one gives any love to Jayden Laverde, but they should. What he’s been able to do to reinvent himself as a footballer, I’ve seen him play against big-bodied footballer and he’s out-positioned them in a one-on-one. Give him some flowers because what’s he’s done has been outstanding,” he said.
If the Bombers sneak into eighth, they will likely face Brisbane at the Gabba or the Western Bulldogs.