After a relatively positive start to the 2024 AFL season, Essendon were utterly dominated by Port Adelaide during Gather Round.
Entering the game, the Bombers had won the centre clearance battle in each of their first three games, taking home two wins and falling short in a valiant effort against a top Sydney side.
Despite a great result against the Saints in Round 3, the Bombers folded in dramatic fashion against the Power. Finishing -13 on centre clearances, collecting just six of them as a team and allowing 63 inside 50s.
There has been plenty of discussion regarding the newly introduced ‘Essendon edge’, particularly questioning whether the mindset and style of play has had any effect on the Bombers thus far.
Legendary Essendon premiership player Tim Watson is yet to buy in, claiming the edge they are promoting is simply a necessity in today’s game.
“To me, playing like they want to play is the non-negotiable in the game,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.
“That’s what everybody should be doing; playing like that and should have that competitive stamina, contest in, contest out, week in, week out, quarter in, quarter out.”
Beyond the ongoing debate, Watson also believes that the players the Bombers are fielding don’t quite have the necessary physicality to execute the edge asked of them.
“I don’t think that they have produced a list of players, or, enough of (their players) have been chosen that have that competitive edge in the way they play naturally,” he claimed.
“You’ve got to force them to play (that way). The only way you can force them is exactly what we were talking about before with Damien Hardwick and what he’s trying to introduce there at the Gold Coast Suns.
“That’s why I think there’s a fluctuation in performance and aggression and competitiveness within that group.”
Coach Brad Scott and the Bombers have no easy task next, taking on the Western Bulldogs who rank equal fourth in the competition for total clearances.
In what could potentially be a season defining game at Marvel Stadium on Friday, there will be a heavy focus on getting their physical game right ahead of what many would describe as an eight-point contest.