Dreamtime at the 'G
1. On a night Australian football celebrated Aboriginal culture and heritage, Essendon's first four goals were kicked by indigenous players. Patrick Ryder, who was far too good for Richmond defender Alex Rance during the early stages, booted three of them. Two of Ryder's goals came from marks, while the other one was a sensational long bomb from deep in the right forward pocket. The other goal in the Bombers' initial onslaught was kicked by little man Alwyn Davey.
Dylan's dark day
2. When the Dreamtime at the 'G game comes around next year, Richmond defender Dylan Grimes would be excused if he declared himself unavailable. Last year Grimes suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in the showcase game against the Bombers, and this year it was more of the same. Although the hamstring strain that Grimes was struck down by on Saturday night doesn't appear nearly as bad as when he tore the muscle off the bone in 2011, he was inconsolable when subbed out of the game in the second quarter.
From foal to thoroughbred for Bellchambers
3. When Essendon's 202cm ruckman Tom Bellchambers made his AFL debut in 2008 he seemed to stagger around the field like a new-born foal. His kicking look suspect and he rarely took marks. But the Bombers' development coaches and Bellchambers himself deserve much praise, because the 22-year-old is rapidly developing into one of the best ruckmen in the game. In the absence of David Hille, who is battling back from a calf injury, Bellchambers did it all against the Tigers. He took nine strong marks and amassed 13 possessions and 20 hit-outs in what was an entertaining battle with Richmond man-mountain Ivan Maric.
Comedy of errors
4. The greasy conditions meant the game was marred by skill-errors, although the players involved in the funniest passage of play only had themselves to blame for the comedy capers they were involved in. The shemozzle began when Richmond's Robin Nahas took a mark 35m from the Tigers' goal, 16 minutes into the second quarter. Despite being on only a slight angle, he was desperate to pass the ball. Eventually, he tried to lob it to Brett Deledio in the forward pocket but managed instead to put it right on the chest of the man on the mark, Kyle Hardingham. Inexplicably, Hardingham's attempted short pass to Sam Lonergan then landed in the lap of Richmond's Dustin Martin. As phones were thrown against desks in both coaches' boxes, Martin kicked an easy goal.
Kicking themselves
5. How can you have 18 more inside-50s and lose the game? That's what Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and his players will be asking themselves over and over again. Basically, it comes down to an old footy phrase: Bad kicking is bad football. The Tigers dominated the second half - they had 37 inside-50s to 20 after the long break. But they cost themselves what would have been a brilliant come-from-behind win (they trailed by 42 points early in the third quarter) because they couldn't hit the target when kicking for goal. The Tigers booted 5.8 in the third quarter and 4.3 in the last. Essendon, in contrast, kicked 7.5 in the second half.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
