HE MIGHT have been "angry" at times during the game, but Essendon coach Mark Thompson was a relieved man after winning his first outing in charge of the Bombers.
Relieved his demanding pre-season was timed to perfection, relieved his "risk" to play three debutants paid off, and relieved, despite a number of off-field distractions, the Bombers were able to pick apart North Melbourne to win by 39 points at Etihad Stadium in a commanding display.
One worry for Thompson was whether he had worked the Bombers too hard in the pre-season, with the club going through a hard training phase during the NAB Challenge period, impacting their results.
Midway through the second term, after a fast start and then a drop off, he wondered if he had erred in pushing them too hard, but was satisfied with how they hit back to dominate the contest.
"I was very concerned. We started well. We slowed up and they started to get more ball and I thought 'Oh no, we might've just cooked them a bit long'. But we snapped out of it and I thought we probably just timed it perfectly. We didn't get it right by much," Thompson said post-match.
"It was a good start. We couldn't be more pleased.
"We played a good, strong first game of the year. It looked like we were doing things we've been practising and they were carrying it out so pretty pleased with the performance overall."
On his return to the senior coach's chair after three years as senior assistant to James Hird, the two-time Geelong premiership coach said he had his moments.
"I got angry at a few things. The old ones that used to get me back then too. I've probably just got to settle down and mature. I'm doing it for 22 weeks, I should have a bit more fun and try to win as many games as we can and enjoy the year," he said.
Essendon restricted North to only nine goals through a high-possession game, having nearly 160 more disposals than the Kangaroos. Six Bombers had more than 25 disposals, compared to none for Brad Scott's men.
Admitting that success "surprised" the Essendon coaching group, Thompson said the win had an extra layer of significance. "When you play Hawthorn and Fremantle two of the next three weeks, it's pretty important," he said.
After questions over his new-look forward line, Essendon had five multiple goalkickers, with five goals coming from senior pair Jobe Watson and Brendon Goddard (who also combined with 64 disposals).
"Everyone's saying 'Where are they going to kick their goals?' It doesn't matter where you get them from, just as long as you get them. Good players get the ball no matter what part of the ground they play in," he said.
"We'll kick enough goals."
After a day of more off-field dramas for the club with Hird's coaching future in jeopardy after his wife Tania reignited claims about AFL boss Andrew Demetriou, Thompson said he didn't have time to worry about it before the round one clash.
"I tried very hard not to concentrate on that. We told all our players not to even go there. It's not the right time, we've got a game on, and I wanted all the players, all my staff, just to concentrate on the game and the game's only just wrapped up. We'll let the committee and the board deal with that when they do," Thompson said.
"I didn't want to even go there to get upset. I had a day where I had a lot of messages.
"All my friends in the world texted me to congratulate me and wish me all the best so I was busy replying to them. I didn't have a snooze and I wanted to have a snooze. I was busy enough without worrying about that stuff."
