ESSENDON coach Matthew Knights is eager to keep his players focused despite saying Friday night’s thrashing of Carlton was among the finest since he took over at Windy Hill.
The Bombers were jubilant after their 69-point thrashing of the Blues at the MCG, the victory emphasising their credentials as genuine top-eight candidates.
“I think it’s probably fair to say that it’s the best four-quarter effort we’ve put in,” Knights said after the match.
“We’ve certainly at times played some good football this year and it’s probably lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes… we’ve spurted in games.
“But I thought tonight, over the full four quarters, we were pretty strong.”
Essendon trailed by 14 points midway through the second term but piled on 16 of the game’s final 18 goals to win 21.10 (136) to 9.13 (67).
The match was played in front of 83,407 fans and there are likely to be just as many fans – perhaps even more – next week when Essendon tackles Collingwood at the same venue.
Knights was aware of the hype and excitement that would follow Friday night’s win, not only among supporters but perhaps his players, too, and was is committed to keeping their minds on the job.
“We probably just have to talk about, ‘you know we’re seven wins [and] six losses’ but the reality is that’s about the middle at the moment,” he said.
“It was a great win in isolation tonight but this game’s its own entity and it doesn’t guarantee anything for next week … the long-term vision is really important.”
The only negative after the match was an ankle injury suffered by Jobe Watson – who the coach said had been in his side’s top three before he was forced off late in the first half.
The Bombers will assess Watson’s ankle on Saturday morning, with Knights optimistic his star ballwinner would be available “sooner rather than later”.
But not even his absence in the second half would deprive Essendon of a memorable win.
“We spoke at half time that it would be a magnificent victory if we came away with a win, only having 21 players,” Knights said.
The coach was ecstatic with his side’s poise but also the exposure his young team got by playing on such a big stage, in such a big game.
“It’s amazing, you see Cale Hooker down in front of you … he’s on the wing and there’s 80,000 or 90,000 people here and he’s trying to get around this bloke and sells the dummy with a handball and you think ‘well he’s only 19 years old’ and he’s soaking in the atmosphere,” he said.
Knights said he was thrilled with Brent Prismall’s “precision use of the ball”, Tayte Pears’ job on Brendan Fevola and midfielder Andrew Welsh’s role on Carlton skipper Chris Judd.
