ESSENDON goalkicker Jake Carlisle has hit an "incredible" vein of form that has even gone beyond what the key tall's biggest backer thought he was capable of.
Carlisle kicked a career-high eight goals in Sunday's thrilling win over the Western Bulldogs, taking 12 marks, including 10 inside 50 – the highest ever recorded by Champion Data.
His match-winning performance came just seven days after he spearheaded the Bombers' round 17 win over Collingwood with four goals and 19 marks – the most in Essendon history.
Coach Mark Thompson, who persevered with Carlisle in attack through an earlier form slump, said it was hard to find a definitive reason for the 22-year-old's spike.
He joked that North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey was getting a lot of credit internally after meeting with Carlisle in May to help the young key position player in his new role.
"There's a bit of banter in the rooms that Wayne Carey should be a coach and the forwards coach who coaches Jake (Nathan Bassett), isn't getting any compliments and he's a bit upset," Thompson said on Sunday night.
"I don't care what happens as long as he plays like that. He's been incredible really.
"Without him we wouldn't have won, would we? We would have been in a lot of trouble.
"I didn't know he was capable of this. People say [it must be] satisfying. Yeah, it is."
Thompson said young forward Joe Daniher, who was a late withdrawal on Sunday because of a cracked collarbone, was the next forward Thompson wanted to see produce a breakout game.
The coach said Daniher could miss the round 19 clash against the Sydney Swans after the Bombers' bye.
"He has a very small crack in his clavicle," Thompson said.
"He did it at training. He went out and marked the ball, fell over, and 'Hooksy (Cale Hooker) fell on him … he just got squashed.
"That's a two-week or three-week injury, depending on how tolerant he is to pain."
With Daniher sidelined, Brendon Goddard and defender Dustin Fletcher played forward at times, with Thompson happy with the way the Bombers functioned around Carlisle.
"He got space and he was moving … he has big hands and long gadgets," the coach said.
"What they're doing is they're working well together and they're all reaping the rewards because we're playing better football."
The coach also praised Michael Hurley, who was outstanding in defence on Sunday, finishing with 20 possessions and five rebound 50s.
"I thought some of his ball use late in the game was pretty incredible," Thompson said.
"He certainly wins his position, but I'd really like to see him rip a game apart from full-back or centre half-back … I think he has that ability.
"I was impressed [with his communication]. There were a lot of people down on confidence.
"If you are up in confidence then you have the responsibility to help shape the team and help some teammates."
