FOR A few terrible moments on Saturday night in the third quarter the crowd at Telstra Dome went deathly quiet as the Brisbane Lions suddenly hit the lead after being behind all night.

Often in this situation a young team that has broken a away to a big early lead falls apart and gets run over, but the best thing about the evening for Essendon was what unfolded in the next six minutes.

Not only did the Bombers resume the lead quickly through the breakaway speed of Leroy Jetta and his flying goal, but they also machine-gunned four goals in six minutes.

Talking in the rooms after the game, Jetta explained that coach Mattie Knights had urged him to “go for it” when he had the ball within range, after being responsible for five assists in last week’s goal tally. And go for it, he did.

Two of those four quick goals came from Sam Lonergan, who encapsulated the resilience of the team.

Twenty minutes earlier he had copped a heavy knock to the head and had been assisted up the race with legs of jelly and seemingly little chance of returning.

While the resolve of Lonergan and the electrifying speed of Jetta may have spearheaded the younger group’s input, much of the reason for Essendon winning lay with the older hands.

Scott Lucas was the best forward on the ground and Mattie Lloyd played one of his best games for the year in front of goal. He may not be the dominant forward he once was, but to be honest, apart from Buddy Franklin and Brendan Fevola, there aren’t any other full-forwards in the competition that take command of a game in the traditional sense.

Andrew Welsh and Mark McVeigh lit the fuse in the first quarter with a dozen touches each and they made the most of David Hille’s control of the ruck duel.

Hilley must be inked in as the All-Australian ruckman, yet one of his most telling moments came when he legitimately crunched Lions Collier and Black in the space of 10 seconds. He’s always been big enough to throw his weight round, but hasn’t seemed keen to do so.

But that is what a big ruckman is meant to do, and it undoubtedly makes a young side like Essendon walk taller. Of course at 27, Hille is coming into prime time and should have plenty of years ahead of leading the Bomber midfield unit.

In that regard it was interesting to hear Matthew Knights saying that he sees Paddy Ryder as a long term defence, and that Ryder has told him he sees himself in that role more than anything else.

There are many Essendon people who have viewed Ryder as an eventual ruckman who is spending his formative years as a defender. But as Knights said, he is in the same body shape as Dustin Fletcher who won’t go forever.

On that line there is nothing to say that Ryder couldn’t eventually turn his hand to ruckwork. Knights’ old Richmond teammate Benny Gale was a centre half forward for years before successfully taking on a ruck role at the end of his career.