Essendon have taken one other hit of their AFL season from hell, struggling a 32-point defeat to Richmond.
Dion Prestia (36 disposals) starred and Jack Riewoldt kicked 4 objectives for the Tigers of their 11.14 (80) to 7.6 (48) win on the MCG on Saturday evening.
Prestia acquired the Yiooken Award as greatest afield, whereas Liam Baker (30 disposals) continued his excellent season and Robbie Tarrant stood tall in defence.
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Indigenous abilities Daniel Rioli (26 disposals), Shane Edwards (21), Shai Bolton and Maurice Rioli Jnr (two objectives every) all gave becoming contributions within the Dreamtime characteristic match.
However Kane Lambert was substituted out with hip soreness and Tom Lynch (hamstring) sat out the ultimate quarter of a win that firmed up Richmond’s (6-4) spot within the top-eight.
Tigers coach Damien Hardwick described it as a messy affair, joking the ultimate siren was essentially the most pleasing side of the evening.
“Our ball movement didn’t look anywhere near as sharp (as it can), so they did a good job defending us, and we left a fair few goals on the table, which is a little bit disappointing,” Hardwick stated.
“We walk away with the four points but we’ve certainly got a lot of improvement left in us.”
Put below a fierce blowtorch this week, Essendon wanted to present extra battle than of their meek round-nine give up to Sydney.
The Bombers repeatedly flew the flag in a fiery Dreamtime contest however by no means seemed like having the ability to produce an upset win that might have sparked a turnaround of their marketing campaign.
The loss left them floundering close to the foot of the ladder with a 2-8 report.
And making issues worse, Mason Redman was reported for placing Prestia off the ball.
“We’re disappointed about the result,” Bombers coach Rutten stated.
“But in terms of our response from last week, in particular around the contest, our pressure and our tackling, I thought there was improvement there.
“That half we have been happy with.”
Darcy Parish racked up 43 touches, including 19 contested possessions, in a losing cause but wasn’t clean in his disposal by foot.
Zach Merrett (33 disposals) and Redman (29) found plenty of the ball and youngster Ben Hobbs kicked two goals.
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd led the chorus of criticism against his old club in recent days and would have been at least been pleased to see the Bombers show some aggression from the outset.
They laid 20 tackles in the first quarter and 63 on the night, after tallying just 30 for the entire game a week earlier, while contested possessions and clearances were relatively even.
But for all the Bombers’ endeavour, they coughed the ball up too easily and were outclassed by a far more efficient Richmond.
A run of five-straight Tigers goals either side of the first break gave them a lead they never relinquished.
Richmond sewed up a comfortable, if not pretty, victory midway through the final term when Bolton kicked his second major and cheekily waved ‘goodbye’ to the Essendon cheer squad.
The Bombers misplaced Matt Guelfi to a hamstring harm after half-time.
