There is little doubt Essendon are one of the most improved sides this season but, as the run home to the finals begins, the question is whether they have what it takes to not only remain in the top eight, but even in the top four, and deliver their first September win since 2004.
Fresh after a mid-season bye, the Bombers began round 15 in fourth spot on the ladder, with eight wins, four losses and a draw, and visions of finishing in the top four for the first time since 2001, when they claimed the McClelland Trophy, but lost the grand final.
Hang on: The Blues were able to quell Zach Merrett, but the Essendon skipper needs to get moving if his team is to push for a top-four finish.Credit: AFL Photos
While they appear well-placed, two defeats on the eve of the mid-season break, to the 10th-placed Suns on the Gold Coast, and to the second-placed Blues, hit the pause button after what had been an unbeaten seven-game run.
Now comes a potentially defining stretch of games, beginning on Sunday afternoon against the lowly West Coast at Marvel Stadium, where the Bombers are expected to take care of business, before major tests against Geelong, Collingwood, Melbourne and even the Crows.
“If you take West Coast lightly, they could chew you up, the way they are going,” Bombers great Simon Madden says.
“The next five are very telling games. You can’t look any further than that. Then you can look at the next five. They mostly have games at Marvel and the MCG. That’s a good position to be in.”