WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

What the hell is going on?

For the first time in what seems like an eternity, the Essendon Football Club sits second on the ladder. But for a reason I can’t quite put my finger on, every time I look at the ladder, I can’t help but feel like of a fraud. The club keeps winning and yet I feel like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop – for the club to inevitably slide down the ladder again – back to our more natural position in modern times, the pit of irrelevance.

But facts are facts. The club is second, not by percentage, or fortune, or luck or anything. By pure merit.

7-2-1

No one saw that coming. And let’s be honest, there were moments on Sunday afternoon that 6-3-1 was looking a hell of a lot more likely. The win over North Melbourne was not impressive by any stretch of the imagination. Up until 1.10pm on Sunday, there had arguably never been an unimpressive 40-pt win. Well, there is now. But the club got the W, improved the percentage, and moved on.

At the start of April, the month ahead looked challenging and aside from an abysmal performance against Port Adelaide, the club has come out smelling pretty damn good. But now it’s time to reload and go again. And the next few challengers are as tough as any.

Looking ahead to the coming weekend, most neutral fans would expect the club to throttle Richmond. But the past weekend’s match against the Kangaroos proved that Essendon’s decades long issue with lowly teams continues, and Dreamtime remains a danger game just like the rest. Then there’s games against Gold Coast (A), Carlton (H) on Sunday night before the Big Freeze at the ‘G, a bye and then home for a rejuvenated West Coast Eagles side.

Then it gets really scary.

Cats, Pies, and Dees.

All at the ‘G.

All horrifying prospects.

But this is what the club needs to prove its credentials. Seven weeks to prove that this team is a true finals-worthy side, not necessarily a contender, but a team that can play finals and finally win one. Just one. After the release of the remainder of the 2024 fixture, the AFL community as a whole has rated the Bombers run home the hardest in the league.

There will be no hiding behind easy beats like some have claimed the club’s start to the season has been. And granted, aside from the Giants victory and the draw to the Magpies, not many more of the Dons wins have been against sides that have really impressed. The Swans proved too strong, and the Power went to town on the boys after quarter-time. But it’s been a month and half since the Bombers last loss, and even the most negative of fans would admit that the team doesn’t look the same as the one that finished last year in utter disarray.

Alwyn Davey Jr. celebrating against North Melbourne in Round 10.

This time last year, the club had five wins and was sitting outside the eight in ninth. So yes, we’re a better team than we were this time last year, however flags aren’t won in May.

But to their defence, the boys have done everything they have been asked to do.

The Bombers have outplayed the teams they’ve been given and in the last six weeks have gone 5-0-1. But as I said earlier, the next seven will decide the club’s fate in ’24. Carlton, Melbourne, and Collingwood all played finals last year, while Geelong, despite recent hiccups, seem reinvigorated (again), the Suns look on track to reach their first finals and the Eagles have Harley Reid.

The club can’t let their last six weeks be for nothing – they need to keep it up, in all departments. Because the ghosts of 2023 haunt many fans, still. The memory of last season’s cataclysmic nosedive is still fresh, leaving most fans with a reasonable distrust of their Bombers. So, this can’t be a phase – it needs to be real. Consistent. Relentless. Unyielding.

So, what should we be expecting?

A pessimist would say 2-5.

A realist would say 3-4.

An optimist would say 5-2.

And a nuffie would go 7-0. That’s why they’re nuffies.

I want to believe that the Dons can be that 5-2 team after the next seven. A truly different Bombers outfit. From what the team has delivered so far this season it feels like the club is on the right path (finally!), but it has to continue against the depleted Tiges on Saturday night. A marquee game. Big stage. Four more points on offer.

A necessary win – as they all will be for the remainder of 2024.

The Bombers may have the hardest run home but are in great position to make the most of it. Challengers await, some of the best in the competition, but the Dons have not looked like they do right now in years. They look, dare I say it, dependable.

Finals are a long way away. But if the Dons make it to September, they’ll have had to work for it.

A truly earned finals birth. 

And maybe, that finals win we’ve all be waiting for.