In a game that ebbed and flowed, the Lions staged a second half comeback, before falling short against the Bombers at the Gabba on Saturday.
The visitors appeared home when they led by 42 points late in the second quarter, but the Lions refused to roll over.
Young forward Eric Hipwood gave the Lions the lead early in the final term, before Essendon kicked the last five goals of the match to win by 27-points.
“Whenever teams get a run on, you’re trying to find ways as quick as possible to stem that momentum or stem that tide,” said Assistant Midfield Coach Jed Adcock.
“It generally comes down to the fundamentals: trying to win the ball inside, get it forward, play the game in our forward half a bit or even just control the footy for a while and make the opposition defend and we weren’t able to do that.”
“At the same time we still had opportunities to score. Through that second quarter when they kicked those six goals I still think we had four or five chances to kick goals and we just weren’t able to capitalise on those opportunities.
“You take those opportunities and it doesn’t blow out as much as it did.”
Adcock said the Lions were buoyed by the opportunity to travel to Melbourne and show the Club’s Victorian following what they can do.
“We’re really excited to get to Melbourne. We played there in the JLT Series and had a nice win. We’ve had a little taste of Melbourne and Melbourne fans have had a little taste of the Club so far and the changes that have been happening.
“Round 23 last year obviously wasn’t a great way to end the year, so it’s nice to get back there against the same opposition, at the same ground.
“We’re just excited to get out there, compete again, show the fans down there what we can do, what’s changed. Hopefully the effort’s up again and we come away with the four points.”
