Essendon’s 15-point loss to Carlton was a continuation of a familiar theme for coach John Worsfold.
The Bombers kicked just one goal in the first half to trail by 15 points at the main break before fighting back to lead briefly late in the third quarter.
As they have in many games this season, Essendon’s pieced-together team gave effort at times but were undone by basic skill errors.
“It appeared that when we got the momentum we won the footy then kicked the ball straight back to them,” Worsfold said.
“And they got an easy goal against the flow just from a mistake … that’s the story of where we’re at at the moment.
“We get frustrated in the coaches box thinking we’re in the game then it’s just a kick straight back to the opposition.
“They appear to be under no pressure but that’s taking away from the fact that players are fatigued and they feel pressure.”
The Bombers slumped to 17th on the ladder with a 1-5 record but the coach saw some positives from his group in the second half – most notably some promising signs from inexperienced players like Darcy Parish, Orazio Fantasia, Kyle Langford and Michael Hartley.
Worsfold said that he would continue to work hard to promote chemistry between his older top-up players and their younger teammates.
“We’ve got to make sure that players take a lot more ownership when they go on the ground because at the moment they don’t know each other well enough to be able to adjust out there and know what role certain players are playing,” he said.
“They’ve got to communicate with each other when they come off the ground a lot better.”
The Bombers could be without former Geelong forward Mathew Stokes for next week’s clash against Sydney, Worsfold reporting he would undergo scans on a tight hamstring on Monday.