The night did not start well for Essendon defender Ben McKay when Port Adelaide’s key forward Mitch Georgiades outpointed him to mark and kick the first goal of the match.
When he judged the next entry better and marked deep in defence to even up the battle, a cheer went around the ground.
Bombers defender Ben McKay chalked up the 20th win of his career after a tough week. Credit: Getty Images
It was an uncomfortable sound, however, as it was unclear whether the noise was meant as encouragement to a defender who had been below his best in the previous two matches or a Bronx cheer designed to mock.
Whatever its intent, the sound had the potential to unsettle the key defender who had his hands full trying to stop Georgiades and his twin brother Harry in the headlines for missing games with Carlton for personal reasons.
Essendon coach Brad Scott, who has shown his faith in McKay rather than give voice to his knockers by vigorously defending him, did not think the noise to be Bronx cheers but admitted he couldn’t know for sure.
What he did know for sure was that McKay would do a job for him and that what others were saying should be the least of his worries.
Essendon coach Brad Scott has great belief over Ben McKay’s capabilities.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
“I didn’t think it was Bronx cheers. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but he was the leading intercept player on the ground for the most part of the game. I don’t know how it finished, but he was really, really important for us tonight,” Scott said.
“Ben McKay has got all the attributes of a really good key defender. He is a great size. He can play on all the big strong key defenders and the thing is with key defenders when you have breakdowns all around the ground defensively, usually it’s the last line key defenders who get hung out to dry and we hung them out to dry last week.”
That his name has become a central point of the discussion around the Bombers’ direction feels unfair to the coach as he explained that McKay’s improvement will come as their system – and commitment to the system – improves.
“If we can get going and keep improving our system Ben McKay is a really important part of what we are doing, and I have great belief in his capability,” Scott said.
Although the skills made the game ordinary with the ball moving as chaotically as a dodgem car, there was no questioning the Bombers’ commitment to defensive actions as the tackle count and territory battle shifted in Essendon’s favour.
With Port Adelaide’s ball movement interrupted, the inside 50s conceded was 44 rather than 65 as it had been five days earlier against Adelaide. The tackle count was in Essendon’s favour. And best and fairest winner Jordan Ridley joined McKay and young defender Zach Reid to help out when Georgiades looked like being the difference early in the match.
Ridley cooled the key forward momentarily, so McKay could get into a rhythm, and he began to play his role effectively taking six marks while Reid took 10 and Ridley took five. All of a sudden, the team which conceded 20 marks against the Crows conceded just 11 to Port Adelaide.
Another whipping boy Dylan Shiel was moved back into a more familiar midfield role after struggling in the defensive role he has been earmarked for in 2025. He redeemed his reputation with 25 touches and although his kicking wasn’t perfect, he got the ball heading in Essendon’s direction from stoppage, gaining a game-high 709 metres.
Dylan Shiel played in the midfield and was an important player.Credit: Getty Images
Scott said Elijah Tsatas injury meant Shiel was needed in the middle. The coach reminded the veteran what made him a quality midfielder. “For him to play at his best, he’s got to have at the forefront of his mind what he is doing when he is playing his best footy,” Scott said.
And he performed when needed to be among his team’s best as the midfield dominated contested ball to kick the final four goals of the match and win ugly. The coach tried to say he would wake up the same after a win as he did after a loss, but it was difficult to imagine that to be true.
“The players get a bit of reward for effort. It is hard to keep pounding in the same message and drilling the same drills and working on the same elements of the craft if you don’t get small wins along the way,” Scott said.
“From that perspective it just reinforces the work that we are doing can turn things around pretty quickly because it did look different clearly in five days.”
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley laid the defeat at the hands of the senior players who just did not perform at the standard they are capable of playing to change the result.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
