Essendon’s Andrew Phillips believes he and Sam Draper can become a “force” in the AFL after the ruck duo’s outstanding display against Melbourne in which they exposed dual All-Australian Brodie Grundy.
Phillips and Draper played crucial roles in the Bombers’ impressive 27-point Gather Round win over the Demons on Saturday night, influencing the game both at stoppages and inside 50.
The pair kicked five goals between them and combined for 26 disposals, six contested marks and four clearances, while 13 of their 39 hit-outs went to the advantage of a teammate.
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Phillips and Draper prior to this season had only played 10 games together. Journeyman Phillips would often replace Draper when the latter was unavailable for selection before the pair would seemingly tag-team at the selection table again when Draper was fit to return.
But the two Essendon rucks have now played four of the first five games of this season together under coach Brad Scott – and the Bombers have won all four matches.
“All my coaches have obviously given me a lot of belief, but I feel like it’s been a bit of a build over the last couple of years,” Phillips told foxfooty.com.au on Saturday night.
“What me and ‘Drapes’ are building together as a ruck duo – and obviously being able to impact forward, the both of us, is crucial as well – we’re just starting to build a really good connection together and become a bit of a force.
“We’ve got some outs down in the forward line, so to have me and Drapes to be able to go down there and impact as well, it’s obviously good.”
After performing well against West Coast last week as the solo ruck in the absence of Max Gawn, Grundy didn’t have as much impact against the Bombers.
Fox Footy commentators were concerned by some of Grundy’s defensive running efforts and accountability, with both Phillips and Draper pushing forward hard to give Essendon another target close to goal.
Phillips said trying to outwork Grundy throughout Saturday’s match was a deliberate ploy.
“Coming up against Grundy rucking out a game by himself, it’s a big ask and it’s tough,” he said. “So as a duo together, it’s something that we focused on to try and work one ruck over and it was key to do that early then later on in the game, we can run it out together and try and run him over.
“Both of us want to push forward naturally anyway, but especially against a sole ruck it was a big focus for us.”
Coach Scott lauded his ruck duo post-match.
Essendon Bombers Press Conference | 08:28
“The output on the scoreboard was really pleasing (from the big men) … we’ve got a lot of respect for Grundy for obvious reasons,” Scott told reporters.
“Draper is emerging, he is showing some really good signs and getting better and better on a weekly basis.
“Phillips has turned the clock back a little bit in the last two weeks. He has been really important. He is a really coachable player. I’ve got to be careful because if I tell him to do something, he does it to the letter.”
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said Draper and Phillips’ performance proved why the Demons prefer Gawn and Grundy in the same side, with the premiership skipper a chance to return for Melbourne’s Anzac Eve clash against Richmond.
“I think when you see what Essendon did they had two pretty important ruckmen on the ground and that is why we like having two ruckmen in our team,” Goodwin told reporters.
“So having them back together, you can see what pressure you can put on the opposition.”
Melbourne Demons Press Conference | 07:29
Essendon, which sunk to 15th last season, will finish Round 5 inside the top four with a 4-1 record. While the Bombers made progress across the first month of this season, the victory over Melbourne was their first win over a 2022 finalist.
“It was pretty impressive. That was up there. I don’t know if you heard the song, but there was an extra bit of sting in that from the boys,” Phillips said.
“It’s a combination of the last couple of weeks. We’ve been playing some really good footy, but this week was a really good challenge for us against a really good side. It was a bit of a focus during the week to see the things that we’ve been working on really come out against a really good side and I think we saw that.”
Phillips said it was particularly satisfying to restrict the Demons to just 77 points for the match.
“It’s obviously crucial. You can’t let them off the leash – or really any team for that matter – but that has been a massive focus for us over the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“Just the way we’re defending and the way we’re able to attack and the way they complement each other, it doesn’t leave our backs hanging out to dry and I’m sure they’re grateful for it.”
