As it happened: Dogs overrun Blues, Freo stun Swans, Lions ease past Dons, Demons thump Hawks, Power smash North

Essendon coach Brad Scott spoke to the media after the game...

Q: Must have been happy with the first half, what do you think changed in the third quarter?
A: We were really pleased with the first half obviously. We had what we thought was a clear plan and we were executing it largely pretty well. Brisbane have got a lot of fire power and a lot of strength. All over the ground. They are clearly at a different stage to where we are, but we are really clear with the players that that’s irrelevant. That’s sort of bigger picture stuff. For us each game we come up with a plan to win and we came here to win. We gave ourselves a good chance in the second half. It’s hard to hold up 22 inside 50s to five in the third quarter and they overwhelmed us in the end. But 17 points the difference at three-quarter time, had a couple of chances early in that last quarter to narrow the gap and really put some pressure on. To Brisbane’s credit they were able to withstand that and eventually get the game on their terms. For large parts we thought it was pretty much on our terms which was really pleasing against a really good side.

Q: You were pretty good around stoppages against a really high-quality midfield. Where was maybe the disconnect in converting the stoppage, I wouldn’t say dominance, but how well you were doing in stoppages to converting inside 50s?
A: It’s just a little bit of polish to finish off some of that hard inside work. I think there are a few factors to it. Brisbane defended really well back half. Again, took a lot of contested marks around the ground. But in our forward 50 as well. Just our inability - because you are not going to score every time you go forward, but you need to be able to retain the ball and at least put some pressure on. Brisbane were able to transition it too easily. Even though for the large part of the game we defended the back half of the ground really well. The front half not so well.

Q: Can you elaborate, you had a few key players out, but from my perspective I thought the defence put up a really decent performance.
Q: Yeah, Kaine Baldwin played his first AFL game as a defender. That’s a bit of the situation we are in. Probably three or four first-choice defenders down, but the silver lining in that for us is that we train Baldwin as a defender through the pre-season and he competed hard tonight and Zerk-Thatcher continues to develop, but we are asking a lot of them at this stage of their career without a whole heap of key position support. That’s sort of the lot that we have got at the moment. To the players’ credit, they’re not making excuses. We came here with 23 fit players. I think defensively we held up OK, but just the weight of numbers at the end of the day was pretty telling.

Q: When did you set Andy McGrath the task of stopping Cameron? How long ago did he know?
A: As soon as Jake Kelly was ruled out with concussion. He was super, McGrath. Cameron is a really good player and Andy is, I think, one of the elite small defenders in the competition. He was fantastic. Great support from Redman. The young players, Hobbs, Caldwell, there was still a bit to like in what was a disappointing night for us, but as I said to the players, we are disappointed but not disheartened.

As Joe Daniher lined up for his first shot at goal against Essendon at the Gabba, there was a tame chorus of boos. There was enough black and red in the crowd to make a noise, but it was quickly drowned out by Brisbane Lions fans.

You have to ask what the point was. Daniher is in his third year at the Lions now and was impervious. The ball duly sailed over the umpire’s hat, Daniher’s first of six for the night that led his side to a convincing 42-point win.

It didn’t come without a few anxious moments for the home crowd. The Bombers took the fight right up to the Lions in the first half, with Zach Merrett, Mason Redman, Ben Hobbs and Andrew McGrath all superb.

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Carlton showed tremendous fight, but their season is on the verge of freefall after they fell to a 20-point loss to the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

While the streaking Bulldogs have won four in a row, and six of their past seven, the Blues have dropped four of their past five, and face a major fight to remain in top-eight calculations, having just begun a potentially rugged month ahead, with the top-of-the-table Magpies to come next weekend.

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Six-goal hero Joe Daniher spoke to Channel Seven after beating his old side Essendon...

Q: Congratulations, what a great night.
A: Thanks. It was a good performance from the boys. Hard-fought first half. The pressure was really high and important four points for us.

Q: You must feel good about the way you moved, you looked in great form.
A: Not too bad at this time of year. Probably a slow start. Trying to find that balance of consistency. I think as a group we are getting good chemistry, about to hit that midway point of the year.

Q: Not a bad output from the second ruckman to kick six goals. You like playing in that second ruck getting away from the forward line, playing that function. Your best footy I think has been when you are playing that role.
A: I do enjoy it. But really my role is to give McInerney a rest, the longer I spend in there, the longer he gets a breather. If we can have him fresher around the ball in the centre bounces that’s really important for the team.

Q: Do you have any nerves coming up against the old mob, or are they just another team now?
A: Probably just another team now. I’ve been here three years, so still got a lot of close friends and a lot of real good respect for the Essendon Football Club, it’s enjoyable to play against them and catch up with a few of them, but three years in, it’s sort of just another game.

Q: When you were playing deep forward in the first half, they always seem to have that extra bloke there to make it not a one-on-one contest. You got past that in the second half, what was the feeling and how did you go about doing that in the second half?
A: I thought they did that really well. They got numbers back and pressured. Because they had it outnumbered there they were able to get through us in offence. That was really difficult. We addressed it at half- time, made a few structural changes that benefited us a little bit. Credit to them and their pressure, they put a lot of pressure on our ball carriers.

Q: The Big Freeze coming up, your uncle Neale (Daniher) who is such an inspiration to all of us. It’s such a great part of the family history. You must be really proud of what the great Neale and the whole family are doing.
A: Absolutely, the AFL football community has been so strong in getting behind it, the ninth one now. Every year it creates more and more attention. The money raised is doing terrific things. Hopefully we are not too far away from some breakthroughs. We have got to keep fighting the beast.