THEY may not have hit the wall but Essendon skipper Dyson Heppell admits the banned Bombers haven't hit their straps either.

After a 65-point defeat to Adelaide on Saturday night, coach John Worsfold admitted veteran Jobe Watson and others were struggling in their return to ranks after a season on the sidelines. 

"Some of those players have felt the pinch," Worsfold said.

"It sort of hit us as a group ... we have hit the wall a little bit in the last couple of weeks, so it gives us an idea about how much work we have got to do." 

After starting their season with victories over Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions, the Bombers lost to Carlton and looked a long way off the pace against the Crows. 

With 18 games to go - starting with their blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG on Anzac Day - Worsfold's post-game remark raised eyebrows but Heppell insisted it was nothing more than a "passing comment" on a fatigued Watson. 

"He means nothing by it," Heppell said on Tuesday. 

"We're round four in the season. We've put in an enormous amount of work so the boys are ready to go.

"A good 10-day break, freshen up and we'll be right."

Heppell nonetheless admits the Bombers were still building chemistry and were unlikely to find their best form until later the season.

"I reckon you're looking at at least another probably four to six weeks and then we'll be right at our top end of it," he said. 

"Our fitness staff are amazing at managing our loads and making sure we're primed and ready to go, week-in, week-out. 

"We're still really building our chemistry as a group because a lot us haven't played together.

"I think we're going to play our best footy in the later part of the year as we play more games of footy together."

This year's Anzac Day game shapes as a difficult one to predict given the hot-and-cold form both teams have shown.

Heppell said the Magpies' sole win for the season - a gripping one-point victory over Sydney at the SCG - showed how dangerous they can be at their best. 

"I think a bit like us - pretty inconsistent - but one of the best games of footy I've watched was up there against Sydney," he said. 

"Obviously they can bring that enormous amount of pressure and, at times, they can cut you up with their ball movement when they're on."