DAMIEN Hardwick has lauded the efforts of Mac Andrew after the defender-turned-forward slotted the matchwinner on Saturday night, breaking Essendon hearts in the process.
The Bombers hit the lead early in the last quarter, but an inaccurate return of one goal from 10 scores for the term kept the Suns in the hunt.
BOMBERS v SUNS Full match coverage and stats
A Sam Collins one-on-one win on the wing, followed by Andrew's big, contested mark at the top of the goal square, resulted in the after-the-siren win.
"It was pretty special," Hardwick said after the match.
"We didn't have anything going our way. We sort of went away from how we meant to play and, you know, I lost my mind in the coaches box and the players sort of lost their minds a little bit on the ground as well … then to finish the way we did. Mac was enormous, obviously, but you know, 'Collo' (Sam Collins) had a couple of incredible patches there late which were really, really important."
Although the way Andrew's kick came off the boot made Hardwick and his fellow coaches a little nervous, he admits it was never in doubt.
"I'm not going to lie, it didn't look great off the boot to be fair, to start, but he got it home," Hardwick laughed.
"(Andrew) is an incredible player. He's an incredible young man, to be honest. He's one of those guys our coaching staff and our players and our fans just gravitate to, and we can see what impact he's going to have on the League … he can play both ends, he's just got a bit of swagger, he's aggressive, he's assertive, which is, I think, what our side needs and craves."
The match-winning goal came after Andrew was involved in a half-time melee, with his involvement drawing boos from the crowd for the duration of the second half.
But importantly, he was able to kick the first two goals of the third quarter before jagging the final dagger in Bomber hearts.
"I was prepared to back him in. It's good reward for him, which is great. He absolutely loves that moment, he lives for it, and that's the sort of player he is," Hardwick said.
The victory came off the back of a big statement from Hardwick, who dropped four players including Jack Lukosius for the match.
The form of Lukosius, who is drawing some interest from rival clubs, is something Hardwick admits is as much on him as it is on his player.
"Jack's such an important player to our footy club. Some of it's on me, some of it's on Jack," Hardwick said.
"He's got some areas of his game that I'd certainly like him to improve, but also I've got to sit there and as a coach, try and figure out how to get the best out of this kid, because I'm not at the moment.
"He's been trying to do things that I've asked him to do, he's trying his backside off, so we'll keep working through it."
For Essendon coach Brad Scott, it was the word 'frustrating' that was front of mind as his side's finals hopes all but slipped away.
The Bombers sit ninth, two points behind Carlton and the Western Bulldogs, but with matches against Sydney and Brisbane to close out the season.
"It's pretty obvious how everyone's feeling," Scott said.
"For all of our supporters, it's just extremely frustrating, and you can come up with all sorts of words to describe it, but you're obviously disappointed. But that doesn't help anything."
His side's poor conversion in the final quarter, although ultimately the difference in the game, was a sign that the 2024 edition of Essendon is able to create opportunities for itself to win. Now, it just comes down to taking those chances," Scott said.
"In that last quarter, when you know that the ball's in your front half 84 per cent of the quarter and you have 19 inside 50s to eight, you have 11 scoring shots to two, you're giving yourself opportunity," Scott said.
"That's the hardest thing in footy. The execution comes with practice."
