ESSENDON coach James Hird says the last-quarter fadeout against the Sydney Swans was always a likely outcome given the club's disrupted preparation to the 2015 season.

The Bombers led last year's beaten grand finalists by 41 points late in the third term when high-profile recruit Adam Cooney snapped truly.

The hard-earned advantage looked to be enough given the wet conditions and constant rain that was falling throughout Saturday afternoon's match at ANZ Stadium.

However, the Swans stormed home in the last quarter, booting seven goals to nothing to pinch an unlikely victory.

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With over half of the Bombers' team not playing any NAB Challenge matches as they waited for a decision from the Anti-Doping Tribunal, Hird said the fadeout was always a possibility.

"It has been a tough preparation for a while for a lot of those guys and I think the fear we had was that perhaps this would happen in terms of could we run out a game," he said after the match.

"Don't underestimate how emotional the week has been for a lot of them and you couldn't deny the effort was outstanding.

"I didn't really know what enough was really, with the preparation we'd had.

"I think everyone was waiting for it to happen and it did."

The Anti-Doping Tribunal this week cleared 34 past and present Essendon players of taking a prohibited substance.

Saturday's match also marked Hird's return to the coach's box for the first time in more than a year.

Despite failing to secure the victory, Hird said there were a lot of positives to come out of the match as the squad turned its attention to next week's contest against Hawthorn.

"Watch this space. I think we are very good football team. That's the second best team in the competition, we were outstanding in the contest for three quarters and couldn't get across the line," Hird said.

"We are very proud of our players.

"It was outstanding to see them back out playing, they love playing, you can see they love playing together and it meant a lot to them to play for their teammates and play for their supporters and the football club."

Hird also praised the performance of ex-Bulldog Cooney, who booted three goals in his Bombers debut.