ESSENDON coach John Worsfold has defended his decision not to tag Josh Kelly, despite the star Giant carving the Bombers up at Spotless Stadium.

Kelly racked up 22 first-half disposals on the way to a game-high 38 in the home side's 16-point win, but Worsfold chose not to clamp down on the GWS onballer at any stage.

While it was a shock to see Kelly running around in plenty of space for most of the game, Worsfold said he decided to back his own midfield group, with Zach Merrett (29 possessions), Jobe Watson (28) and Dyson Heppell (23) all prolific.

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"We didn't have a specific plan (for stopping Kelly), other than seeing how the game panned out," he said after the loss. 

"At half-time we addressed the volume of his possession, but it was a pretty even game and we tried to get a little bit tighter on him in the second half, while still wanting to generate our ball going forward.

"He's a very good player. We weren't prepared to just put a straight stopper on him, but certainly (they) were accountable for him."

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The Bombers are now 5-6 after their second straight loss, and face Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium next week, before their mid-season bye in round 13.

Worsfold remained optimistic about what his team could achieve this season, especially after they pushed the Giants deep into Saturday's hard-fought game. 

WATCH: John Worsfold's full post-match media conference

"I'm just such a realist. It's a wonderful competition this year and we are right thereabouts," he said.

"We've played really good footy against some of the really good teams in the competition, and we still believe we've got a lot of improvement left in us as we bring everything together.

"We haven't really hit our straps yet, and that doesn't mean it's going to be easy, it's going to unbelievably hard, but we're looking forward to the challenge of the remainder of the season.

"We believe in what we're trying to achieve absolutely, but closing that small amount of a gap against the best teams in the competition, is still going to take a lot of hard work."