Why the Bombers are footy's Katy Perry team

Essendon has become, in the blink of an eye, the buzz team of the competition.

Damaging forwards do that.

Geelong is the only other team with three players inside the top 20 goalkickers in 2017, with Joe Daniher (34 goals), Orazio Fantasia (25) and Cale Hooker (23) matching the Cats' Tom Hawkins (30), Daniel Menzel (25) and Patrick Dangerfield (22).

Throw in Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (19) and Essendon joins Adelaide as the only two teams to have yielded 100 goals from their top four goalkickers.

That is remarkable, given the Bombers have won the inside 50 count in just two games this season.

By comparison defending premiers the Western Bulldogs, albeit having played one game fewer, have only 47 goals from their top four goalkickers this season.

The Bombers forwards win 18 more ground ball gets inside 50 than their opposition defenders in the same part of the ground per game, a massive lead over the next best team in the competition, Greater Western Sydney, who break even.

Against Port Adelaide, the Bombers were smoking hot, kicking their highest score since round eight, 2015 to record their biggest winning margin since round three, 2014.

They scored 117 of their 131 points from turnovers and roared into finals calculations with as breathtaking football as any team has played this season.

Their fans were entitled to roar.

In the past two rounds the Bombers have been No.1 in the competition for kicking goals when inside 50, converting a huge 30 per cent of the time.

But the question remains as to whether the Bombers are so 'Hot 'n Cold' they remain the Katy Perry of the competition.

What is also being asked is whether they can defend well enough to be a real contender.

They still average 92.58 points against on average, putting them in the bottom six in the competition.

Like Adelaide, if the Bombers don't score 100 points, they don't win.

They have not won three games in a row since rounds 16-18, 2014.

It seems the boom or bust of fast ball movement that has recently defined the red and black, remains.

When they win, they average 56 more disposals than the opposition.

When they lose, they win nine fewer disposals than their opposition.

The gap between Ginger Meggs' front teeth is not as wide as the chasm between the Bombers' best and worst.

That's not to knock what they have achieved this season, given the club's travails with the supplements scandal over the past few years.

The gap seems to be closing as the talent they have recruited in recent seasons under extreme adversity expresses itself, and anyone you speak to at Essendon says they will play more consistent football in the second half of the season.

But the stats show why Essendon coach John Worsfold wasn't getting carried away after Saturday's win, commenting post-game on the challenge ahead.

"One thing coaches always think, to play better than that is to play the same intensity and same level consistently week after week," Worsfold said.

"So that's definitely our challenge. That's not just now a benchmark that we can show every now and then – that's the way we want to play."

He knows there is something there to work with but there is plenty of work still to do.

Bombers bouncing back

Essendon ran Port Adelaide off its legs on Saturday night, recording 27 running bounces for the game.

It's the highest single-game tally by any team this season and the highest one-game tally since 2015, when the Giants bounced their way around Metricon Stadium with 28 bounces against the Gold Coast in round 16.

The Bombers' best tally in a game is 31, against West Coast at Domain Stadium back in round 19, 2008, while Collingwood holds the record since the statistic was first gathered in 1999, recording a remarkable 73 bounces at the MCG against Carlton in round 17, 2009.

On that Friday night former Magpie turned Giant, Heath Shaw, bounced the ball 17 times.

Keen observers will have noted that right-handed Demon Jack Watts bounced the ball with his left hand on Queen's Birthday as he trundled in to kick the match-winning goal against the Magpies, a remarkable piece of dexterity given the gravity of the moment.

One stat to watch on Thursday night

Geelong has not won after the bye in the past five seasons. The Cats also lost last season's preliminary final after a week's rest, having just fallen in against Hawthorn in the qualifying final after both team had the pre-finals bye.

Thursday night's opponent West Coast has won three and lost two post-bye in the past five seasons.

*Geelong had a two-week break in 2015 because the game against Adelaide was cancelled following the death of Crows coach Phil Walsh

Taking the good with the bad

No one would argue that Daniel Menzel has had good luck in his career, given he has undergone four knee reconstructions. However, soon after completing 50 games in round 10, Menzel lobbed into the top five winning percentages of all time for players with 50 games or more experience.

He's saluted more often than any current player with 50+ games.

The boilover we've never seen until now

Carlton's shock win over Greater Western Sydney on Sunday was the first time 17th has beaten second.

The Giants' first spell on top of the ladder in their 123-game history lasted precisely a week.  

Operation: Get Matthew Broadbent a free kick - complete

Far be it for this column to claim any influence over the umpires, but after last week's campaign launch the Port Adelaide utility received his first free kick for the season on Saturday night.

He'd conceded 11 without reward until the campaign's swift success.

On the other side of the ledger, let's recall that emerging Saints midfielder Jack Billings played 27 games before he gave away a free kick.

Want more?

• Read more from the Stats Files

• Seven things we learned from round 12