1. No commentators’ curse for Higgins
Legendary North Melbourne coach Denis Pagan would have been left shuddering after a week of talk about Kangaroos midfielder Shaun Higgins being one of the favourites for the Brownlow. A double-page spread in a Melbourne newspaper on the morning of the game against the Bombers would have soured his mood even further, even though Higgins didn't actually take part in the story. Pagan’s fear was that all the headlines do is set the player up for failure, however Higgins was on from the start, with 14 possessions (six contested) and four inside 50s in a blistering opening term. He ended the game with 31 and was again his team’s best player.

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2. A quarter for the ages
The opening term had everything. The two teams combined for 13.4, which made it the highest-scoring opening quarter since the Kangas and Collingwood combined to kick 83 points in round 23, 2013. It featured a Shaun McKernan hanger, three goals to Essendon’s Orazio Fantasia and two to David Myers. The lead changed four times as the ball moved swiftly and with precision from end to end. At a time when the game is being derided as a spectacle, this 30 minutes of football served to remind how good the game can still be.

3. And then it continued
There have been other high-scoring opening quarters this season, only for defences and structures to kick in. The second term continued at the same breakneck speed, with the Dons slamming on 7.4 to 3.2. Bombers key forward Shaun McKernan slayed them with three goals, Jake Stringer kicked a couple and Zach Merrett threw his name into ‘goal of the week’ contention with a brilliant effort while being tackled to the ground. And then as a closing act, North ruckman Todd Goldstein collected Mark Baguley just on the final siren, which resulted in a melee that will likely help line the AFL’s coffers. There are many who will tell you that footy was never better than in the 1990s and the first half at Etihad on Sunday was a throwback to those good, old days. The 45,580 fans in attendance – the largest crowd at Etihad this year - would surely agree.

4. McKernan’s mixed return
The Bombers got the best and worst of Shaun McKernan. The best? Four goals, equal to his personal best, including three in the second term as the Bombers kicked away. And a first-quarter speccy that should get him into consideration for the ‘mark of the week’. But following that mark was a turnover that led to a North Melbourne attacking move. In the third term he steamed into attack, doing well to win the ball, only to then kick the ball straight down the throat of the opposition. Still, with Joe Daniher out of the side and not likely to return any time soon, the Bombers have to stick with McKernan and if he’s kicking four goals a game, who cares.

5. Leaky defence
North Melbourne entered Sunday having conceded the third-lowest number of points for the season, averaging just 76.3 points against for the season. But the Kangaroos backline couldn't stem the tide on Sunday, conceding 125 points, which was the most kicked against them for the season. The Bombers seemingly scored at will, at least in the first half, but no backline in the competition likely would have withstood such an onslaught, particularly given the speed and precision with which Essendon moved the ball.