ESSENDON entered its clash with Fremantle expecting to be "rusty" after a challenging pre-season full of injuries, but the Bombers will dig into the reasons behind the second-half fadeout that nearly cost them their win over Fremantle.
The Bombers led by nearly five goals in the third quarter at a crowd-less Marvel Stadium, but were almost overran by the Dockers, who surged to fall just six points short in a frantic final term.
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Essendon kicked only two goals after half-time to the Dockers' five, with coach John Worsfold sensing a level of complacency may have slipped into his team.
"The players had a reasonable lead and had control of the game for such a big period. Maybe we felt with the dominance we had we could have been a little bit further in front," Worsfold said post-game.
"There's some times where [you think] 'Yeah, we're going to win, let's just make it tight and tough and slow their scoring down and we'll still hold that lead' rather than just keep attacking and trying to build on that.
"I'm not saying that was the case, but that's one possible factor. Freo started winning the contest around the ball, so that's one part that we'll certainly be looking to find the reason for that. That was probably the biggest turnaround."
Essendon jumped out to an early lead by booting the first four goals of the game with a makeshift forward half, with key target Shaun McKernan (illness), joining Joe Daniher (groin) and James Stewart (groin) as unavailable forward options.
Worsfold said McKernan's absence had made for a restructured forward set up to what they had planned over pre-season, but that McKernan, and Cale Hooker (hip), are likely to be available against Sydney next week.
First-game Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir lamented his team's slow start as the killer blow for their chances in the season-opener.
"It was a bit of a ride. I'm just really disappointed with the way we started. We don't want to be a team that has to chase from behind and have honourable losses," he said.
"I'm so proud of them for coming close, but so disappointed in them for starting the way we did. We're all in it together – coaches, players, everyone, but you can't let a team like Essendon start the way we did.
"We could have won it late but we don't want to be in those situations."
Fremantle's skill level came under fierce scrutiny last season and Longmuir admitted there was still some work to do to add polish to the line-up after some poor kicking throughout the defeat to Essendon.
His backline came under fire for a poor start to the game, but Longmuir was pleased how they responded to help edge back into the contest as it grew longer.
"They looked up to it more than us. Their effort around the ball was better, they won the ball, they got outside of us too easily, and I thought our backs didn't hold up," he said.
"Our backs have been fantastic over the Marsh Community Series, and our stoppage structures weren't as well organised as we'd like. It just took a little bit of time for us to settle into the game."
Dockers superstar Nat Fyfe ended the clash with a nasty 'black eye', but Longmuir said he expected the two-time Brownlow Medal winner to have avoided any injury.
