ESSENDON coach James Hird says he will come away from Skoda Stadium a satisfied man after the Bombers stormed to the top of the ladder thanks to a 66-point win over Greater Western Sydney on Saturday night.

The 18.11 (119) to 7.11 (53) result was not without disappointment, however, as the Giants surprised Essendon with their tough approach at the footy, especially in the first half.

Greater Western Sydney also managed to get the footy inside their attacking 50 on 50 occasions, compared with Essendon's 58 entries.

"I just think maybe we were a little bit surprised at how good they were around the contest," Hird told reporters after the match.

"We'd planned for them being good, but even planning for it, they were better than we thought they were around the contest.

"I wouldn't like to play them here in two years time."

The win lifts Essendon to the top of the ladder with an 8-1 win-loss record, albeit with West Coast (7-1)  still to play on Sunday.

Hird said the team played well in patches, and he expressed his admiration for the way the Giants performed.

"We certainly didn't think that we played the way we wanted to in the first half," Hird said.

"I'm satisfied that we went out and we won the game, I'm satisfied with the whole game from that point of view."

Hird said Ricky Dyson had been sore for the past three or four weeks and was rested at three-quarter time.

The Bombers were forced into a late change when Kyle Hardingham experiencedsome calf tightness during the warm up.

"We don't think there is any long-term damage there but he couldn't really run through that tightening up so we had to make the decision not to play him," Hird said.