ALWAYS big games, Essendon and Richmond.

The traditional rivals can usually be relied on to produce a good game, irrespective of the positions on the ladder or the state of the season.

And this time around should be no exception – although the teams are sitting 11th and 12th.

But with seven weeks to go, finals are still on the radar.

The Bombers have won their last four, and Richmond three from four as they work to climb the ladder towards September.

Despite the Tigers' poor form over the last few years, they've only lost to the Bombers once since 2004, and Essendon key defender Dustin Fletcher is all too aware of that stat.

"Richmond, the way they played over in Perth, they're playing pretty well," he said. "We're going alright too, so it should make for a pretty good game.

"The last few times they've well and truly got us, but you know when you play the Tigers or any other big club that it's going to be a big game."

Coach Matthew Knights was none too thrilled when his charges failed to kick a goal in the first term when the clubs last met in round nine, and his spray at quarter-time was vigourous to say the least.

"When you have the 18 players, you'd probably say 13 or 14 players in the first quarter didn't do their job or didn't do their bit," he said.

"Maybe one or two or three not doing a thing right you can handle, but when it's quite a few players it makes it hard, and I suppose the scoreboard shows that.

"I can't remember what he said, but he wasn't happy."

Essendon won two of its first three matches of the season but then fell away, losing eight in a row, but has recovered to win its last four on the trot.

"We started pretty well and then we did have a lean patch," Fletcher said. "But when you get a bit of the confidence going for the younger kids, and even the older guys, it does tend to work out alright – and the last four weeks we've been doing things that the coaching staff have asked us to, and we've been winning games."