With the first month of the AFL season drawing to a close, narratives for all of the competition's 18 teams have begun to arise.
Whilst some are struggling and others are thriving, you can bet your bottom dollar that each of the league's list of polo shirt wearing pedagogues will still be desperate for improvement this weekend.
With this in mind, here are the key quandaries facing every AFL club ahead of Round 4.
Essendon
Where did that come from?
Right, it worked for Carlton, so we are going again.
Across their first two games of 2021, against Hawthorn and Port Adelaide respectively, Essendon have posted an average of:
359 Disposals per game
131.5 Contested possessions
223 Uncontested possessions
11 Goals
51.5 Inside 50s
28.5 Clearances
62 Tackles
On Saturday evening against Fremantle, the Bombers not only secured their first four points of the year, but they also surpassed their previous means in five of these seven aforesaid categories.
Our biggest score since 2013.
A compilation so big we had to split it into two ๐ณ
Every goal | 1st half ยป https://t.co/IkG4qFYzfm
Every goal | 2nd half ยป https://t.co/lEhJ9Cs4k5 pic.twitter.com/Atj8TNWYcu— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) April 4, 2021
Ben Rutten's boys may have boosted their disposal, uncontested possession, inside 50, clearance and goals per game averages, but their contested possession and tackle counts dropped.
Still, when you hold the ball for 16 more minutes than your insipid opponent, this is bound to be the case.
It is easy to say that the Bomber blitzkrieg came of the back of St. Kilda's listless โefforts' across their Round 3 encounter, but although many of Essendon's names had days out, they did eventuate under minimal duress.
Despite this, the rock-solid Jordan Ridley down back, Darcy Parish and Zach Merrett running rampant through the middle and a fit and firing Jake Stringer in the forward line were without doubt the catalysts in a performance than saw the Dons lead for all but a minute of game time.
With the 3-0 Swans awaiting the Bombers this Thursday night, Rutten will be hoping that the same intensity can be brought by his young side after just a four-day rest.
With a mixed bag of clashes against Brisbane, Collingwood, Carlton and the Giants in the month to follow, those of us beyond the boundary line are likely to find out whether last Saturday was the dawning of an upward trend or simply an outlier.
If it is to be the latter, Dons fans, don't stress too much - it's not often a rebuilding side wins games by more than 12 goals.
