Essendon are at the precipice of their AFL season.
Starting with Sunday's MCG blockbuster against Colllingwood, the next seven weeks will show how much the Bombers have progressed from the disastrous fadeouts of the past two years.
In round 18 last season, they were playing for top spot when eventual premiers Hawthorn smashed them and chairman Ron Evans collapsed in the changerooms.
Evans subsequently resigned in the midst of the supplements scandal.
The Bombers would lose five of their last six games before the AFL kicked them out of the finals.
In 2012, they won only one of their last nine games to also plunge out of the top eight.
Essendon are now 10th, a game outside the top eight.
Significantly, they are only a game plus percentage behind the sixth-placed Magpies, who are in trouble with three losses from their past four games.
It is a classic "eight-point" game scenario for the Bombers.
Essendon have been impressive in the last fortnight, roaring back from a woeful first half against Geelong in round 15 to lose by only two points.
Last week they had their best win of the season, upsetting Port Adelaide away by also two points.
Those two performances proved beyond doubt that whatever is happening off the field at Essendon with the supplements saga, it is not affecting the players.
But Collingwood will start favourites, particularly given Essendon lost acting captain Brendon Goddard this week to a controversial suspension.
Goddard's absence and the return of Luke Ball make the Magpies definitely look stronger around the stoppages.
Nick Maxwell is also back to help marshall the young Collingwood defence.
At the other end, Dustin Fletcher's return will likewise boost the Essendon backline.
The last time these two teams played was an Anzac Day clash that highlighted Essendon's inconsistency.
The Magpies withstood a withering first quarter, where Essendon kicked five goals to nil, and won by 23 points.
It's this up-and-down form, but on a much broader scale, that Essendon must correct over the next seven weeks.
Share
