Essendon won't play finals after their tight loss to Richmond, but coach John Worsfold has hit back at suggestions the Bombers' AFL season has been a failure.
Worsfold's team needed a win against the Tigers at the MCG to keep their slim finals hopes alive, but couldn't erase a 33-point deficit in the last quarter, eventually suffering a 12.9 (81) to 11.7 (73) defeat in front of 76,424 fans on Friday night.
After making the finals last year, Essendon will be spectators this September despite the heralded arrivals of recruits Devon Smith, Jake Stringer and Adam Saad.
"Everyone can have their own opinion on what (our season) is," Worsfold said.
"We've worked extremely hard this year on bringing through some young players, we've worked hard on covering some injured players, on changing our game to become a team that is going to be able to take on the best teams in the competition and win.
"We've won on the road ... so we've done a lot of good things this year.
"We've worked unbelievably hard, so I would say the hard work is going to be rewarded. It will be rewarded.
"Therefore, hard work and passion and growth is not necessarily a waste, I would say. I'd challenge anyone to say that if you go and work your backside off, that it's going to be wasted."
The Bombers have been one of the form teams of he competition after a disastrous 2-6 start.
Worsfold believes his side has made huge inroads in a lot of areas despite missing the top eight.
"Overall, we've just got to get a little bit better at everything we're doing," Worsfold said.
"We're not far off it. We lost to Hawthorn by a kick, we've lost by a kick and a bit to Richmond ... so we're not far off."
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