AFL Bombers not worried about the numbers

Aug 19, 2017 - 10:54 PM A dominant final-round win against Fremantle in Melbourne should see Essendon finish the AFL season inside the top eight, but coach John Worsfold says percentages won't be spoken about this week.

The Bombers took care of Gold Coast on Saturday night at Metricon Stadium, a 33-point win moving them to seventh on the ladder and ahead of Melbourne on percentage.

But Worsfold's side missed a chance to push their for-and-against even higher, wasteful in front of goal with 18 behinds.

A big win against the Dockers should see the Bombers play finals, given they have the best percentage of all four - and potentially five teams if St Kilda wins on Sunday - with 44 points.

But Worsfold says he won't be crunching the numbers this week ahead of the crucial Etihad Stadium clash.

"We don't say to ourselves that we need to take our chances, because we need to take our chances regardless of the ladder," the coach said.

Worsfold said he would have liked "a couple more goals" against the Suns, but was satisfied with the outcome given the Suns' new penchant for stacking the defence and clogging the avenue to goal.

"The idea was to keep the pressure on, keep pushing forward and we believed that would win us the game," the Essendon coach said.

"If you set up well, it means you're going to lock it in your half and eventually the goals come."

Josh Begley made the most of his debut, nullifying the absence of small forward Orazio Fantasia in a sparkling opening term.

The 19-year-old kicked two goals and set up two more in a brilliant quarter.

"Essendon fans have known about him, he's been in really good form in the VFL," Worsfold said.

"It was an excellent start for what's hopefully a nice long career for him."

Source: AAP