AFTER starting the season with a 3-0 record, Essendon’s scoring power has completely dried up the past fortnight. A Round 4 loss to Geelong saw the Bombers go down by 31 points at Windy Hill, and since then, the red and black have suffered defeats to both St Kilda and Fremantle, sides who have had their own struggles during the 2025 AFLW season.

A 56-point win in Round 1 over GWS Giants was followed by five-point nail-biter over West Coast and then a 15-point victory up in the Top End for the Dreamtime clash against Richmond. Since returning from Darwin, the Bombers have not been able to taste victory, and slumped from the top four to 11th on the ladder.

BOMBERS BREAKDOWN

As the above table suggests, Essendon has struggled the past three weeks to not only score, but to have the same ability around the clearances, or apply the defensive pressure it was in the opening three rounds. Known for their clearance strength, Essendon has only won Rounds 4 and 5 by two, then had its first clearance deficit of the year – albeit only by two – against the Dockers. But it was a far cry from the Bombers’ blitz early in the season.

Coach Nat Wood conceded it had been three “poor performances” in the last three weeks, and said her words to the group after the game was regarding the slow starts that were causing the opposition to get the early ascendancy.

“I thought there were some times from a predictability point of view that we were able to get right from a stoppage structure, but Fremantle were on the front foot, they were attacking the air and the ground a lot more assertively and a lot cleaner than we were,” Wood said.

“We weren’t able to bridge any gap, and also not able to generate scoreboard momentum at any time so that’s one thing to lose a game, but it’s probably another thing for us two weeks in a row with our ball movement, we haven’t been able to hit the scoreboard and be able to be in the game.”

The Bombers have kicked just 2.4 (16) across the past fortnight, while conceding 18.8 (116) for an average losing margin of 50. Wood said her side simply had to be cleaner, and on from the first bounce if it was to challenge the better sides in the competition.

“I think we’re not starting the game’s very well so we need to look at that,” she said. “From a performance point of view, from a mindset point of view, we’ve got a very willing and able group, and a group that’s very well connected and I never fault their want and intent, but clearly we’re not executing and not executing particularly in the first quarter so we’ll get to that.”

Wood admitted her side was inexperienced, handing a ninth debut out for 2025 in the form of ex-rugby player Grace Brooker. That inexperience combined with some injury interruptions over the off-season impacted the team, still missing the Bombers’ reigning best and fairest winner Maddison Gay who would assist in defence.

“There’s really a bit of a continuity piece, lacking some experience, but then I thought going into the game I thought we had enough experience out on the park to produce a really competitive game and really challenge Fremantle, but perhaps their time out there together, their on-field connection is not where it needs to be,” Wood said.

“I think we’ve got some terrific players right across the board, even our players who have only played a handful of games. “We’ve got some really terrific attributes from players who have been around from the beginning, are really developing their games at the minute but we’ve got some individual want, but individually we’re not executing, and collectively we’re not executing at the minute.”

Unfortunately for Essendon, the last team you want to play when you are in a scoring slump is North Melbourne, but the undefeated Roos are the Bombers’ next test when they face-off at Windy Hill on Friday. It kicks off a nightmare fortnight for the Bombers who then tackle second placed Melbourne a week later, with Brisbane, Hawthorn and Sydney still to come for the 11th placed Bombers.