AFL finals can offer fame and fortune, but Essendon coach Mark Thompson says it means so much more to his side.
The Bombers were denied the chance to play in September last year, and the stigma of the 2012 supplements program still looms over the club as courtroom wrangling continues.
Having been whacked with a stick by the league and issued show-cause notices by ASADA, Thompson says his players are hungrier than most for the carrot of finals.
“It would be great for their spiritual selves. They’ve had a tough year; they had it taken away from them last year when they qualified,” Thompson said after the Bombers shored up their finals hopes with a three-point win over West Coast.
“It’s nice to go through something really tough and get some reward.
“Clearly, there’s a lot of people here that have put a lot of time and effort into being an Essendon footballer.
“They have to get something back the other way.
“This (finals) is the first step … hopefully, this sets them up for years to come.”
The Bombers face Gold Coast and Carlton in the next fortnight, leaving them well placed to achieve that goal.
Thompson built belief while coaching Geelong and helped deliver the club two premierships.
When asked to compare his current team with the Cats of 2006, Thompson was forthright.
“They’re capable and, at one stage in their life, there’s going to be a moment when they say ‘I’m just not going to let the bad stuff happen any more’,” he said.
“They can do it.
“I’m not sure when it’s going to be. It might be next week – who knows?
“But when it happens, it’s going to be pretty powerful and it will take them to levels they haven’t been before.”
In Paul Little’s pre-match address, the first since the Federal Court heard Essendon’s legal challenge against ASADA’s joint investigation with the AFL, the Bombers’ chairman promised to dig his heels in.
“The challenges are still coming … the job will not be done until we are able to clear the names of the 34 present and past players of the Essendon Football Club,” Little told the function.
