The Box Hill Hawks fell short against Essendon by 10 points in front of a strong and boisterous crowd at Windy Hill on Saturday.

Four first-half goals from Jackson Ross threatened to prove the difference, in a match that saw nine lead changes and countless momentum swings.

However, Box Hill was strangled to just a single final term goal as the Bombers held firm and continued their outstanding season.

Assistant Coach Torin Baker believes there was still plenty of positives to take out of the performance and gives us his review of each AFL-listed player.

Read: Footy flashbacks - Proud history

David Mirra (23 disposals, 11 marks, 9 rebound 50s)

“Dave was one of our strongest players again, continuing his really good form that he’s had at VFL level. His leadership is outstanding in defence.” TB 

Teia Miles (25 disposals, 7 marks, 6 rebound 50s)

“Teia continues to be one of the players we love to get the ball in the hands of. He gives us great rebound down back and combines it with being really strong defensively. He’s another one that is in solid form.” TB

Changkuoth Jiath (17 disposals, 7 marks, 1 tackle)

“CJ competed really well in the air. He found a good balance between defending his opponent and an ability to read the ball of the opposition kicks.” TB

Ryan Schoenmakers (12 disposals, 9 marks, 2 rebound 50s)

“Shoey played a different role this week. He’s been playing mainly forward this year, even though he has had an interrupted run with injury. But he went down back this week and took four intercept marks for the day. He used his leg really well coming out of defence. A really strong game overall from Schoey, which was really great to see.” TB

Damon Greaves (18 disposals, 2 marks, 2 tackles)

“Damon was really good in terms of winning a bit more of the ball. We’ve seen him be consistently strong defensively, so it was pleasing he got a bit more of the ball this week. We will continue to work with him on his decisions on Hawk’s ball. Again, it was another sign of improvement in his game.” TB

Marc Pittonet (21 disposals, 4 marks, 50 hitouts)

“Pitto dominated the ruck hitouts. We probably felt as a midfield group we didn’t quite get the benefits out of his work, so we will continue to work on our connection there. He was one who was able to find the ball himself, which he has been able to do consistently with great VFL form.” TB 

Ned Reeves (1 disposal, 3 tackles, 16 hitouts)

“Reevesy had a little less game time this week. We were the ‘Land of the Giants’ on the weekend, with Shoey and Pitto back in. He competed really strongly in the ruck. Although he didn’t find a heap of the footy, the experience and game time is really important for him at this stage.” TB

Harry Morrison (26 disposals, 7 marks, 3 tackles)

“Harry’s gone back to play a couple of games at VFL level. He has really good running patterns and was able to find the footy and make really good decisions by both hand and foot. Another really solid game overall from Harry.” TB

Harry Jones (18 disposals, 7 tackles, 4 inside 50s)

“Jonesy had a really nice balance between his contested and uncontested ball this week. He is continuing to play solid, consistent footy but we are looking for him to go to the next level - that we certainly know he is capable of.” TB

Daniel Howe (19 disposals, 3 marks, 4 tackles)

“Howey was really strong at the stoppages, and his transition was good as well. He is a ball winner who continues to perform at VFL level.” TB

Will Golds (18 disposals, 5 marks, 3 tackles)

“Goldsy was certainly able to find a lot of the footy this week. He runs to really good positions and works really hard. Some of his decisions early in the game could be improved, but again with the first-year players, we continue to put the education in around their decision making.” TB

Jarryd Roughead (10 disposals, 6 marks, 2 inside 50s)

“When Roughy gets the ball in his hands, we just look a much better team. His experience and knowledge make the players around him so much better. He is one who we could’ve utilised a bit better, but when he got the footy in his hands he was really damaging.” TB    

Mitchell Lewis (9 disposals, 2 goals, 7 marks)

“Mitch kicked a couple of goals, and his marking and ball handling in general was really clean. He was a threat on the day. We probably feel like we didn’t quite utilise our talls as we could have, but Mitch had some promising signs in his game.” TB

Jackson Ross (12 disposals, 4 goals, 6 marks)

“Rossy had a stellar first-half kicking four goals. He maximised his opportunities and is certainly a player who gets out the back and anticipates the play really well. He is continuing to be really consistent with the way he goes about his footy, so more pleasing signs from him.” TB

Oliver Hanrahan (16 disposals, 5 marks, 4 inside 50s)

“Ollie found enough of the footy and was involved in a lot of our scoring involvements. His ball use was really strong, and we are continuing to work on his defensive side of his game. He continues to contribute for us each week.” TB

Conor Nash (11 disposals, 3 marks, 2 inside 50s)

“Nashy’s contest work, clean ball handling and execution was really strong on the day. It was really good from Nashy. As a latecomer to the game we are continuing to work with him on those areas, and to see him execute them on the day was really pleasing.” TB

Mathew Walker (1 disposal, 1 mark, 1 inside 50)

“Walks in the end was concussed after 20 mins. He is a wait and see for this week.” TB