Essendon maintained their rage in the second half,determined not to suffer the same fate as they did in round one when they squandered a40-point lead at half-time to lose to Hawthorn by a point.
St Kilda were,in a word,pathetic,with the hard running that has defined them under Brett Ratten completely absent.
If last week’s loss to Melbourne didn’t ring alarm bells this loss should set off enough noise to wake Rip Van Winkle.
Their midfield was outworked from the first bounce when Darcy Parish and Zach Merrett combined to find Stringer inside 50.
The absence of ruckmen Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall was no excuse either as the Bombers were forced to use Peter Wright in the ruck afterSam Draper had joined Jye Caldwell,Dylan Shiel,Dyson Heppell and Michael Hurley on the injury list.
Wright had former Bombers Jake Carlisle and Shaun McKernan as his opponents and they were unable to have an impact as Essendon burst from stoppages too easily.
The signs the next generation of Bombers showed would have pleased their fans the most,however.