McRae threw Pendlebury on the ball in the last quarter when he had the most clearances of any player.
“We are not going to die wondering.... we are going to make some moves and try to generate something,and Pendles went through centre bounces Nick Daicos went back showed some maturity in the last quarter.
“We just want to be a team that has a go. We will get some right get some wrong but we are not going to die wondering.”
McRae praised ruckman Brodie Grundy for lifting in the last quarter after his opponent Sam Draper had been dominant.
“Jeez Draper is a good player isn’t he? He was hard to stop. I am really proud of Brodie - he is working hard on his game.[He’s] putting a lot of time into taking the marks.[He] took six today,” he said.
McRae said he spoke to the players to prepare them to be ready for a pumped-up Essendon after the Bombers copped a week of criticism.
Craig McRae addresses his players.Credit:AFL Photos
“We did. We thought the game would be pretty hot. We knew they would bring their best effort,” he said.
“We can’t control what effort they have or what spirit they have but gee you would have to think they would bring their best today (after criticism all week) and they did. They had a lot to play for as we did. We thought we had to manage that part of the game with our emotion.”
Essendon coach Ben Rutten said the Bombers took a step forward in their narrow loss,despite the Bombers sitting 1-5 after six rounds.
“From a results point of view,we’re disappointed,absolutely. But...I think we’ve taken a step forward for us,” he said.
“If you look at the start of the year....we’re on a journey to improve. Over the course of the season we’re going to continue to improve.”
Ben Rutten and the Bombers leave the field after their loss to Collingwood.Credit:Getty Images
Rutten said,however,that Collingwood had moved the ball from the Bombers’ forward line too easily in the first half.
“I thought we were better today,in particular around the contest,” he added.
Rutten said his side’s clearance and first possession work were better than last week,when they thrashed in the second half by the Dockers.
“They[Collingwood] were bouncing the ball out of our forward line too easily...but I thought we improved in that[area] in the second half....I think we had one ground ball win in our forward line in the first half.”
Rutten praised midfielder Zach Merrett for his performance,gaining 35 disposals,just 29 days after returning from his syndesmosis injury,while Jake Stringer also bolstered the Dons in his return from a hamstring injury.
Rutten said defender Jayden Laverde was “pretty sore” after suffering a knock to his foot and knee.