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Essendon has lived up to its 'comeback' moniker, but an impressive fighting win over Hawthorn was just one part of a night that was all about comebacks.
Welcoming back a number of players who were suspended for a year after the ridiculously drawn-out supplements saga, the team has been all about its fight back from the depths.
Indeed, returning skipper Dyson Heppell and former captain Jobe Watson were influential in the 17.14 (116) to 12.19 (91) win that saw the Bombers kick 10 of the last 13 goals in the game.
Heppell ultimately finished with an outlandishly good stat line of three goals, 34 disposals and seven tackles, with Watson adding 27 disposals and eight tackles.
But the biggest 'comeback' moment of the night probably belonged to someone else — Jarryd Roughead.
Leading by seven shortly after the long break, Tom Mitchell sent a long ball inside 50 and towards the goal square.
A pack settled under the ball, but it was Jarryd Roughead, tracking back with the flight, who outleapt Michael Hurley to take a strong mark.
He steadied himself, went back and potted a pretty straightforward shot from about 20 metres out.
Teammates swarmed from all over the park and fans of all sorts let out an almighty cheer.
Roughead had done it plenty of times before, but not once since October 3, 2015 — Hawthorn's grand final win over West Coast.
The 232-game veteran missed the first half of the 2016 season with a knee injury, before suffering a melanoma recurrence in the middle of the year.
His open struggle with the cancer was ever-present through the back half of the Hawks' 2016 and his goal upon return on Saturday night was a genuinely happy sporting moment.
Unfortunately for Hawthorn, a few not so enjoyable moments followed as the Bombers potted six of the next seven goals.
That included a run of five straight, during which Orazio Fantasia and David Zaharakis put them within striking distance, before Heppell slotted with 3:49 left in the third quart to give Essendon a four-point advantage.
Joe Daniher and Shaun McKernan added to the team's first lead since the opening half before Hawks big man Ben McEvoy stopped the rot with seconds left in the term.
But the Bombers kept their foot on the accelerator, kicking the first three majors of the last quarter and running away with a surprisingly comprehensive victory.
Topics: australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia
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