Brad Johnson believes Essendon’s win over West Coast is a ‘turning point’ for the club

Western Bulldogs games record-holder Brad Johnson believes Essendon’s famous win over West Coast is a “turning point” for the club that could spark a genuine tilt at the flag for future years.

The Bombers on Saturday night overcame a 29-point deficit to produce an upset 16-point win over the West Coast Eagles, who suffered their first loss at home so far this season.

Ben Rutten’s side kicked seven of the last eight goals of the game in a remarkable second-half surge that saw their forward line of Jake Stringer, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Cale Hooker catch fire.

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Yet there were contributions from across the whole team, with Zach Merrett, Darcy parish, Kyle Langford and Andrew McGrath excellent through the midfield, veteran Dyson Heppell crucial in defence and young guns Archie Perkins, Harry Jones and Nik Cox all having critical moments throughout the game.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s Saturday Stretch post-game, Johnson said Essendon’s win reminded him of the Western Bulldogs’ famous Round 5, 2015 win over Sydney – a victory that saw the Bulldogs announce themselves as a future threat to the competition. Eighteen months later, they were AFL premiers.

Baby Bombers shock Eagles at home | 02:57

“The confidence they (the Bombers) will get from it is huge … That’s the turning point in their whole club’s future, right there. That’s the game,” Johnson said on Fox Footy of Essendon’s win over West Coast.

“I remember when the Bulldogs spoke about when they beat Sydney and it was the best game Bob Murphy ever played in. That was the start of their build to the premiership in 2016.

“This is the start for Essendon footy club for where they’ll be in two, three, four years time.”

On average, the Bombers were over one year younger than the Eagles and had played over 40 games less than West Coast, yet still won.

“There’s games along your career that’ll stick in your memory for a lifeline,” four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis told Saturday Stretch. “To win over in Perth against West Coast is one of the great achievements of a young side.”

Essendon Bombers Press Conference | 07:25

The Bombers now sit inside the top eight with a healthy percentage of 106.2 – a remarkable achievement considering they were 2-6 after Round 8.

“You’ve had the feeling this year that there’s something really building there,” St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt told Fox Footy.

“Their win-loss, up until the last few weeks, hasn’t been I think a true reflection of their form this season. What has been is their percentage, which has been the healthiest of all the teams outside the eight.”

Dual premiership Kangaroo David King added: “There’s something about winning young … They’ve got nine players in this group that have played less than 35 games.

“It’s the youngsters that are driving this group on the back of what Heppell and McGrath and Merrett and these guys are setting up.

“What an awesome performance.”

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Heppell said he was proud of the fortitude his team showed in tough circumstances on Saturday night.

“I just think the fight we showed tonight was fantastic,” Heppell told Fox Footy post-game.

“We were down (by 29 points) and grinding our way back into it, we stuck fat and turned the game around.

“When we were down by those margins, we still felt we had patches where the game was right on our terms. We knew the game would turn and we managed to finish off in front of goal a bit better.”