End of season just the start for Essendon and Collingwood

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ESSENDON 3.2 9.5 11.7 14.11 (95) COLLINGWOOD 4.2 8.3 12.5 14.8 (92)
Goals: Essendon: B Stanton 3, H Hocking 3, C Hooker 2, B Goddard, C McKenna, D Zaharakis, J Melksham, J Merrett, S McKernan. Collingwood: A Fasolo 2, B Kennedy 2, J Blair 2, J White 2, B Reid, D Moore, J Crisp, J Elliott, L Greenwood, T Adams.
BEST Essendon: Hocking, Heppell, Baguley, Stanton, McKernan, Fantasia, Hurley. Collingwood: Adams, Sidebottom, Elliott, Pendlebury, Langdon.
Injuries: Collingwood: N Brown (cut head).
Umpires: Heath Ryan, Curtis Deboy, Robert O'Gorman.
Venue:42,270 at the MCG.

The best thing about this match might be what it comes to mean, not what actually happened in it.

Essendon's Heath Hocking and Elliott Kavanagh have reason to celebrate. Photo: Getty Images

There were plenty of goals, from a lot of open play. There weren't all that many tackles laid, by either side. This wasn't a match that would have caused anyone watching to drool at the skill level.

There was nothing much at the end of Collingwood v Essendon at the MCG in round 23, 2015, though it was played with spirit and finished in a dramatic way. And it might not be without meaning forever.

There can be a lag in what we see a team doing, and what we will see a side go on to do, with the Western Bulldogs perhaps this year's best example of that. Yes, they have a new coach and have blooded more kids than anyone this year. But Jake Stringer, Marcus Bontempelli and most of the players making them win more games than they lose now were there last year too.

So to Essendon and Collingwood, who kept Sunday's game close enough for an entertaining, busy finish, Heath Hocking's third goal putting the Bombers three points in front with just under 90 seconds to go. He and his teammates were able to end a horrible season smiling, with their first win in a while.

The Bombers may be a touch further back than Collingwood when it comes to piecing their next side together. For multiple reasons, this year did not turn out to be anything like they believed it would, and were planning for.

But Jayden Laverde, Shaun Edwards and Kyle Langford have shown some positive glimpses since being given their chances in recent weeks. Zac Merrett will be around a long time.

Irish rookie Conor McKenna plays like he wants to get better, quickly. Orazio Fantasia had his most encouraging game, his 27 possessions including 15 handball receives. He has what his team needs: run.

Regardless of whether Jake Carlisle stays or goes, the Bombers have something every new coach would like to start building their team around: a spine that includes Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley and Joe Daniher.

Collingwood's season didn't last as long as they wanted, either. But again, Darcy Moore looked exciting, athletic and like a very large part of Collingwood's future.

Jordan De Goey was tough. Matthew Scharenberg got a fourth game under his belt and Jonathon Marsh did some more good things in defence. Brodie Grundy is only 21; Jamie Elliott, who spent some time up on a wing, is just 23.

If the Pies are able to add Adam Treloar and James Aish to a group of young midfielders that includes Jack Crisp, Taylor Adams, Brayden Maynard and the unseen Nathan Freeman, they will be on their way.

Nathan Buckley told his players after the game that it wouldn't simply happen from here, that they have learnt in recent weeks how hard it is to keep backing up every week, and how much it needs to be done. But he started seeing signs, even earlier than that, of what his team could become.

"I think this season has shown us that. It mirrors last year in some shape or form, until you delve a little bit deeper and have a look at the analysis of it," Buckley said.

"That is that we've been even younger again and we've found a few more pieces of the puzzle that are going to help us going forward.

"I think we had low 40 games of experience on average across our side so it's a young side. Essendon were young as well but I think we were younger.

"I think in the end 2015 was always a step towards where we want to get to. It was always going to be. How big a step that was was going to be our challenge.

"We could have taken a bigger step, no doubt. But I think we've learned about the players - who can and who can't.

"We've learnt about our capacity and we've competed against the best sides but we just haven't been able to get over the top of them.

"Where we settle in the ladder for season 2015 will be an accurate reflection."

In his few weeks in charge, Essendon's interim coach Matthew Egan had told his players that their enjoyment should not be based on whether they won or lost, but whether they played the way they knew they could and did the things they set out to do.

But even he found it hard not to enjoy seeing them get to sing the song after such a long season and a seven-week wait for a win. "It's been a tough year for them. Just seeing them at the end, it was great reward for such a tough year," he said.

"I think some of our young players really stood up. Jayden Laverde was strong again and He looks like a real man I reckon. He looks like a 25 year old, and he's 18 or 19.

"Kyle Langford showed signs. Conor McKenna; I think he had 18 possessions, and he's been playing the game for 10 months. Joe Daniher comes back on and contributes.

"There's some positive signs for the club. Those sort of wins just give a little bit of belief.

"There's a lot of guys now that we think can play AFL. They just need some consistency to get more games into them, really."