Coach happy to bring AFLW game home

NATALIE Wood says her football homecoming was a chance to build bonds between the newly-formed Essendon playing group.

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The Warrnambool-raised coach - with the honour of leading the Bombers' first AFLW team - said the three-day trip from Melbourne would have long-term benefits.

Natalie Wood - back in familiar territory at Warrnambool's Reid Oval - instructs her Essendon players during a break. Picture by Sean McKenna

"For us we really embraced the opportunity to come down. We brought our whole squad so it was a very boisterous bus ride down," Wood said after the Bombers' 15-point loss to Geelong at Reid Oval on Sunday.

"We're still building a connection as a club within AFLW so we really enjoyed the experience."

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Wood said it was special to play a game for premiership points in front of family and friends.

"It's great to bring elite sport to regional Victoria," she said.

"Over the years hopefully we'll have a home ground in Melbourne where we do get to play (consistently) but the ability to get out to regional sport (grounds), we'd love to do that.

"Geelong spent Friday in the community and Essendon will spend tomorrow in the community, so to be able to give back and show young boys and girls the pathways they have in front of them is nice reward."

Essendon footballer Jessica Wuetschner kicks the Bombers into attack. Picture by Sean McKenna

Scores were tied at three-quarter-time before Essendon slipped to a 2-5 win-loss record after Geelong kicked 2.4 to one point in the final term.

"I feel like we've had a few honourable losses which on one hand is a credit to the way the players are going about the games week in, week out but it's disappointing to again not finish the game out well," Wood said.

Wood, who described the ground as "in great condition" and the facilities "amazing", said the Cats' experience helped their cause.

"They lifted the intensity and the standard and were really clean in their execution in the fourth quarter and we weren't able to go up a gear at that point," she said.

Winning clearances was a goal for the Bombers. It was a feat they achieved (32-18), courtesy of Maddy Prespakis' game-high 10.

"We haven't had a game this year where we've been able to get a lot of ascendancy through having our hands on it first in the middle so it was a focus," Wood said.

"I thought the girls did an outstanding job of that."

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