Essendon's meek offering against a steadfast Richmond in Dustin Fletcher's 400th game would have been disappointing enough in isolation. But it's more evidence that the Bombers should immediately ask themselves a couple of tough questions. One is whether the travails their players have been through these past three seasons have created a disproportionate sense of loyalty to them, both on a week-to-week basis and in the longer term, from Essendon's coaching staff. The other is whether some of the Bombers' emotion-fuelled victories over the past three seasons have teased those same coaches and those who run the club into believing that the list at their disposal is better than it actually is. The round-two victory over Hawthorn was another such moment, coming just a week-and-a-bit after the AFL Tribunal had found the "Essendon 34" not guilty, and after the Dons had raced to a seven-goal lead over the other grand finalist of last season. Essendon's most memorable victories since the saga began have come after similar flashpoints. They've been enormous highs. But perhaps they've too easily been allowed to mask some equally significant lows, and more often still, some pretty uninspired football sometimes just enough to get the job done, sometimes not.

Essendon's structural issues remain profound, a lack of pace across the board save speedster Travis Colyer, a lack of midfield depth and variety, and a hotch-potch forward set-up lacking any decent crumbers and two problematic key forwards, one in Joe Daniher still learning, another in Jake Carlisle whose kicking issues came home to roost again on Saturday night. The Bombers are a long way from premiership material, and successive years of topping up with some veteran stars haven't taken them a lot closer and created some issues of their own for future seasons, Essendon in 2015 with the third-oldest list in the AFL. Brendon Goddard and Paul Chapman have given value, and Adam Cooney still might, but Chapman's lack of mobility is taking a toll, and Goddard has this season accumulated plenty of touches that haven't necessarily had a lot of impact. While their experience remains important in one sense, it also denies younger players on the list their own. And Hird and co. already appear conservative enough on the selection front. The ruck provides a good example. Tom Bellchambers is having a very ordinary second season in a row, smashed again on Saturday night, this time by Richmond's Ivan Maric, who did far more around the ground and provided far more meaningful service at critical centre bounces.

Essendon brought in Shaun McKernan to offer the struggling Bellchambers some support two games ago against North Melbourne. He acquitted himself well, too, but was immediately dropped. Former GWS ruckman Jonathan Giles hasn't even been tried yet. The Bombers have too many of their supposed best 22 whose strengths are more than matched by their weaknesses, and too many who are unable to string enough good performances together. Carlisle is a magnificent mark but a dodgy kick, which makes his value as a forward questionable. Patrick Ambrose has been the go-to man for forward line defensive pressure, but simply doesn't win enough of the ball. Others like Jake Melksham and Ben Howlett turn in good games then poor ones alternately. And the time given to alternatives remains limited. Why hasn't Shaun Edwards been tried up forward when his VFL form has been encouraging? Lauchlan Dalgleish has genuine pace, something the Dons desperately lack, but has played only three senior games, all two years ago. Martin Gleeson started as a sub on Saturday night. Jason Ashby had to go back to the VFL because he'd started as a sub too often to have meaningful game time. All the while the likes of Nick O'Brien and Elliott Kavanagh, each in their fourth season on the list, plug away at reserves level with few chances, unable to have an impact when they do get one.

Nobody at Essendon has been through the wringer more these past three seasons than their players. But perhaps that's provided a crutch of sorts for under-performance, and perhaps it's made Hird too unwilling to crack the whip. More ominously, the power of emotion might have conspired to give an entire club a blinkered view of just where it stands in the AFL pecking order. That's middling at best. And in danger of falling further even before there's a resolution to matters with WADA unless some uncomfortable truths are confronted a lot closer to home. And while I'm at it... Collingwood didn't figure in many pundits' pre-season top eights, and even after the first eight rounds this season produced five wins there were enough sceptics. Could the Pies' amazing comeback victory over North Melbourne be the game that changes perceptions?

The Roos are certainly the best-credentialled side Collingwood have beaten thus far. But it's the way this victory was won that should open a few eyes. For all their flakiness, North don't often slip up when they've hit the ground running. Which was very much the case at the MCG when the Roos raced to a 39-point half-time lead. Which made the Pies' nine-goal third term even more stunning. Not only that, though. The Pies came a second time after four unanswered goals to North restored their early lead. This time the rearguard action coincided with the rain belting down. And despite their share of younger, slight bodies, Nathan Buckley's team is proving quite capable of knuckling down to a slog when it needs to. Once again, Collingwood were able to muster a more than competitive tally without a major contribution from Travis Cloke. Jamie Elliott has had more than a bit to do with that, but Alex Fasolo's recent re-emergence has also helped. Things are coming together for Collingwood, and the balance of contributions from both the experienced hands and younger types is making them harder by the week for opponents to counter, Taylor Adams and Jack Crisp important again on Sunday alongside the games of Pendlebury, Swan and co.

The upshot is a spot in the top four ahead of three of the four sides who took a double chance into last September. Can Collingwood hold on to it? After all, they were 8-3 after 11 games last year before falling in a heap and winning only three of their last 11. That could depend on the injury gods as much as anything. They certainly weren't kind in 2014, and any team with more than its share of younger faces would retain some reservations about how heavy a toll six months of attrition on relatively unseasoned bodies takes. But Collingwood face Melbourne and GWS over the next fortnight, both at the MCG. There's every chance they'll go to their mid-season break in the same position as last year, but with a rest before taking on a series of challenging games. The likes of Fremantle, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and West Coast would test any team. But in terms of self-belief, this win over North should provide the necessary ammunition.