Game On: A united Essendon defeats Richmond by six goals Essendon coach James Hird assesses his options at quarter time. NOT long into the first quarter last night the umpires had paid five free kicks to Richmond and none to Essendon, which had also had its first goal - a long snap by Michael Hurley - cancelled by a video review that concluded it had been touched off the boot. Already it looked like the Bombers' bizarre week from hell was moving along nicely from where it left off a couple of days earlier after the stabbing of Nathan Lovett-Murray and the resignation of embarrassed chief executive Ian Robson. But as tempting as it might have been, even the most fickle fan could hardly walk away at that embryonic stage of such a big game - so if you were in the red and black, or the red and grey as it was last night, you just had to keep the faith. That has pretty much been the theme for all of this unsettling season for the embattled Bombers and will be for some considerable time yet as the supplements saga plays out slowly. And, as has been the case for all but the last two games, the faithful have been rewarded. By quarter-time, the Dons were a point in front, by half-time it was 20 points and by the final siren they had prevailed by 29 points, taking them to 7-2 and keeping them in touch with the leaders, Geelong and Hawthorn. Not the least impressive part of this defiant progress have been emphatic triumphs in the two big showpiece games, Anzac Day against Collingwood and now Dreamtime against the Tigers. They are both massive occasions, with 84,234 filling the great stadium last night, and the spotlight does not burn much more fiercely. There have been suggestions that the two recent defeats are evidence the psychological impact of the dark cloud hanging over the players - who are being forced to combine their training and match-play with intense interrogation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority - might be taking its toll. If that was the case, it would have showed under that sort of scrutiny, but it didn't. What was on display instead was character and ticker. What's their secret? It might be a simple one. In any communal crisis, be it a real war or a combative game, seldom is anything more important than powerful leadership. Robson's unfortunate departure demonstrated that clearly enough, while president David Evans is also under the pump. But on the field and in the coach's box, they have had captain Jobe Watson and James Hird. Both have been magnificent. As he has done all season - so superbly that he seems to be lining up for a second successive Brownlow Medal - Watson led from the front again last night. He lifted himself and all around him early in the second quarter, when the game was still very much alive, and then kicked his third goal within a minute of the resumption and immediately set up another one for Jake Melksham to shut down any chance of the Tigers launching a comeback. He missed a set shot he should have got but fed another assist to Ben Howlett to put the Bombers 34 points clear - and safe - by the last break. He finished with 28 disposals and collected the Yiooken Award for best on the ground, a pretty easy decision for the judges. When you put a context to the season he is having - the many internal and external pressures, and the sheer quality of his performance - the time might be nigh to declare him a more valuable asset to the club than his famous father, Tim, ever was. And that would be a very big call. Hird, of course, is already a legend and while his part in the scandal has yet to be clarified or judged, meaning he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt for the time being, his determination to stand his ground with dignity has been as impressive as the win-loss column he has overseen. He and Watson both love their football club and what they do - Hird spelt that out again last week - and it shows. Without them, you suspect the situation might be more dire than it is.