THE evolution of Essendon entered another phase last night, and Paddy Ryder was not alone in punching above his weight.

In his three years at Windy Hill, Ryder has shown beyond any doubt that he has a lot going for him — speed, a terrific leap, a strong mark and, perhaps the most important quality of all, an unflappable temperament.

He'd need all of that to go up against the Brisbane Lions' champion forward Jonathan Brown, even if he didn't have the muscle. Few in the competition do, and with Brown's former Lions teammate Mal Michael injuring himself in the VFL, Ryder at a rangy 90 kilograms was asked to stand the best power forward in the game, all 112 kilos of him, while Dustin Fletcher minded the equally dangerous Daniel Bradshaw closer to goal.

In recent seasons, those two had proved too much of a handful for the Bombers' stretched defence, a unit that is still very much a work in progress and in need of another, mature key backman. Brown had kicked 26 goals in his previous 12 outings against Essendon, and Bradshaw 34 in 13.

Yet in the first play of the night, Ryder led Brown to the ball and outmarked him, making his intention clear. He could not hope to out-body 'Big Browny', so he would do his best to grab front position or, alternatively, give himself enough space to leap from behind.

If Ryder didn't beat Brown — who finished the game with five goals and was one of only a few Lions to seriously impose himself on it — he at least held his own, which would have come as no surprise to Essendon fans who have long sensed he will grow into a star, on whatever part of the ground he ends up spending the bulk of his career.

Indeed, Brisbane's forward guns, Brown and Bradshaw, kicked nine between them last night but their contribution was wiped out up the other end by another handy double act, in Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas. Even with Jared Brennan firing, the Lions for once could not muster enough drive to overcome an Essendon team that at its best played at breakneck speed, and kept the bursts up for long enough to beat a top-eight opponent that is much further along the rebuilding road than Knights and his team.

The same Essendon fans who have admired Ryder's progress have known less, except for some tantalising teasers, about Leroy Jetta, who followed Ryder out of Western Australia. That is mostly because he spent much of last season nursing an injured groin, and was among the Bombers grounded by hamstring tears when Knights' fast-running game plan took its early season toll.

Last night Jetta provided the most breathtaking moment of Essendon's eight-goal opening quarter, when he gathered the ball on the half-forward flank, broke away from Lions opponent Jed Adcock with his trademark pace, took a bounce and had the composure to curl through a long goal.

The 20-year-old didn't gather loads of the ball, touching it 10 times for the game, but he thrilled when he did, sprinting in to goal with a flourish in the second quarter.

After Brisbane challenged and hit the front in the third, Jetta put himself in the right spot, gobbled up a Jobe Watson handball and started an emphatic Essendon response.

Knights, in preaching patience to the Essendon faithful, has said that he would in time introduce a more defensive game to complement the fast and undeniably attractive brand of football encouraged among his young charges. And the grunt work performed to keep Brisbane at bay last night suggests the minds (and hamstrings) of his players are starting to keep up.

In round four against the Western Bulldogs, Mark McVeigh and Sam Lonergan tweaked hamstrings almost in unison, and Essendon's fortunes dived with them. Both were at the coalface last night.

There were some acts of defiance from the seniors — an early Lucas goal could be directly attributed to in-form ruckman David Hille weathering a crunching bump, picking himself up, and getting crunched again, and later Lucas slewed a kick into the man on the mark only to go after the ball and kick the goal. But it was the perseverence of Ryder, the occasional brilliance of Jetta and the sustained effort of young midfielders like Kyle Reimers, Brent Stanton and Jay Nash that will stick in the minds of Essendon people thinking about the future.