Club Focus Essendon 2024

[Ticky009]

Data from footywire. To check the draft order see the thread here.

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[buttox]

Posted this on our own board but we need a massive cleanout.

Wright is interesting.
He looked great 12 months ago.
Any reason for his slide in form?

 

[Vindicater]

Wright is interesting.
He looked great 12 months ago.
Any reason for his slide in form?

Had a shoulder injury he never really recovered from.

Then I reckon the four week suspension also rocked him.

 

[cAsEy_18]

Had a shoulder injury he never really recovered from.

Then I reckon the four week suspension also rocked him.

It’s more than that.

He cannot take a contested mark. Is a zero when the ball hits the deck. And puts on zero defensive pressure.

The first one might’ve come about due to the shoulder injury. In fact, quite likely. But the other 2 mean he’s just not a fit for the modern game.

 

[Wild Bill]

Posted this on our own board but we need a massive cleanout.

12 players is a huge amount to let go. Stringer will get another year - but he should only be on 1 year contracts. Shiel showed something late and should get a contract and if Kelly is a Scott fav will be looked after.

Langford holds real value and you would get a great pick for him. Was nearly AA last year and kicked another 40 goals this year. Forward line a big issue - not sure getting rid of your top 2 goal scorers will solve the issue (if Stringer leaves)

 

[Yoda_]

Would be hilarious for the melts if the Bombers did another Bowes Deal for us to take Parish off their hands....

I dont believe we are in salary cap crisis mode.. yet



I would trade Parish for a top 20 pick

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

Wright is interesting.
He looked great 12 months ago.
Any reason for his slide in form?

He's form this year is the same as Max king. Can't believe when your struggling forward of centre and you've got a guy that kicked 50 two years ago for a bottom side in the reserves.

Wright's gone, parish and either Hobbs or tsasis are trade bait. Bryan goes for a 2nd or 3rd rounder, shiel goes as well.

They should have played finals this year, it will hurt them trying to land a king or petracca in October

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

I dont believe we are in salary cap crisis mode.. yet



I would trade Parish for a top 20 pick

Yep parish is a good trade bait. You could use him to try land petracca or king, otherwise he stays. You don't need picks, you have a solid core
Redman
McKay
Laverde
McGrath
Durham
Ridley
Langford
Stringer
Caddy
Jones
Reid (if you can get him on the park)
Merett
Draper
Perkins
Martin
Caldwell

That's a contending core
Trade bait
Wright- you won't get value as you haven't played him in the second half of the year
Bryan - will go elsewhere for opportunity, as draper needs to be number 1, with only short stints forward
Cox - needs a new start
Shiel- same as above, could stay as cover for injuries
Hobbs - I really like him, but if you want a petracca or king you'll need to include him
Tsasis - can't break into the side, I'd use instead of Hobbs with parish and a 1st for either petracca or king
Gresham - has being just going, not sure he's game fits in with where the bombers are going.

I'd keep goldy another year as backup
Weidemann- not sure why he's never being tried down back, you could have saved yourself 900k on McKay, looks a natural back to me. I'd give him minimum base wage and keep as backup.

If I'm essendon and Brad Scott I'm expecting a top 4 finish next year and I'm being super aggressive in trade week

Need a big fish and a quality small forward. I'd offer Joe richards a 4 year deal, 350k a year. He looks like a player you need and I'd hope the daveys keep improving

 

[Sphynx]

I reckon North would be very interested in Wright if he were made available.

 

[jdstorm]

Wright is interesting.
He looked great 12 months ago.
Any reason for his slide in form?

Relies on lead marking

Essendon can’t kick an entry pass

Got blamed for leaky forward 50 despite others being equally at fault.

Could be good for you guys

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

I reckon North would be very interested in Wright if he were made available.

Yep I'd think a third gets it done, pick 40

 

[jdstorm]

Yep I'd think a third gets it done, pick 40

Would rather a 2nd maybe a future 2nd to avoid any Kako bid matching issues

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

Would rather a 2nd maybe a future 2nd to avoid any Kako bid matching issues

You can't not play him and expect much in return

 

[Mofra]

He's form this year is the same as Max king. Can't believe when your struggling forward of centre and you've got a guy that kicked 50 two years ago for a bottom side in the reserves.

Wright's gone, parish and either Hobbs or tsasis are trade bait. Bryan goes for a 2nd or 3rd rounder, shiel goes as well.

They should have played finals this year, it will hurt them trying to land a king or petracca in October

Nick Bryan is a must-keep for Essendon.
If he plays as first ruck next year with Draper starting forward (at least he competes) they get something resembling a structure ahead of the ball, plus a genuine no 2 ruck option for rotation.

I quote liked Hayes in his draft year but no idea what his VFL form has been like. If he can get a few games soon and get Ridley back to a pure interceptor their defence looks much better. I'd assume Essendon fans would be happy for someone to move past Jake Kelly sooner rather than later.

 

[Vindicater]

Nick Bryan is a must-keep for Essendon.
If he plays as first ruck next year with Draper starting forward (at least he competes) they get something resembling a structure ahead of the ball, plus a genuine no 2 ruck option for rotation.

I quote liked Hayes in his draft year but no idea what his VFL form has been like. If he can get a few games soon and get Ridley back to a pure interceptor their defence looks much better. I'd assume Essendon fans would be happy for someone to move past Jake Kelly sooner rather than later.

Hayes should have been in this week for Laverde. Has been solid now in VFL all y at and needs a taste of the level.

Cox and Laverde for Weideman and Hayes was such an obvious move.

 

[Wild Bill]

Hayes should have been in this week for Laverde. Has been solid now in VFL all y at and needs a taste of the level.

Cox and Laverde for Weideman and Hayes was such an obvious move.

Laverde was very close to your best player last night. He is the new Brent Stanton.

 

[jdstorm]

You can't not play him and expect much in return

he’s under a long term contract so I think Essendon can ask for more then your typical VFL player.

It did feel somewhat unfair and I would expect some sort of swap of something less significant later in the draft to even it out.

Just think that I wouldn’t want to give up someone like Wright for a pick after 40

Edit: to me Essendons big list issue isn’t overall talent but rather how that all fits together.

Lots of similar players with overlapping skill sets that leave massive holes in the list in the things they don’t do well.

If Essendon did want to hope to contend next season they would have to bring in some stars/elite players. starting with two midsize or bigger mids who can kick and an elite HB. The assets needed to get these players would be far more too expensive the what Essendon could afford while holding list depth.

Seems smarter/better to just try and cull the list of your medium impact older players and take as many chances in that 20-40 range as possible

 

[The 747]

Trade bait
Wright- you won't get value as you haven't played him in the second half of the year
Bryan - will go elsewhere for opportunity, as draper needs to be number 1, with only short stints forward
Cox - needs a new start
Shiel- same as above, could stay as cover for injuries
Hobbs - I really like him, but if you want a petracca or king you'll need to include him
Tsasis - can't break into the side, I'd use instead of Hobbs with parish and a 1st for either petracca or king
Gresham - has being just going, not sure he's game fits in with where the bombers are going.

Wright- true
Bryan - has some value
Cox - former top 10 pick who hasn't come on, worth very little at the moment
Shiel- worth nothing
Hobbs - worth a second at best
Tsasis - former top 10 pick who hasn't come on, worth very little at the moment
Gresham - FA selection, would refuse the trade and rightfully so

 

[Vindicater]

Laverde was very close to your best player last night. He is the new Brent Stanton.

Last night was fine.

He was bottom 3 in the five weeks prior however.

 

[The 747]

Their best strategy would be lobby for the mid season trade period, since all their players look much better halfway through the year.

 

[jdstorm]

For all this talk about needing to have players as trade bait….

Essendon is going to have the equivalent of 2 FRPs this year. Have a reasonably young list profile and have most senior players locked up longer term (aka no pressure to trade)

Combine that with the ability to make a financially lopsided trade either by paying their own players salary out of this years cap and bringing in an equivalent player at a different position or taking on a higher priced player in a cap dump type trade.

There’s no real pressure to make a bad trade when they can easily reset 10-20 percent of their best 22 without much risk.

Ie FRP + Kako play yr 1, then 1 trade that leverages cap room(or FA signing) and 1x 3rd or 4rp for a mature fringe afl player they think fills a need.

That’s not even counting Tsatas being physically ready to be best 22 or whatever happens with Goldy’s veteran ruck spot.

They can afford to be additive and build selection pressure/depth.

 

[eth-dog]

Laverde was very close to your best player last night. He is the new Brent Stanton.

Wouldn't have been in the top 15. His second half was horrific.

Plus he's been shithouse for the previous two months

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

For all this talk about needing to have players as trade bait….

Essendon is going to have the equivalent of 2 FRPs this year. Have a reasonably young list profile and have most senior players locked up longer term (aka no pressure to trade)

Combine that with the ability to make a financially lopsided trade either by paying their own players salary out of this years cap and bringing in an equivalent player at a different position or taking on a higher priced player in a cap dump type trade.

There’s no real pressure to make a bad trade when they can easily reset 10-20 percent of their best 22 without much risk.

Ie FRP + Kako play yr 1, then 1 trade that leverages cap room(or FA signing) and 1x 3rd or 4rp for a mature fringe afl player they think fills a need.

That’s not even counting Tsatas being physically ready to be best 22 or whatever happens with Goldy’s veteran ruck spot.

They can afford to be additive and build selection pressure/depth.

Their core group is ready to be top 4. They need to chase petracca and king and land 1 of them.

 

[cAsEy_18]

Their core group is ready to be top 4. They need to chase petracca and king and land 1 of them.

No we don’t haha, we’re a long way off.

You can name a list of players that you like that you think is our core. But the reality is our mix and balance doesn’t work at all.

I’m fine with our midfield/wings. But

- Good teams have at least 2-3 good small forwards, from a pressure and/or goal kicking perspective. We have zero.

- We have only 1 decent key forward on the list, who is 19 and probably a little undersized. He looks good, but has less than 10 career goals to his name.

- And probably the big one… we would have the worst kicking backline in the league. Kelly? Terrible kick. McGrath? Very bad. McKay? Awful. Laverde? No good, particularly combined with decision making. The only one in the current team that can kick is redman. And even then, he’s “okay”, he’s prone to his own turnovers. That just makes the game really hard for us. We hand opposition easy goals from nothing turnovers every week. And we cannot transition forward ourselves with any speed, as our guys are just hoping their sideways 15-20m kicks hit the target.

You can say it all you like “they just need one of Petracca or king” - but that’s not going to fix us. Selling the farm for Petracca (who Melbourne have adamantly said they’re not trading btw) doesn’t help with any of those issues ^

 

[jdstorm]

In terms of getting King/Trac/whoever.

They are good players. They’d help if it wasn’t cost prohibitive.

If Parish + Wright was enough to get Trac you’d do it. But Melbourne would want far more than that so it wouldn’t be worth it.

This years first for Ben King

34

Ben King

Age

24

Ht

202cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

2.2

2star

M

3.5

4star

T

0.5

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

5.6

2star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

0.3

1star

G

1.5

5star

D

6.8

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

0.2

3star

G

1.0

4star

straight up (or maybe + future 3rd) would be about all we’d want to pay

Then trade Draper for your good ball using 186+ mature body mid/HB
Throw in Draper for 188 mid/HB type (think Jack crisp

25

Jack Crisp

Age

30

Ht

190cm

Wt

91kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.2

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.7

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

MG

307.6

4star

D

17.7

4star

K

10.7

4star

HB

7.0

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

3star

MG

307.6

4star

D

14.4

4star

K

8.4

4star

HB

6.0

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

3.0

5star

but younger).

Thing is other teams would offer far more King/Trac then would be sensible for Essendon to pay. (north, Dees and Geelong could use King badly and have more capital to spend)

I’m also keen to see Draper play another year at FF. If he could improve his set shot he does a lot of good things there and Draper/Caddy/Langford is a working Forward group just needs 3+ pressure players/smalls with them. Especially with Jones/Martin/Dursma adding a goal threat from the wing.

 

[Trent the flight Steward]

In terms of getting King/Trac/whoever.

They are good players. They’d help if it wasn’t cost prohibitive.

If Parish + Wright was enough to get Trac you’d do it. But Melbourne would want far more than that so it wouldn’t be worth it.

This years first for Ben King straight up (or maybe + future 3rd) would be about all we’d want to pay

Then trade Draper for your good ball using 186+ mature body mid/HB
Throw in Draper for 188 mid/HB type (think Jack crisp but younger).

Thing is other teams would offer far more King/Trac then would be sensible for Essendon to pay. (north, Dees and Geelong could use King badly and have more capital to spend)

I’m also keen to see Draper play another year at FF. If he could improve his set shot he does a lot of good things there and Draper/Caddy/Langford is a working Forward group just needs 3+ pressure players/smalls with them. Especially with Jones/Martin/Dursma adding a goal threat from the wing.

Did you not learn anything from Melbourne. Playing a ruck permanent fwd doesn't work, for short spurts ok but never full time. Gawn is far more accomplished than draper fwd of centre and he lost form and then so did Grundy.

Not sure we need king, shannon neale is coming along very nicely for us, we need midfield presence, which is improving each game as we watch bruhn and Clark and even Bowes grow.