Analysis The Rebuild Of Essendon And North Melbourne And Their Future Prospects
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Not really. So many are running with the "Oh it feels like 2017 with Melbourne in Round 23 when Collingwood ruined their cha... ect ect ect;"
Hoping the WA teams falter, though admittedly im not bothered if we make it or not.
But it would be good for the group's belief. this was a pipe dream this time last year....
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I honestly think North will end up going deeper in September. Their midfield is just getting going but has some awesome talent that is just starting to come through. They will also probably have another year where the get another low pick.
I think Essendon have overachieved to their detriment where they will be an ok side stuck in the middle.
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Mjs94
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We need one of Comben/Edwards to develop into a good/very good/elite key forward and to find a CHB and then of course the mids need to continue to develop to what us supporters are hoping they will become. We have a long way to go but fingers crossed.
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Overachieved to their detriment because we’ll probably get pick 12 instead of a top 6 pick?
We are probably a key forward away from really challenging in the next 2/3 years, that won’t be found in this years draft.
Our midfield is absolutely stacked for the first time in decades, 3 genuine top 10/15 mids, the best young ruckman in the comp and a very promising bunch of first year players.
I don’t think we have overachieved, it’s just how good the team has become, they did it quicker than most had predicted and it’s only trajectory is up.
Would hate to think what one has to do to be rejected from the Essendon cheer squad.
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Del191229
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We've spent our first rounders from 2016 (Simpkin - 12), 2017 (LDU - 4), 2018 (Thomas - 8), 2019 (Traded), 2020 (Philips -3, Powell - 13) on guys we intend to play as midfielders and foremost, indeed all except Thomas are pure mids. We also traded to get Jaidyn Stephenson (2017 - 6) in so he can play mid.
That's six first round picks in the last five years, four in the top ten to build a midfield core capable of sustained and deep finals campaigns. And we'll add another this year with pick 1.
That's a proper solid rebuild.
I like most of those player, TT especially is a beauty. What’s the top end there though? Aside from picking early in the draft being an indicator of future performance, it’s just crystal ball stuff at the moment.
Bombers traded some FRPs when they probably shouldn’t have but I’d probably take Parish, Merrett, Stringer, Shiel, McGrath, Caldwell, Langford, Perkins, Cox (if he ends up there) and whoever we take at 9-12 this year with Draper/Bryan for at least the next 5 years. Your only mid with exposed form better than the first 5 listed there is Cunnington, the others might get there but they might not too.
Be fun to watch in coming years though. Maybe you guys can even snag a win over us.
I would have thought Simpkin probably slots in after Parish, Shiel and Stringer.
LDU and Thomas would all arguably slot in ahead of Shiel now also. It's pretty easy to rattle off names like you did at the end with no context.
It's a moot point, I think Thomas will be the best midfielder on both lists and top end talent matters at the pointy end....
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Go for it then
Merrett is the best performed midfielder across both lists without question mate. If Thomas is better than Merrett, Parish, Stringer et al, he’ll be going pretty well. As I said, I like him but he’s in his 3rd year now which is when Zach won his first B&F (admittedly in the WADA suspension year) and polled 19 Brownlow votes.
Only the fullness of time will tell but it’ll be good to watch the two clubs build no doubt.
seems about right based on current form
If i was selecting;
Merrett
Parish
Stringer
Simpkin
Thomas
McGrath
Shiel
LDU
Powell
Perkins
Phillips
Cox
Caldwell
Expect Thomas to overtake Simpkin. He's getting close to AA
Where we have the Roos is covered is ruck. Draper is one of those rucks that makes your midfield better.
Roos are sort of where we were last year.
Ageing stalwart (Goldy/TBC) who is covering whilst the kids develop (Draper/Bryan v. Xerri/Edwards/Comben?)
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Both Essendon and North Melbourne are in very similar positions in terms of length of rebuild, Essendon are vying for finals and North Melbourne are last, Essendon have beaten North Melbourne 7 times in a row including twice this year by an average margin of 45 points, Essendon’s top end talent is panels ahead of North Melbourne’s.
Why is this even a discussion?
Why is this even a discussion?
Another bomber obsessor. Get along and support your team when you can.
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I doubt Thomas ever becomes a better player than Merrett and I love TT.
I really don't doubt it.
Merrett is a quality player, but I don't think he's ever going to be in the top 5 players in the competition. I think Thomas has that potential. He might not get there certainly, but I think he has a higher ceiling than Merrett.
His game style is more like Stringers tbh anyway, both of them have have scoring power from the center and really high clearance ratios'. Thomas will get more of the ball though, he does already.
Draper isn't close to Darcy who is a few months older than him for starters.
3 top 10 midfeidlers is also a bit of stretch. Not outrageous, but debatable. I probably wouldn't class Stringer as a pure mid, despite his great disposal numbers.
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I’m not sure Stringer should be compared with pure mids.
I’m a big fan of North’s midfield build for their list but at the moment I’d rank each player as:
Tier 1
1. Merrett
2. Parish
Tier 2
3. Simpkin
4. Thomas
5. Shiel
6. McGrath
Tier 3
7. LDU
8. Stephenson ( Not sure he ever becomes a pure mid)
Tier 4
9. Powell
10. Philips
11. Caldwell
List ranked entirely on current performance level no weighting on potential.
Other Comments
- I’d have Thomas as the highest upside player of the group and possibly LDU second.
- Shiel’s best footy sees him in tier 1 but hasn’t produced that since pre suspension/injury in 2020 (round 4)
- I was very close to putting Simpkin in tier 1. I really rate him. McGrath was also close based on 2020 form
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He's a ripper no doubt, I really want to see him with constant attention from a tagger, I think his ability to push forward is a big plus.
I just think Merrett is under valued league wide a lot, not many more consistent players in the game than Zachy and always at a high level.
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This thread started off with Simpkin being a top 5 player in the comp and currently we are at Thomas being a top 5 player in the comp.
**** me dead that is some overrating if I’ve ever seen it.
**** me dead that is some overrating if I’ve ever seen it.
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Don’t really see how Stringer can be included as a top 15 mid. He averages 15 touches a game and rarely breaks 20. He’s a HFF who attends centre bounces.
Draper is a better centre bounce ruck then Darcy by a fair margin which is a very important skill especially seeing as Essendon are one of the better sides at scoring from those stoppages. Draper doesn’t get near him as complete footballer though.
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