AFL 2022: Jake Stringer is Essendon envoy to entice Jordan De Goey to The Hangar
Jordan De Goey and Jake Stringer roaming the forward line together is a salivating prospect for Essendon fans and might still happen if a behind-the-scenes recruitment drive comes off.
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The lack of a coach hasn’t deterred Essendon’s bold recruiting drive, one that includes the prized signature of Jordan De Goey.
While De Goey’s future has largely been identified as remaining at Collingwood or accepting a lucrative offer from St Kilda, the Bombers have been quietly chipping away in the background.
Their presentation to De Goey is said to have included a delegate of senior players, including Jake Stringer who plays a similar forward/midfield role, a pairing that would prove highly exciting to Bomber fans and highly difficult for rival coaches to combat.
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Essendon has room in its salary cap to lure a couple of big names, making it all the more important for its coaching panel of Josh Mahoney, Robert Walls, Simone McKinnis, Dorothy Hisgrove, potential CEO-elect Andrew Thorburn and Jordan Lewis to swiftly present a name to the board.
James Hird remains a possible coaching candidate, although the optics of such a move are clearly important.
One view suggested in recent days was Hird would be happy to go through the interview process, but only if first asked by the club to do so.
If Hird became Essendon coach for a third time, expect his support staff to include former teammates and close friends in Mark McVeigh and Dean Solomon.
Of the 62 players coached by Hird in two stints with Essendon between 2011-15, only Paul Chapman had previously tasted premiership success (Geelong, 2007, ’09 and ’11).
After his two-year stint with the Bombers finished in 2015, Chapman’s view of Hird as a coach made interesting reading.
“From the start I loved what ‘Hirdy’ stood for. So was he a good coach? Under the circumstance I would say yes although it was impossible to fully assess his capabilities as a result of the drugs saga,” Chapman said.
“I felt he wasn’t given the freedom that senior coaches require to run their club effectively. But his systems were good and the players definitely respected him.”
Tigers poised to land Giants superstar in $5m deal
Greater Western Sydney star Tim Taranto will land at Richmond on a monster seven-year deal that is expected to be worth in excess of $750,000 per season.
GWS is expecting Taranto to make an official trade request in the coming days despite his strong affinity with the Giants and love of the city of Sydney.
The Herald Sun understands that deal runs to seven years and while Taranto is being paid as much as $650,000 this year the Giants could never hope to match its scope.
Taranto will leave the Giants on good terms, aware that in other circumstances he would have loved to have stayed if not for the length and size of the Richmond offer.
The Giants have significant salary cap issues and Taranto’s loss might help them keep one of Tanner Bruhn or Bobby Hill but despite their efforts to keep him were blown out of the water by the Richmond deal.
But they are committed to a full-blown reappraisal of their salary cap in the hope that the drip-feed of player losses over the years to Victorian clubs is arrested.
The Giants will likely ask for Richmond’s first-round pick and the North Melbourne second-round pick that currently sits at No. 19 which the Tigers acquired in a trade last year.
The 24-year-old was one of the Giants’ best players in their Grand Final year of 2019, winning 26 possessions, eight clearances and kicking a goal in the preliminary final win over Collingwood followed by 30 possessions in the heavy defeat to Richmond.
The Giants have been able to play him at half forward in recent years and while it is another sign of his versatility he would ideally play as an inside midfielder.
At Richmond he will be a perfect addition to a list that has young midfielders like Tyler Sonsie, Jack Ross and Jack Graham but needs an inside wrecking ball to replace Trent Cotchin in coming years.
Cotchin is expected to play on next year but with Dion Prestia hamstrung at half time of the Tigers’ elimination final loss to Brisbane it again exposed the club’s midfield vulnerabilities.
The club hopes Riley Collier-Dawkins and Thompson Dow can push for regular selection in coming years but Collier-Dawkins, a No. 20 draft pick, has never been able to make an impact at senior level.
Geelong is in the box seat to secure GWS midfielder Jacob Hopper as he makes the move to Melbourne despite being contracted until the end of 2023.
GWS still has enough midfield power to play Josh Kelly, Stephen Coniglio, Tom Green and Lachie Ash as the lead members of their onball brigade.
New coach Adam Kingsley will lose Taranto to his former club Richmond, with Dustin Martin to sit down with the Tigers in the near future to plot the next paths for his career.
He is expected to stay at Richmond next year but admitted to friends even when playing in front of crowds of 70,000 at times this year he struggled for motivation.
A long break of at least three months before a return to pre-season in December might help him rediscover his love of football after a tough year battling the grief of his father’s passing.
The AFL’s integrity team is also expected to interview Dustin Martin about a 2015 incident where he touched the breast of a stripper at a player-led club function after the finals series.
Martin could be forced to apologise under the AFL’s victim-led respect and responsibility code.
Where Suns stand on Dusty and Heppell
Gold Coast would be a potential suitor for Dustin Martin if he wanted to move north as Damien Hardwick made clear he expected his star midfielder to remain at Punt Road next year.
Martin on Thursday night kicked an early goal but otherwise showed the understandable signs of a nine-week lay-off with a hamstring injury in Richmond’s nailbiting loss to Brisbane.
The media-shy Martin has yet to give a definitive update on his future with some reports that he might want to escape the Victorian fishbowl given the intense media speculation about every aspect of his life.
He will speak to AFL investigators in coming days about the context of a 2015 incident where he touched the breast of a woman at a Sporting Globe private function organised by players.
Gold Coast believes Martin will still stay at Richmond but would be open to a conversation with the triple Norm Smith Medallist if he wanted to escape Melbourne.
Hardwick has previously said whatever Martin wants will be supported by the club in terms of his future but was more emphatic on Thursday night.
“He’s got two years of his contract to run so as far as I’m concerned all the speculation comes from the people sitting over that side of the table (media). If you guys keep talking about it, it creates speculation,’’ he said.
“The reality is I’m telling you that he’s got two more years of his contract. He’s not going anywhere.’’
Hardwick said Martin handled the furore swirling around him over the controversial video as best he could.
“We worry about the welfare of our players. But he manages to control that and gets on with it,’’ he said.
The Herald Sun understands Martin’s closest mates believe he is happy in Melbourne and comfortable in the Punt Road environment despite his regular trips to Sydney.
The Tigers could choose to give Martin an extended break away from football but with the finals exit he already has a full-three month break until an early December return to training.
With the Suns having recently lost star goalsneak Izak Rankine to Adelaide there is a need for star power and marketability at the Suns.
The Suns have a tight cap and are keen to save pennies for the contracts of Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell (out at the end of 2023) but clearly all bets would be off with Martin.
There has been no contact with Martin and the Suns as he deals with his hamstring recovery.
But if the Gold Coast senior leadership group made clear Martin was a priority there would be a way to afford him.
Rankine’s budgeted $650,000 salary is spare, although the Suns do need to find some running half backs to cover for their trio of ACL victims.
Sydney is on the record as not wanting to explore any trade with Martin and GWS can’t afford him despite football boss Jason McCartney saying mid-year the club would never rule out Martin if he was keen.
But while Richmond believes the very strong likelihood is that he will remain at Richmond it still means there is a potential suitor if he decides to get out of Dodge City.
The Suns are working on a one-year deal for Levi Casboult after his exceptional season kicking 35.22 despite a banged-up knee.
The Suns have also cooled on Dyson Heppell given they need speed out of half back while Wil Powell, Connor Budarick and Lachie Weller recover from ACL tears and the Essendon captain doesn’t fit the bill
The Herald Sun raised the possibility of back-up forward Josh Corbett moving to a rival club last month, with Fremantle now identified as an interested party.
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Originally published as AFL 2022: Jake Stringer is Essendon envoy to entice Jordan De Goey to The Hangar
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