Essendon list analysis: Gary Buckenara says Bombers not as bad as season suggests
ESSENDON might have won just six matches for the season and sacked its coach but it’s not all doom and gloom at Bomberland, writes Gary Buckenara.
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ESSENDON might have won just six matches for the season and sacked its coach but it’s not all doom and gloom at Bomberland.
Yes, they have an ageing list – seven players aged 28 or over - Jake Carlisle wants to leave and there are needs that need to be filled but there’s plenty of talent on the list to work with and add to. It’s just a matter of getting the balance right.
Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley and Joe Daniher are three important pieces of the puzzle, as are the guns Jobe Watson, Brendon Goddard and Dyson Heppell.
David Zaharakis is still a good player, Tayte Pears is a good player but has had his injury troubles, Davis Myers, Mark Baguley, Zach Merrett, Jackson Merrett goes well. Jayden Laverde will be a good player and definitely Kyle Langford as a high half-forward and Patrick Ambrose has shown something up forward. Shaun Edwards could add something and the Irishman Conor McKenna has good pace and showed a bit late in the year.
Then there’s Adam Cooney who adds some class, Heath Hocking is a ball winner, Brent Stanton if he signs on for next season.
When thinking about all those players, the Bombers just need to add a little bit of leg speed, endurance and good kicking skills and then a back-up ruckman as well that can really take the Bombers forward.
Essendon have pick No.4 in this year’s draft, which will net them a good player. They also have the opportunity to get into the draft early with the departures of Carlisle and Jake Melksham, so that puts them in a good position despite losing a couple of senior players.
If they can secure a key position player at No.4 and then some clever midfield ball users with other early picks, then the list isn’t looking too bad.
If I’m going to put a timeframe on it, I’ll be conservative and say that in three years there should be a very different way in how people are looking at Essendon.
But it does all depend on those players I’ve mentioned developing even further and of course, selecting the right players in this draft in particular as to how quickly they can rise up the ladder and challenge again.
What you draft today is what you’ll reap the rewards for in three or four years.
But the interesting thing for Essendon, and before all the supporters get excited, is that while they will be competitive next year and for the next couple, the retirements of Watson, Goddard, Cooney and Hocking etc in the near future will hurt.
That’s where the development of the next tier becomes so important and what’s most critical are the standards these older guys demand of the youngsters.
The focus for this off-season is clearly getting into the draft as early as possible, so how do they do that?
It’s simple. New coach John Worsfold and list manager Adrian Dodoro need to get the best possible deal it can for Carlisle and without hesitation, that is pick No.5 from St Kilda.
The swingman is a good player and he’s a key position player so in my mind, that always adds some more value.
Failing pick No.5, Essendon need a small forward so they could ask for Jack Lonie from the Saints in a package with their second-round pick (currently No.24). Or, accept pick No.5 but send the Saints back its second-round selection (currently No.23).
Melksham wants to go to Melbourne, so their second-round pick (currently No.25) would be OK because they certainly won’t get a first-rounder.
Once the Bombers add good young talent this year to go along with what they’ve already got to work with, then they can look at free agency or trading for other senior players. Especially when the over 28s start to call time on their careers.
WHAT THEY NEED
The Bombers will get Matthew Leuenberger, which is good news because they definitely need a ruckman. While they have used Shaun McKernan in the ruck, at 196cm he’s not really a ruckman size, he’s more suited to that pinch-hitter role.
Despite having Hooker, Hurley and Daniher, Essendon still requires more key position players both forward and back and should be able to nail down one with pick No.4 in this year’s draft.
Essendon also need some good outside runners who use the ball well and have a pit of pace. They’ve got Travis Colyer who definitely makes a difference when he’s out there but they need more of them.
WHO’S UNDER THE PUMP
Jason Ashby, Alex Browne, Will Hams, Nick Kommer, Nick O’Brien, Ariel Steinberg, Elliott Kavanagh, Jake Long and Jon Giles and I’ll put McKernan in this bracket as well because I’m not sure where he fits. He survives for next year probably because they need the height but he needs to start showing more.
WHO SHOULD GO
They’ve had three retirees with Paul Chapman, Dustin Fletcher and Jason Winderlich and Lauchlan Dalgleish and Kurt Aylett are already gone but the guys I don’t think are up to it are Ashby, Browne, Hams, Kommer – who has had injury issues – O’Brien and Steinberg.
I understand that is a lot of changes so I guess with the four retirements as well as Carlisle and Melksham wanting to go, it has saved a couple of those players.
CRYSTAL BALL
Over the next four or five years those key players like Goddard, Watson and Stanton won’t be there so the list build needs to take that into account. The Bombers also need to win back the respect of the football community and make itself into a destination club again – a club players want to go to so they can replace those class players who won’t be there.
They’ll also need to go through the list and get some balance in there because they do have a lot of midfielder types and that’s not going to help you win a premiership if you don’t have depth in the key position areas and halfbacks and other positions.
THE NO.4 PICK
I’m not sure he’ll be there because I reckon he’ll go at pick No.3 to Gold Coast but a kid called Kieran Collins would be ideal as a key position defender. Aaron Francis will also be in the mix, he’s a utility at 193cm but can play really tall, kind of like Josh Gibson at Hawthorn with a really big leap to get over and spoil but he can also go forward and take a mark.
There’s Charlie Curnow who has a really big body and is in the Jarryd Roughead mould but if they want to add some class in the midfield then Darcy Parish would be perfect.
If it was me, I’d go Collins if he’s available but if he’s not and it’s a choice between a Francis or Parish, I’d go Francis because of the height. When the key position players are there, you’ve got to pick them because they’re just so hard to find.
Gary Buckenara helped build Hawthorn’s three-peat premiership list and now he runs a rule over club lists in an exclusive column for the Herald Sun.
Buckenara was a major part of Hawthorn’s recruiting team between 2004-2015 and was responsible for bringing Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis to the Hawks in 2004 when he was the Hawks’ sole full-time recruiter.
Originally published as Essendon list analysis: Gary Buckenara says Bombers not as bad as season suggests
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