Essendon forward James Stewart closes in on new deal but Bombers Joe Daniher, Adam Saad futures still undecided
Sydney coach John Longmire was asked whether landing Essendon spearhead Joe Daniher would add much-needed firepower to the Swans’ forward line – and he gave a no-frills answer.
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The door is open for Joe Daniher should he again make a play to move north to the Harbour City after Sydney coach John Longmire opined about the need for more firepower in his side.
The Essendon goalkicker is yet to make public his plan for the future after last year making an attempt to secure a trade to the Swans.
While Longmire stopped short of buying into speculation about landing the spearhead, he did voice a need for more goalkicking talent.
Whether a fit Lance Franklin and Isaac Heeney can supply that, or the Swans decide to court Daniher will be a talking point throughout the off-season.
“It depends on our injury run I guess, we will see how we go up front,” Longmire said following his side’s gallant six-point loss to Geelong on Sunday.
“We feel like Lance and Isaac and those guys give us that firepower up front that we certainly need.
“We can get better in all areas.”
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When asked about a potential pursuit of Daniher, Longmire baulked.
“I am just at the end of the season, I’ve had eight weeks on the road and it’s probably not at the forefront of my mind just yet, I’m just keen to see my kids,” he said.
The need for goalkicking has fallen to small man Tom Papley this year, who booted 26 goals.
He was electric again on Sunday, taking lockdown Cats defender Mark O’Connor to the cleaners, but couldn’t convert his chances and booted 2.5.
Had Papley kicked straight, the Swans would have almost certainly won the game but Longmire said he wouldn’t blame the goalsneak.
“(Papley) is disappointed but you are talking to a bloke who has kicked 2.8 in a game before, so I understand these things happen,” Longmire said.
“His effort and energy was fantastic but that is half the battle.
“He is disappointed he missed them because he was on fire and it would have been good to create a buffer, but if you don’t have the ball in your hand it’s very hard to create those seven scoring shots and he was getting them.”
WHY BOMBERS MIGHT NOT MATCH DANIHER BID
– Jon Ralph
Essendon’s determination to match a free agency bid if Joe Daniher departs would be complicated by the No.7 draft selection they could secure as compensation.
Daniher will spend the coming weeks on holiday weighing up his future as Adam Saad also considers whether to leave the Bombers.
The Herald Sun revealed this week that Saad, 26, has been offered a four-year deal but may decide to move on because of the club’s direction and his role within the team.
But forward James Stewart will sign a new contract in coming weeks.
His manager Peter Jess told the Herald Sun on Sunday: “I have spoken to Adrian Dodoro and we are in an advanced level of discussions for another two or three years”.
With Essendon having won only a single game since Round 8 they have slumped from fourth on the ladder to 13th, with Gold Coast able to leapfrog them on the ladder with a win over Hawthorn on Sunday.
It means if a rival offered Daniher the long-term deal it would take to see him leave the Dons would have a much better compensation than they believed when starting the season as contenders.
The Dogs would match a bid for No. 1 selection Jamar Ugle-Hagan, with the Crows possibly able to get pick two as a compensation pick for Brad Crouch.
But with Sydney’s NGA product Braeden Campbell the only other possible top-10 pick to dilute the early selections, the Dons would be guaranteed a top-10 pick for Daniher.
Essendon holds its best-and-fairest on Sunday night before players leave the club’s Twin Waters Maroochydore hub, with big decisions ahead for Daniher, Saad and Orazio Fantasia.
Channel Nine reported on Sunday Cale Hooker and Michael Hurley were not certain to be at Essendon but both are contracted to at least 2021.
Incoming coach Ben Rutten said on Saturday he hoped Daniher would stay.
“We’ve had a strong relationship, especially over the last couple of months with Joe,” he said.
“He’ll make his decision but we need it reasonably quickly obviously because things start to move.”
Saad finished his season with another excellent game against Melbourne, with 100 ranking points, 19 possessions, 16 kicks at 81 per cent efficiency and seven intercept possessions.
Saad will return to be among family with his wife Salam set to give birth to their first child before Christmas.
The club had an opportunity to re-sign Saad earlier this season, but was not prepared to commit to his wage demands as a back pocket.
After a third-placing in last year’s best-and-fairest he has again shown his brilliance as a lockdown defender who creates significant offence with his raking left foot.
RUTTEN REVEALS LATEST ON DANIHER, SAAD FUTURES
– Sam Landsberger
Essendon coach Ben Rutten says his faith in the club’s direction won’t be shaken if stars including Joe Daniher and Adam Saad walk out before his first official game in charge.
Outgoing coach John Worsfold received a guard of honour at Metricon Stadium on Saturday as the club’s succession plan came to a close with one win from the final 10 games.
Worsfold and Rutten fronted a joint post-match press conference where the new man in charge said it was decision time for Daniher and Saad.
“They know exactly where they sit - and if they’re ready to make a decision we’re ready to roll,” Rutten said.
“He’ll (Daniher) make his decision – but we need it reasonably quickly, obviously. Because things start to move once you finish the season.
“He knows exactly where he stands from my point of view and the footy club’s point of view.
“I’m confident (he’ll re-sign). I think the way he’s fought back and hung in there these last two years have been really difficult for him.”
Essendon’s media team has gagged Daniher in recent weeks and the restricted free agent was the only player not to register a disposal in the first half against Melbourne.
The Bombers have delisted Shaun McKernan while Tom Bellchambers retired last week and Conor McKenna flew home to Ireland with a year to run on his contract.
Essendon’s players have now spent two years learning under Rutten and one under assistant Blake Caracella as they implement a brand new gamestyle.
Rutten said he wouldn’t take it personally if players decided they didn’t want to stay at Tullamarine after getting a look at the path forward.
“So many factors go into decisions like that for the players,” he said.
The Bombers finished the year with their sixth highest-scoring quarter for the season but were unable to run over a tiring Demons side.
Rutten said the 19-point loss summed up the season.
“Our work-rate dropped off (in the second quarter),” he said.
“Our intensity in and around the ball and some of our method the way we defend wasn’t there.”
Rutten promised to tailor the Bombers’ gameplan to the strengths of their squad and deliver a “balanced brand” as they look to rebound in 2021.
GOODWIN: 2020 A MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR DEES
Melbourne has declared its nine-win season a major step forward as the Demons hope Sunday night turns into Wharfie Time for Jesse Hogan’s Fremantle.
The Dees will return to the finals if the Dockers upset Western Bulldogs in Cairns in the second-last game of the home-and-away season.
But if the Bulldogs win then Melbourne will drop to ninth and miss finals for the 13th time in 14 years.
“If we’re good enough to make it then so be it, we’ll progress, but if we’re not then we’ve given it our best shot,” coach Simon Goodwin said after the Round 18 win against Essendon.
“We sat here 12 months ago in 17th position.
“We’ve progressed as a footy club, we aspire to play finals, we’re a chance to do that, if it doesn’t happen we need to get better.
“That’s pretty much where it sits with us.
“We have moved forward as a footy club, we have moved forward as a team, you’re seeing some huge growth from a number of individuals, we’ve changed a lot of how we play, and there are some really pleasing signs starting to come through.”
The Demons smashed the Bombers 12-5 in centre clearances after midfield coach Ben Matthews got to work on ruckman Max Gawn’s connection with Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver.
“It’s really pleasing for them, because they have put a lot of time into it in the last few weeks,” Goodwin said.
“It gives us great forward half, it gives us great entry, and it gets the game where you want it.”
The Demons lost the inside 50m count 39-44 but were able to score from 46.2 per cent of their entries.
They booted 40 points from defensive-half chains, which was their second-best return this season.
Goodwin was thrilled high-priced recruits Steven May and Jake Lever were able to repel so many Bomber attacks.
“We’ve won a number of games this year where we haven’t won entry,” he said.
“We’ve won a number of games where we haven’t necessarily always had to win the contest, in terms of contested possession.
“So we’ve improved our method. There’s no question the guys behind the ball in playing together have built some cohesion.
“If you’re losing entry and you can defend your back 50m it says a lot that you can win in multiple ways.”
Goodwin admitted the Demons “probably overachieved” by reaching the 2018 preliminary final before crashing down the ladder last year.
The Dees will nervously watch the Freo-Dogs game together from their Novotel Twin Waters hub on the Sunshine Coast.
In 2018 Hogan departed the Demons after kicking 152 goals from 71 games.
“He’s in good form, so let’s hope so (he kicks a bag against the Bulldogs),” Goodwin said.
“Be nice for him, the big fella.”
MATCH REPORT: Bombers stuck in reverse as Daniher fizzles
Essendon’s new era has been launched.
The problem for new coach Ben Rutten is his team started jammed in reverse.
For three quarters the Bombers went out blowing bubbles.
Melbourne rose into the top eight with a 20-point win, and the Demons will stay there if Fremantle upsets the Western Bulldogs on Sunday night.
But the key questions now centre on Essendon. Will we see Joe Daniher wear a Bombers jumper again? What about Adam Saad?
Do they all believe in the club’s direction?
The Round 18 clash was built up as outgoing coach John Worsfold’s sign-off, although in reality the Rutten reign had already begun.
The problems started at centre bounce. In the first half Max Gawn’s perfect palms led Melbourne to six out of seven centre clearances.
Jack Viney was at the feet of most of them and Jayden Hunt and Bailey Fritsch were on the end of goals from two of them.
The Sherrin would either go back to the middle for another Gawn special or stay in Melbourne’s forward line, and Michael Hurley wasn’t there to help.
Instead he and James Stewart switched ends in a move which was switched back before halftime.
Stewart clicked when he went forward and the Bombers finished with a flurry in the last quarter.
Dylan Shiel even brought the Bombers within seven points.
But Gawn’s spoil set up Hunt’s fourth goal and when Fritsch kicked his third the Demons were safe.
The Dees had piled on 6.3 (39) to 0.0 (0) across the second and third quarters and ultimately that was enough.
Some Bombers supporters have found their team harder to watch this year than in 2016, when they finished last after 34 players were wiped out from the supplements saga.
What will they be like to watch next year? This season was meant to teach us their system and style and yet still nobody really knows.
Two Essendon champions leave the ground for one last time.
— AFL (@AFL) September 19, 2020
Congratulations Tom Bellchambers and Woosha ðŸ‘#AFLDonsDees pic.twitter.com/FvQ5cIrOnu
PETRACCA POWER
Matthew Lloyd was stunned the Bombers didn’t use tagger Dylan Clarke on Dustin Martin last month and on Saturday Christian Petracca was afforded similar freedom.
It was penetrating Petracca on Saturday as he thumped a set-shot goal from 55m and set up Hunt with a laser-like pass bursting through the midfield.
Petracca – who is built for September – plays with dare which is often devoid in the Bombers’ gamestyle.
DOES EVERY BOMBER WANT TO BE THERE?
Mason Redman’s desperation to spoil Sam Weideman as Melbourne selflessly chipped the ball around in front of goal smacked of someone hellbent on helping his team.
Redman laid a crunching tackle on Charlie Spargo late to reaffirm his commitment.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti ran like it was a September match in any other year. Darcy Parish was another who gritted his teeth.
But it would be fair to say not every Bomber played with that intent.
Marty Gleeson won’t love the replay of Alex Neal-Bullen bursting past him to kick an easy second-quarter goal and Jordan Ridley – a shining light this year – was nowhere to be seen when Bailey Fritsch marked a few minutes earlier.
Joe Daniher won’t love the stats sheet. The restricted free agent had one dropped mark and zero touches in the first half.
Daniher wowed everybody on his return and has fizzled since.
He has kicked 18 goals in three years and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said “he looked 100” because he struggled to cover the field.
Those concerns faded when Daniher moved into the ruck and started to swing the game Essendon’s way.
But much is Daniher really worth? And do these Bombers really believe in what they are doing?
The ladder said the Bombers had nothing to play for. But with careers on the line and representing a club with a dint in its pride there should’ve been plenty of fight.
ESSENDON 2.0 2.2 3.3 7.7 (49)
MELBOURNE 1.4 6.6 7.7 10.8 (68)
GOALS
Essendon: Stewart 3, Laverde, Stringer, Smith, Shiel
Melbourne: Hunt 4, Fritsch 3, Neal-Bullen 2, Petracca
BEST
Essendon: Merrett, Parish, McDonald-Tipungwuti, Shiel, Redman Saad, Cutler,
Melbourne: Gawn, Petracca, Fritsch, May, Hunt, Smith, Langdon, Salem
VOTES
3. Max Gawn (Melb)
2. Christian Petracca (Melb)
1. Bailey Fritsch (Melb)
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Robbo Q&A: Ben Rutten breaks silence and lays out his plans for Essendon
AFL finals 2020: We analyse the key match-ups, ins and outs for each big match
Mick Malthouse rates the clubs that exceeded and fell short of expectation in 2020
Originally published as Essendon forward James Stewart closes in on new deal but Bombers Joe Daniher, Adam Saad futures still undecided