Essendon coach John Worsfold full of praise for Mathew Stokes in his role as a top-up player this year

JOHN Worsford has hailed the input of Essendon’s top-up players following Mathew Stokes’ retirement, hinting Matt Dea and James Kelly could continue with the Bombers next season.

ESSENDON coach John Worsford has hailed the input of the club’s top-up players following Mathew Stokes’ retirement, hinting Matt Dea and James Kelly could continue with the Bombers next season.

Worsfold said dual Geelong premiership player Stokes had gone out of his way to tutor young Bombers this year and he would be “forever a part” of the club.

“The players spoke about it (Stokes’ leadership) after the game,” he said.

“Enormous influence in terms of being prepared to teach the young players around him ... his leadership has been outstanding all year.

“We can’t talk highly enough of what he brought to our footy club this year.

“The fact today was his 200th game, we’re rapt that we were able to help him get to that milestone and he’s forever a part of the Essendon Football Club history now and a well respected part of it.”

Worsfold lauded all of the top-up players lured to the club to help it through one of the most challenging seasons in its history.

Mathew Stokes played his 200th and final career game on Sunday. Picture: Michael Klein

“They’ve all been outstanding. It hasn’t gone perfectly for a lot of them with injuries,” he said.

“They’ve all had significant injuries by trying to get themselves up to help the club but the way they’ve persisted through all of that and add value has been outstanding.”

Disappointed with the Bombers’ sluggish first quarter, Worsfold remains positive about the future.

“One of our things this year is to really ensure we gain out of the year,” he said.

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“We haven’t just ticked off weeks. We’ve got areas to learn and we’ve challenged the players to learn.

“We’ve given them some big challenges in terms of the way we’ve wanted to play at times.

“Ultimately, it’s all been about making sure our squad is better at the end of the season than it was at the end of the season.

“I think ultimately people have acknowledged that Essendon hasn’t been easy to play against and our players have shown positive mindset and a lot of leadership growth from a young list.”

Worsfold said Zach Merrett had been outstanding on and off the field this year.

Originally published as Essendon coach John Worsfold full of praise for Mathew Stokes in his role as a top-up player this year