Essendon bloodletting continues with a raft of further changes at the Bombers
Essendon has some big list calls to make and could enter the trade period without a coach or CEO. But list boss Adrian Dodoro has a plan to get the team back up the ladder.
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Essendon has wiped out almost half of its board and two of its most senior positions on an extraordinary day of bloodletting at Tullamarine.
In a remarkable postscript to coach Ben Rutten’s sacking, the Bombers on Wednesday farewelled chief executive Xavier Campbell, directors Paul Brasher and Simon Madden and will also let go Sean Wellman and vice-president Peter Allen later this year.
It means the Bombers are on the hunt for a new chief executive, new senior coach and likely new captain to replace Dyson Heppell for 2023.
New president David Barham has led sweeping change at the club in a dramatic clean-out after 18 years without a finals win.
Allen will move on at the annual general meeting in December, while Wellman will step aside once a new footy director is appointed.
Chief commercial officer Nick Ryan will serve as interim CEO, while chief financial officer Kevin Dixon also left last week.
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The new-look Essendon board, led by Barham, has kept its faith in veteran list boss Adrian Dodoro and footy boss Josh Mahoney for the meantime.
Dodoro will prepare to steer the club through a crucial trade and draft period as Essendon looks to use considerable salary cap space on some mature talent.
The Bombers do not want to trade their No.4 draft pick and have missed out on landing Izak Rankine, Angus Brayshaw and Ben King in recent months.
Mahoney will also play a critical role helping manage the football department in the wake of the bombshell departures.
Mahoney made an unsuccessful last-minute bid to keep Rutten at Sunday’s three-hour board meeting, held off-site at Melbourne Jet Base.
Mahoney, who remains contracted at Tullamarine, will now help oversee the recovery mission alongside an external review of the football department.
The Bombers will this week make announcements on the people appointed to drive the external review, which will provide a searing independent assessment of all football operations including list and coaching requirements.
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The Bombers on Sunday declared they needed an experienced coach to maximise the potential of their young list, which broke through for an unexpected finals appearance last year.
But it is understood the search for a new coach will not rule out a first-timer, with insiders adamant a David Noble or Chris Fagan-type would still fit the experience criteria.
Former coach James Hird has some support within the club but he remains at long odds to return to the club where he was banned for overseeing the disastrous injections regime.
Melbourne’s Adem Yze is likely to be part of the search, if the Dons are unable to poach Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley or twist the arm of former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon.
Campbell was extremely bullish on the list that Dodoro has moulded.
“In 2021 we made finals. People are very quick to forget that with the second-youngest list in the competition we made finals,” Campbell told the Herald Sun in an exclusive interview.
“That’s why this year has been challenging, we haven’t reached that level of consistency. But we have got a really exciting young playing group.
“We got younger this year – we didn’t get older. People forget that. You have to have perspective. It’s not like we have a list that’s mature and aged and has maxed out.
“It’s quite the opposite.”
Campbell also endorsed Mahoney, who crossed from Melbourne two years ago. Essendon is adamant there are no lingering issues between Dodoro and Mahoney.
“Josh is exceptionally talented,” Campbell said.
“He’s building a football program, and he’s not trying to build it too quickly. He’s building it with the right pieces at the right points in time and it’s going to be positioned to be a successful program.
“It’s not trying to find a quick way to run or take shortcuts. It’s doing it the right way.”
Essendon has already made six list changes, farewelling Devon Smith, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Michael Hurley as well as Tom Hird, Tom Cutler and Garrett McDonagh.
Heppell is weighing up interest from Gold Coast, while swingman Aaron Francis is also on the chopping block.
The Bombers have been linked to North Melbourne forward Cameron Zurhaar, who is out of contract, but are also known to be talking to other targets.
Essendon wants to keep its top draft pick to use on a gun youngster in November after taking Ben Hobbs last year and Archie Perkins, Zach Reid and Nik Cox the year before.
They also snaffled Massimo D’Ambrosio, Will Snelling and Sam Durham in the mid-season drafts and added breakout star Nic Martin in the pre-season.
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