Essendon make improved offer to Sam Draper as free agent holds concerns over club’s fitness program

The Dons have made an improved offer to retain ruckman Sam Draper. But the free agent has ‘real concerns’ about a certain aspect of the club.

Essendon has tabled an improved contract offer to unrestricted free agent Sam Draper that has put them in the ballpark with rivals Adelaide and Brisbane.

The new offer will give Essendon renewed hope that it can take Draper off the ruck merry-go-round despite his status as an unrestricted free agent who can walk from the Hangar.

But while Draper is open to staying at Essendon he also has real concerns about the club’s fitness program given the Bombers’ continual injury crisis.

Essendon had tabled a four year deal that is believed was fair for Draper but the Herald Sun reported last month it was nowhere near rival deals.

Brisbane and Adelaide have both tabled strong, long-term offers for Draper, with Brisbane worried about Oscar McInerney’s degenerative back injury.

Draper has a decision to make on his future. Picture: Getty Images

Carlton is destined to lose free agent Tom De Koning, while Collingwood’s Darcy Cameron wants to stay but is no closer to securing the pay rise he deserves on a deal expiring in 2026.

Now after discussions last week Draper has an improved financial deal, although it is not known if the Bombers have matched deals of five or six seasons.

Draper continues to rehabilitate an achilles tendon rupture that he admitted saw him shattered and reduced to tears for days given it occurred during a hot form streak.

He had a series of discussions with coach Brad Scott about his future and the club’s injury issues, which have again robbed the Bombers of a chance to play finals.

There is a level of optimism at Essendon that the new deal will see him re-sign, with Draper a strong cultural presence and the club’s first ruck when up and running.

Draper is much-loved at the Bombers

Draper had been battling tight calves in the lead-up to that achilles tear, then went down against West Coast in round 6.

On that night he had been battling a calf concern to the other leg before his right achilles tear.

But calf concerns can bring on achilles tears, with players statistically more likely to tear their achilles while battling calf concerns.

Draper was happy to play on at three-quarter-time in that contest after player, coach and medical staff all agreed he was fit to play.

The Dons would never put a player at risk but it does illustrate the second guessing taking place at Essendon over the spate of soft-tissue injuries.

So the Bombers will be desperate to provide answers to their star players about how the club will fix its injury program before they become disgruntled.

Kyle Langford is unlikely to feature again this year given a recurring quad concern while Darcy Parish, continually linked to Geelong over the years, is out with another calf complaint.

Kyle Langford isn’t expected to be seen again until 2026. Picture: Getty Images

Darcy Parish has had another setback. Picture: Getty Images

Player managers would also be keen to ensure the Dons injury management is on point before they assess whether to move their players to the Hangar.

Essendon has two first-round picks and two second-round selections so could take them to the draft or try to build a package for West Coast’s Harley Reid if he wants to come home.

The Dons have used 40 of their 47 listed players this season and currently have 14 players on their injury list, with Zach Reid consulting a surgeon about his latest hamstring concern.

“We’ll clearly club-wide do a lot of work and an investigation into what’s happening, as all clubs do on a regular basis,” Scott said this week

“I used the word ‘investigation’, but we’re always investigating. We’ll investigate post-match, we investigate the way we play, our processes, whenever there’s an injury, we investigate the causes of that.

“The frustration is for Darcy Parish, the recurrence of a calf injury and Kyle Langford the recurrence of his quad. Both scans are relatively minor, but it’s the same injury and that takes a minor injury into something a little bit more of a concern for us.”