Essendon believes it has the young talent for the future, but jury still out on Fletcher Mark III

THEY’VE given up two first round draft picks and offloaded Brendon Goddard, but Essendon recruiting boss Adrian Dodoro says the Dons have stockpiled enough young talent to fill the void.

Essendon is confident in its young talent.

ESSENDON believes it has stockpiled enough exciting kids to cover the loss of Brendon Goddard and the trading of next year’s first-round pick.

But the Dons have a difficult decision to make on Dustin Fletcher’s son Mason Fletcher, who might end up playing TAC Cup again next year as a top-age player.

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Essendon handed over this year and next year’s first-round picks for star midfielder Dylan Shiel, but got back a second-rounder next year as part of the deal.

It means the first of three picks this year is at 34, with two second-rounders locked away for the 2019 national draft.

Aaron Francis in action for Essendon.

Brendon Goddard was delisted by Essendon. Picture: Michael Klein

Essendon recruiting boss Adrian Dodoro said the long list of young kids ready to make the next step had him confident about the years ahead.

Goddard was told there was not room for him, with Essendon believing Aaron Francis, Jordan Ridley and Mason Redman might have been held back if the veteran stayed.

Calder Cannons full-back Mason Fletcher is still battling with the lower back stress fractures that finished his season in May and the spindly defender is seen to need years of development.

Essendon could take him as a late rookie pick on November 23 or might decide he needs another year of development in the TAC Cup before making a call.

“We are not committing at this point. There is still a lot of work to do,” Dodoro said.

Mason Fletcher, son of Dustin, trains with Essendon.

“We have picks 34, 66 and one in the 80s. We think we can find some good players.

“We think the list is in really good shape heading forward and we are just as excited for some of the kids who played in the VFL side for most of the year like Aaron Francis, Jordan Ridley, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Trent Mynott, Kobe Mutch.

“We think they have the talent to play league footy and we get Mason Redman back who got injured last year. So it’s a lot of exciting kids and it’s a real positive for us.

“That’s why we had to make some tough decisions with guys like Brendon Goddard. We think Ridley and Redman can play, Francis can play there, so they are all young kids with a lot of footy ahead of them.”