Jay Clark analyses the off-season moves Essendon can make to re-establish itself as a contender again
As Brad Crouch weighs up his future in Adelaide, Essendon fans have urged the club to make a play for the Crows free agent. Here’s who you think can fill the Bombers’ midfield void.
Essendon
Don't miss out on the headlines from Essendon. Followed categories will be added to My News.
On one hand, it seems a minor miracle Essendon is in the black.
When the devastating supplements scandal robbed 34 players of a year of football in 2016, it threatened to turn this proud club into a basket case for years.
They were stripped of three first and second-round draft picks, five senior star players walked, Jobe Watson lost his Brownlow Medal and his passion for the game, and the salary cap would be stretched to keep the others.
Yet, since that 2016 season when every Essendon player went and contemplated their football future, the Bombers have won 41 games, lost 38, drawn one and snuck into two finals series.
And that has been for the bulk of the past three seasons without grounded spearhead Joe Daniher, and certainly for the most part of this year captain Dyson Heppell.
As much as the club has been keen to move on from the devastating chapter, it was coach John Worsfold who brought those dark days back into sharp focus for some context about the club’s direction in 2020.
Clearly, there is some frustration over the Bombers’ five wins this year, and on Saturday night there was concern over the distinct lack of forward half pressure in a flattering loss to Richmond.
The injury-hit Bombers, who will finish the year in a something of an experimental mode, racked up only 24 inside 50s and had zero forward 50m tackles.
Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Watch every match of every round Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
But from a big picture perspective, Wosrfold suggested the Bombers had, in fact, outperformed expectations to this point, given its low base in 2016.
“We played finals, and to do that within such a short period of time of being smashed with fines and draft picks gone — I think that’s beaten most other clubs that have been hit with such penalties,” Worsfold said.
“I’d say the Essendon Football Club has achieved really well.”
This was ‘Woosha’ as blunt as he has ever been in front of a microphone, and he wasn’t finished.
Even as veterans Cale Hooker and Tom Bellchambers edge closer to retirement and Michael Hurley and David Zaharakis enter their twilight, Worsfold was bullish about what the Bombers could achieve under Ben Rutten and Blake Caracella next year.
With a Port Adelaide-style refresh at the end of the season, Essendon will target a quick bounce back up the ladder as it sweats an important answer from Joe Daniher.
“I think we are making big inroads,” Worsfold said.
“And it is only going to get better quickly”.
That confidence comes from the bedrock of the list, which has some A-Grade midfield talent, elite speed and some emerging interceptors down back.
But to win the club’s first final in 17 years in 2021, Rutten needs some more key pieces from the draft and trade period, and an end to the crippling run of injuries.
There will be also more clear air from the supplements scandal with the potential retirement of Bellchambers and Hooker.
Interestingly, the banned Essendon players who have played their best football were the ones who left, including All-Australians Paddy Ryder (Port Adelaide) and Michael Hibberd (Melbourne), as well as Jake Melksham (Melbourne) and Jake Carlisle (St Kilda).
But while Essendon’s 2013-15 premiership window closed prematurely, the Bombers are making repairs on the run to open another one.
AFL legend Wayne Carey said he rates the list.
“There is no question for me,” Carey said. “They’re not good enough this year because of the injuries they have had, but could they play finals next year? One hundred per cent.”
Former Richmond and Western Bulldogs’ great Nathan Brown agreed considering “the list they have”.
“If they can get all of those guys playing at the one time – and they have some good young players they have got some games into – they can be a force to be reckoned with next year,” Brown said.
Clearly, the coaches have work to do on the team defensive mechanism which — in its first season in place — has given up the sixth most points from only 12 games this year.
But it’s at the other end of the ground that the spotlight is on for now.
The Joe Daniher situation is a huge crossroad for the club, and the Bombers haven’t given up hope the father-son spearhead will do a 180-degree turn and decide to re-sign after requesting a trade to Sydney Swans last year.
Essendon list chief Adrian Dodoro has already made absolute clear the Bombers want to retain Daniher and intend to match any sub-par offer if he decides to leave.
That would force a trade where the Bombers could demand a first-round draft pick or player in the same way Adelaide struck a deal with Geelong for Patrick Dangerfield.
North Melbourne’s Ben Brown is the obvious target if Daniher walks.
A first or end-of-first round selection would be the free agency compensation for Daniher, which the Bombers could then swap to the Roos for Brown.
But there are other lesser lights to consider, too.
West Coast’s Jake Waterman is a competitor, Mitch Georgiades would be a dream get, Jeremy Finalayson is on the fringe at GWS Giants and Carlton’s Levi Casboult is an older option.
Port Adelaide’s Charlie Dixon is also still out of contract.
Coleman Medallist Jeremy Cameron sounds like he’s staying up north despite the disappointment of the Giants’ season.
In any case, the Bombers would love to target a gun tall in this year’s draft, such as 200cm ruck-forward Riley Thilthorpe or 196cm Western Australian goal kicker Logan McDonald, if they can nab a top-five pick. Otherwise, it should be best available in the first round.
They already have Harry Jones who is a lightly built running machine but he will take time as a developing key forward target.
But as the Bombers wait one more week to complete Daniher’s patient comeback after groin surgery and an overseas trip last year, it’s the midfield which needs another key piece or two, as well.
And there will be opportunity in this year’s trade period to enhance the engine room featuring Dylan Shiel, Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath with a strong-bodied clearance-winner.
Whether it’s Saint Luke Dunstan, Richmond tough nut Jack Graham, Fremantle ballwinner Connor Blakely, Gold Coast’s Will Brodie or even a surprise bid for a Jack Viney, another hard-nut will help afford some size and protection for the speedsters.
Adelaide free agent Brad Crouch is also up for grabs.
But the Bombers could also do with some high-endurance to help pull off the Richmond-style game plan Rutten is trying to implement.
It is gut-run, rather than burst speed they lack, and Tom Cutler was brought in last year from Brisbane to help try and fill that void.
But an underrated difference between the Tigers and the Bombers, according to Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna, is the V8 running power Richmond possesses.
The Saints were in awe of Dan Butler’s endurance when he first landed at Moorabbin late last year, for example.
Certainly, there was a big switch in the loss to the Tigers on Saturday night as Devon Smith was re-cast in a defensive role and looked assured marshalling the rebound.
Heppell could play an important role there, too, from next year after carrying a huge load under duress in 2019.
But Daniher isn’t the only one facing an uncertain future.
Irish speedster Conor McKenna has endured a tough year and will likely again attract trade interest only one year after Brisbane had a crack at him.
There is doubt over whether he wants to play back or forward.
Orazio Fantasia flirted with the idea of a trade last year but the interest in him has fizzled out.
Even if he does want to go again, Essendon should ask for Georgiades or Ollie Wines in return, but Fantasia remains contracted anyway.
Sam Draper will become the No. 1 ruckman next season after fighting off huge interest from St Kilda last year and the back line has some emerging pillars.
Jordan Ridley looks a star, Saad is one of the best linebreakers in the AFL, and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and Aaron Francis are promising, even if Francis is taking time learning the topes of a key defensive role rather than the third banana.
Cody Brand is a promising full back coming through the club’s next generation academy.
But the biggest question mark surrounds Daniher, and by extension, the forward line.
If he can make a successful return to the field, after groin surgery and an overseas trip in the past 18 months, there remains a glimmer of hope he will remain in red and black.
Around Daniher, Jake Stringer would be more dangerous as the second marking target, Kyle Langford is showing signs now that he has been settled as a one-goal-a-game forward, and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti is a pressure player with a deadly set shot.
It wasn’t that long ago that he kicked seven goals against Brisbane Lions on the MCG, and Irving Mosquito is another electrifying prospect after shedding the kilos recently.
If Daniher remains, Montagna is optimistic about Essendon’s on-field future.
“Looking at their list, they should be doing everything they can to keep Joe Daniher and Orazio Fantasia,” Montagna said.
“They are part of this next group which can challenge for a flag in a couple of years.
“We know they have got the nucleus still with a lot of those players in the right age bracket, particularly in the midfield and a bit across half forward.”
MORE AFL NEWS:
Terry Wallace reveals the most emotional moment of his 42 years involved in football