Snide remarks aside how is it not disastrous to lose almost a whole year from a player whose development this year directly impacts on our ability to assess the quality of our midfield and list generally?
Yes, the coaches, bless them, decided that Laverde ought to play forward but that was before our midfield was the worst at winning contested ball in the competition.
There is a lot of uncertainty about our ruck stocks, a key defender, the half back line and the midfield. That we don't have one of our most talented players available makes it that little bit harder to assess our list.
I'm not sure how many midfield positions you believe are available at Essendon but I'm pretty sure the team selection meetings wouldn't be as straightforward as you believe!
We have the returning players that are mostly an unknown quality due to what happened last year and also have to be treated sensitively because they are mostly very experienced players that have been great servants of the club. Would you just throw them on the scrapheap?
Then we have some great prospects from recent drafts that are given increased responsibility in midfield but also others that are playing new roles (Merrett and Parish are good examples) within the midfield to develop their games further for the benefit of the team going forward.
And then their are others like Langford that have been sent back to VFL to get increased midfield time rather than stay at AFL level and play as a half forward that rotates through midfield.
The fact that we are struggling to give all the players on our list experience in their ideal positions suggests to me that we are starting to see a deeper list that just requires more time fr development.
I personally believe under difficult circumstances the coaching panel are managing team selection very well. They are giving opportunities to the experienced players to find form and if they don't they have found themselves back in the VFL like Stanton has! Stewart has had to earn his selection the hard way with a sustained run of form in the VFL and I would expect his reward will be a sustained run in the seniors to prove himself!
When Laverde comes back I hope their is an opportunity to have a sustained run in the midfield at VFL level to get some fitness up, but also to give him valuable experience. He's still young and has plenty of time to develop and the competition for spots is hot despite what the results indicate each week!