Club Focus Essendon 2023 - Jacques joins the Dons

AFLW club focus.

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Signings so far:
AFLW: player
Open Age: players
NGA: nil
 
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Open Age signing from the forward pocket of @Pie 4 Life’s NAB League Girls Team of the Year 😍
 
Yeah this was a decision made quite a few weeks ago but we had to keep it on the down low. They were going to announce it on the night Western beat Eastern but the Jets (and presumably Caitlin having come this far) wanted her available for the grand final, so they held off.
 
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Yeah this was a decision made quite a few weeks ago but we had to keep it on the down low. They were going to announce it on the night Western beat Eastern but the Jets (and presumably Caitlin having come this far) wanted her available for the grand final, so they held off.
Is there a lot of that sort of thing delaying announcements until other leagues finish?

Also is she not allowed to play once announced?
 
Is there a lot of that sort of thing delaying announcements until other leagues finish?

Also is she not allowed to play once announced?
Depends on the side. Deed was the Hawks first signing, and apparently they were nervous that Essendon might sign her so jumped early, let her play one more NAB League Girls game (moreso because it was like a farewell game being captain and it was against the undefeated Stingrays). Zoe Barbakos didn't play again at junior level after being drafted post her three-goal haul for Metro either. So yeah, Sargent would have been ruled out of the GF. It's a development competition after all, and they've achieved their goal so might as well give their spot to a player who hasn't.
 
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Depends on the side. Deed was the Hawks first signing, and apparently they were nervous that Essendon might sign her so jumped early, let her play one more NAB League Girls game (moreso because it was like a farewell game being captain and it was against the undefeated Stingrays). Zoe Barbakos didn't play again at junior level after being drafted post her three-goal haul for Metro either. So yeah, Sargent would have been ruled out of the GF. It's a development competition after all, and they've achieved their goal so might as well give their spot to a player who hasn't.
That’s fair enough, but kind of sad too in a way. I kind of just assumed they’d play out the year, and be eligible for all the awards and things as usual.

Every year our VFLW team gets poached but they still play to the end of the season (if they want to - Prespakis and a couple of others played in our prelim last year but I think Sarah Ford went to Sydney straight away a few weeks ago).
 
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ESSENDON
U18 academy/zone:
Nil
Open age: Georgia Nanscawen (Essendon VFLW), Caitlin Sargent (Western Jets)
AFLW players (committed, not yet officially signed): Steph Cain (Fremantle), Georgia Gee (Carlton), Maddy Prespakis (Carlton), Bonnie Toogood (Western Bulldogs)

 
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Four more signings for us, all off our VFLW list but three of the four have previous AFLW experience: Danielle Marshall (Western Bulldogs), Joanne Doonan (Carlton), Federica Frew, and Jordan Zanchetta (Brisbane Lions).

Frew is the VFLW leading goal kicker, she's such a talent, kicked eight one week earlier this year. Zanchetta and Nanscawen have worked well together at the coalface, Marshall is a tall defender, (I think both have had injury issues that saw them drop out of AFLW), and Doonan apparently went back to Ireland due to the pandemic, otherwise she'd still be on Carlton's list.
 

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Approved signings are in!

ESSENDON
  • Sophie Alexander (from Collingwood)
  • Stephanie Cain (from Fremantle)
  • Joanne Doonan
  • Federica Frew
  • Georgia Gee (from Carlton)
  • Danielle Marshall
  • Georgia Nanscawen
  • Madison Prespakis (from Carlton)
  • Caitlin Sargent
  • Bonnie Toogood (from the Western Bulldogs)
  • Jordan Zanchetta

So that's everyone signed now, other than Sophie Van De Heuvel who hasn't been announced by the club yet (likely because Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti announced his retirement at the end of last week at around the same time SVDH news came in from other sources so we think the club delayed it so there was clear air).
 
Including Bannister, Phillips and Vogt (which is dubious because I doubt she'd have been getting picked much last season if St Kilda weren't depleted), Essendon are now three-quarters of the way through the hardest and most important part.

12 regulars from other AFLW teams is the no.1 prerequisite for newcomer competitiveness, I say. They need three more to reach that, but one of them really needs to be a big bodied prolific ball winner. Potentially that role can be filled via their first draft pick or pre-listing, but to assume an 18yo can provide that instantly is very risky.

They also haven't wasted a single Tier 1 or 2 spot on a defender yet, which I totally approve of. Get one in that bracket if possible. Otherwise it's been shown repeatedly that, when it comes to the backline, solid state league players don't have much trouble stepping up to AFLW level.
 
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They need three more to reach that, but one of them really needs to be a big bodied prolific ball winner
Oh gawd. We wouldn’t know what that is down at Tullamarine, mens team doesn’t have one either
 
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Jorja Borg, Daria Bannister, Jacqui Vogt, Sophie Van De Heuvel, Cat Phillips done on Day 2

 
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Awesome to see Tierney get a shot. She was great at the Falcons and has a knack for scoring important goals and is a great kick. I haven't seen much Essendon VFLW this year, but she kept popping up in the goalkickers, so not much of a surprise to see her here, but still happy to see it.
 
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Awesome to see Tierney get a shot. She was great at the Falcons and has a knack for scoring important goals and is a great kick. I haven't seen much Essendon VFLW this year, but she kept popping up in the goalkickers, so not much of a surprise to see her here, but still happy to see it.
You should watch more Essendon VFLW. A delight to watch and often high scoring as well. :D

/not biased at all
 
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ESSENDON

B:
Sophie Alexander, Danielle Marshall
HB: Cat Phillips, Ellyse Gamble, Eloise Ashley-Cooper
C: Steph Cain, Jordan Zanchetta, Sophie Van De Heuvel
HF: Georgia Gee, Frederica Frew, Daria Bannister
F: Bonnie Toogood, Jacqui Vogt
Foll: Jorja Borg, Maddy Prespakis, Georgia Nanscawen
Int: Bella Ayre, Renee Tierney, Joanne Doonan, Caitlin Sargent, TBC

Goalkicking options shouldn't be an issue for Essendon, who have recruited several noted scorers. As it stands, the bench is filled with forwards, with the Bombers needing to boost their midfield numbers through the draft. They have a ready-made wing rotation with Cain, Van De Heuvel, Phillips and Gee, while Alexander is likely to play defence given the number of options in attack.

They're missing Barba, Barton and Wuetschner which only just happened but otherwise interesting
 

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