Review Essendon List Review

[Yoda_]

OK people, have been a little sceptical to post this, but feel now is the right time to do so.

We have been crap all year and we all never imagined the losses of Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas, Adam Mcphee and Andrew Lovett, whilst our rookies had a case of FIGJAM (F*** I'm Good Just Ask Me - According to Whomb) and had to be moved on.

The players brought in this year were a bit of a mixed bunch really. The acquisition of the highly rated Jake Melksham and the livewire Travis Colyer were looking to the future for the Essendon Football Club, the inclusion of Jake Carlisle seems like a really inspired choice and as cover for the injury prone Scott Gumbleton and un fit Jay Neagle. The last player we added seems to be more of a historical choice with the Long family name continuing the tradition at Essendon. In the Pre Season draft we stupidly over looked the draftee of the year in Michael Barlow for the high flying utility from the West in Kyle Hardingham.

The rookies are where the mixing comes in. Taite Silverlock (# 14) seems like a really good choice. The tough in and under player from West Adelaide had carved himself as a permanent midfielder in the rise of the Bendigo Bombers this season. Our next rookie pick, Ben Howlett is another mature aged pick up. The 21 year old Peel Thunder B&F winner has played 12 of the 19 games this year to put his hand up as one of the recruits of the year. The last three players Essendon recruited in the rookie draft were all speculative and some even say "to bolster the Bendigo list". Stuart Crameri, Marcus Marigliani and the injury prone John Williams have all had good periods at Bendigo this year but do not see a future for them at Essendon. All mature aged pick ups (admittedly Williams is only 20 and already been on our list for 2 years) who should have been given a chance in the senior side, but for one reason or another been over looked.

Now to the defence.

This is one area that I feel we have under control. Well the key position posts any ways. Michael Hurley has taken control of his own destiny in the past few weeks since he has moved back to his customary role in defence, rather than the trial of him playing in attack. Cale Hooker, the pick # 54 in the 2007 draft has been one Essendon's most improved players this year. He has done some super jobs including his job on St.Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt in the round 18 win. Add to these two is the injured Tayte Pears who has shown he is going to be a gem of a player in years to come once he grows and matures more, gets games under his belt and plays with the other two for years.

The small running/lock down players is where Essendon are really lacking. Mark Mcveigh has shown he is probably our most reliable small defender this year after coming back from injury. Him and Henry Slattery are both solid defenders, but are they going to take us to premiership success? In the wings we have young Tyson Slattery who showed in his one game he is not overawed by the big league. After Tyson, we do not have anyone else that is able to play that lock down defender role, one area we really need to look at.

The running backs is another area of great concern for Essendon. 'The Dempsey Project' has simply not worked. He is a front runner and does not want to work hard enough getting back to do what he needs to do first, DEFEND! Stanton to half back has been a master stroke from Matthew Knights, and I am one of a few who is currently eating humble pie. He is a good decision maker coming out of defence but feel his gut running could be used to a better advantage on a wing, rather than just a half back flank. Other players to have rotated through here at various times thus year including Hocking, Myers, Atkinson, Riemers and even Welsh have played here. None of these guys are going to be world beaters, nor do I even think they are going to be good enough to take us to a premiership. Some do need to be kept for depth, but some tough calls on these guys have to be made for us to move forward.

MIDFIELD

One area that we need to greatly improve for us to remotely be more competitive in 2011. Apart from our inspirational leader Jobe Watson, do we have any A graders in our team? I don't think so. We have a very good group of depth players but do not posses a midfield that is going to be a premiership threat. The inclusion of Howlett, who in the past month has been sensational has added another strong body player to our midfield. The young midfield group we currently have are all small, skinny or simply not up to it. One player I think has been a better player after some added responsibility is Sam Lonergan, however, is he a best 22 player? or simply a depth/bench player?

It is the right time to start making some tough decisions on guys like Ricky Dyson, David Myers, Leroy Jetta, Nathan Lovett-Murray and even Jason Winderlich. If we are able to improve our draft position with the trading of some of these guys, then we need should do it.

FORWARDS: This is one area of real conern to myself. Who would of thought the retirements of Scott Lucas and Matthew Lloyd would have such a damming effect on our team? Scott Gumbleton has shown some really good signs for a relative 'first year' player, whilst Jay Neagle straightens us up more than alot of people realise. He (Neagle) may not get alot of it, but he does average 2 goals a game. Give him a better midfield and we could maybe even get that up to 2.5/3 goals a game. Some real questions also need to be answered about the forwards: Is Kyle Hardingham better suited to defence or as a forward? why is Zaharakis playing forward when he has kicked 19.18 this year and looks better suited to playing midfield? Why is Mark Williams being traded for when Monfries was always playing a similar role? I think we need to add a class third tall forward as Monfries is too hot and cold, whilst Mark Williams is injured and I could see him retiring before his contract is up.

TOUGH CALLS:

People on here like to look at the 'protected species' at the Essendon Football Club. Players like David Myers and Courtenay Dempsey seem to be 'Gods' around here, yet fail to deliver when given a go in the senior side.

Come the end of the year, I feel we really need to turn the list over as we have too many 'pretenders' at Essendon and not enough defenders.

Some tough calls need to be made on Leroy Jetta, David Myers, Jarrod Atkinson, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Bachar Houli, Michael Quinn, Marcus Marigliani, Stuart Crameri and John Williams.

I would:

Delist: Jarrod Atkinson, Stuart Crameri, Marcus Marigliani, Jason Laycock, John Williams

Trade: Leroy Jetta, David Myers, Bachar Houli.

This would leave us with 5 spots on the senior list with one of these taken by Ben Howlett (rookie elevation), whilst Mark Mcveigh would be moved onto the veterans list and counter the rookie elevation of Howlett, leaving us with 4 National Draft picks.

DRAFTING:

In the draft we would have (currently sit 12th), picks 12, 31, 48 & (actually unsure) 65.

Pick 12: I would like to see us draft a really classy midfielder. One that is able to play both inside or out. Brodie Smith fits the bill. The South Australian captain, a 188cm 87kg midfielder from Woodville West Torrens has been playing senior football this year, mostly out of defence but took his game up a gear when the championships came around. ..His coach Brenton Phillips went on to say that Smith may have won the Larke Medal for the best player in division one had he not missed round 1 due to a corked thigh.

On the other hand, another player I rate highly is young Stingray captain Luke Parker, who has had an outstanding year for Dandenong. He had a quiet championships but is certainly a proven performer. Parker is described as someone who can leap and mark however his ambitions sometimes exceed his expectations. His Stingrays Coach Rob Hyde says "he does some outstanding work in traffic.. he has a lot of development ahead". So certainly another player who would be a great acquisition for the Essendon Football Club.

Pick 31: Best available. I would like to think that the Bombers can go best availble here.

Pick 48: Ruckmen. Could be a mature aged ruckmen or even a rookie ruckmen. I would like to see a ruckmen added here.

Pick 65: Possibly a mature aged player. Like the look of young Michael Stockdale from Casey Scorpions. A tough hard small defender who had a very good game for the VFL state side in this years state game. I would love to see him at Essendon this time next year.

Rookie Picks: David Meli - Our international Rookie is due to be recruited this year. We will surely give him a go, and will let him have his time serving an apprenticeship at Bendigo in coming years.

Rookie Pick # 2: James Webster - NSW Scholarship kid who has been ok without being outstanding at struggling GWS (TAC Cup side). His attack on the ball is good whilst his skills do let him down at times, he is very good in close. Would love to see him given a chance at Essendon.

Rookie Pick # 3: Best available. Any unidentified talent out there, get it. If we do last to this long, this is what we should do..


Now for the scathing attacks:

Scott Camporeale; We need to improve our midfield and sadly 'Campo' has not helped us to improve in this area despite having been in charge for three years now.

Adrian Dodoro; Is your time up Adrian? Has really been a bit better in recent years, but would like to see him get some winners earlier in the draft rather than living off 'late pick gems' like Cale Hooker.

Gary O Donnell; Is GoD time up? Has been at Essendon for a number of years now and feel that he may have given us all he can give. Would like to see someone else given his role.


Time for some reviews..

 

[yaco55]

A comprehensive review HFF.

Definitely agree that we need to be bold and make more than the minumum 3 list changes.

Would trade Prismall/M.Williams - Another bold move.

Would like one of Crameri/Marigliani be elevated to the senior list for the last three rounds.

It is imperative that Silverlock is tied up - We dont want a Mumford situation.

Will provide a more comprehensive review later.

 

[The Dustbin]

Tough calls don't need to be made on Crameri and muscles as they are not on the senior list.

Remember we weren't the only club to overlook Barlow in the draft, and Hardingham has shown more then enough to suggest he has a future.

I'd delist/trade Jetta, Laycock, Atkinson and Welsh (won't happen).

Spot on with the reviews of the coaching panel.

Finally, good to see Lonergan and Zaka finally playing as midfielders. Lonergan is critical when Watson is off the ground.

 

[oddsok]

Haven't had a chance to read yet but what strikes me is that you've started a list review thread when you insisted on merging all delisting/trade/list management related threads into one.

Does not compute.

 

[edstar10]

would love cam o'shea at pick 31 if he is still available, he is quick and tall and can complement watson in the middle, i rate him as a top 10 pick but he has been injured, i dont think we can go wrong with our first pick, and one pick should be used for a ruckman.

 

[The Donners]

We desperately need a small defender, Slattery doesn't cut it, Dempsey isn't a defender's arseh*le and I'd like to see him on the wing or up forward in a move ala Jamie Bennell and I'd say by this time next year McVeigh will be finished.

 

[Crimsons]

Trade: Leroy Jetta, David Myers, Bachar Houli.

What are you hoping to get from trading them ? Personally I don't think they will have much trade value. They won't get us a decent player or a decent draft pick.

Some tough calls need to be made on Leroy Jetta, David Myers, Jarrod Atkinson, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Bachar Houli, Michael Quinn, Marcus Marigliani, Stuart Crameri and John Williams.

Most of the players listed above aren't really tough calls. For me tough calls would be Darcy Daniher, Ricky Dyson, Dustin Fletcher, Sam Lonergan, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mark McVeigh, Henry Slattery, Andrew Welsh, Mark Williams, Heath Hocking

Some maybe contracted, but I would consider delisting some of them instead of Jetta, Myers & Houli. Most of the players in the above group aren't going to get any better, and most likely won't be around when we are a competitive side.

 

[Yoda_]

Haven't had a chance to read yet but what strikes me is that you've started a list review thread when you insisted on merging all delisting/trade/list management related threads into one.

Does not compute.

The Essendon Mods have spoken about this and told me off, but have left threads open that continue to attract interest.

After a while the thread is then merged

 

[Yoda_]

We desperately need a small defender, Slattery doesn't cut it, Dempsey isn't a defender's arseh*le and I'd like to see him on the wing or up forward in a move ala Jamie Bennell and I'd say by this time next year McVeigh will be finished.

Mcveigh finished

There is a small defender by the name of Michael Stockdale playing at Casey this year. A 20 year old with pace to burn and has good skills to match. Was drafted late into the VFL state squad and played a crucial part in repelling constant WAFL attacks.

I think he would be a super pick up as maybe a mature aged recruit, although he is only 20

 

[Yoda_]

Most of the players listed above aren't really tough calls. For me tough calls would be Darcy Daniher, Ricky Dyson, Dustin Fletcher, Sam Lonergan, Nathan Lovett-Murray, Mark McVeigh, Henry Slattery, Andrew Welsh, Mark Williams, Heath Hocking

Some maybe contracted, but I would consider delisting some of them instead of Jetta, Myers & Houli. Most of the players in the above group aren't going to get any better, and most likely won't be around when we are a competitive side.

Some tough calls need to be made on some of these so called 'gun' players to be..

Would you get more for a young player who 'has more upside', or a 'washed up old hack'?

 

[Crimsons]

Clearly 'potential' doesn't always transfer into productivity. However, consdering the current state of the list, I would rather continue to develop the Myers, Houli, Jetta, etc. then persist with Welsh, Dyson, Lonergan, Nathan Lovett-Murray etc.

 

[JD11]

I think some of your calls are a little bit short sighted. I think if we are going to trade Leroy then why not wait until GWS come in? Sheedy would want him back you would think. Myers would be worth sweet FA on the trade table but has actually shown a lot more this year than in the past I would say he is worth having on the list. Bachar is an interesting one. His last few games of the year might tell a story. I think he could now become critically important to our awful midfield.
The player I'd be looking at more to get rid of would be the likes of: Atko, Lonergan, NLM, Laycock, Dyson and even retiring Welsh. I think in those 5 we would be removing much less talent than ditching Houli, Jetta and Myers.

 

[Yoda_]

OK

Truth be told, we need to do kinda what Fremantle did and clean out like 10 - 12 players in the next couple of years..

Only down side is, a couple of things, GWS and GC tearing apart the drafts in the next two years..

 

[kelvin_sheedy]

Our list was in reasonable shape with Lovett and McPhee. We lost both for zero.

All we needed is another quality mid and another quality utility. Now that we've lost them we have to basically find 4 quality players.

We need to get lucky and have either David Myers come from the clouds and become a good player or trade in a bonafide mid.

Here's what we need to do:

Trade Prismall - he still has some currency.
Trade M. Williams - too expensive and we have younger options who need game time.
Welsh - tell him his contract next year is his last and he'll have to do something magical to get another one. Could be trade value to Sheeds GWS.

Put NLM, Dyson, Lonergan on the trade table and see what we can get. They might survive if we get rid of the first 3. We still need some experience around, season is long, injuries and they can be good players in a better side.

Defensive personal - I'm not too worried. You could have the AA side playing for us and they'll still cop 100 points regularly with our game plan. We need to find a post McVeigh lock down defender. Slattery should be able to do the job in a reasonable side.

Dempsey will prosper when the team stops leaking like a sieve. I reckon we could go into games next year with a back six of Fletcher, Hurley, Hooker, Pears, McVeigh, Dempsey.

 

[Yoda_]

Our list was in reasonable shape with Lovett and McPhee. We lost both for zero.

All we needed is another quality mid and another quality utility. Now that we've lost them we have to basically find 4 quality players.

We need to get lucky and have either David Myers come from the clouds and become a good player or trade in a bonafide mid.

Here's what we need to do:

Trade Prismall - he still has some currency.
Trade M. Williams - too expensive and we have younger options who need game time.
Welsh - tell him his contract next year is his last and he'll have to do something magical to get another one. Could be trade value to Sheeds GWS.

Put NLM, Dyson, Lonergan on the trade table and see what we can get. They might survive if we get rid of the first 3. We still need some experience around, season is long, injuries and they can be good players in a better side.

Defensive personal - I'm not too worried. You could have the AA side playing for us and they'll still cop 100 points regularly with our game plan. We need to find a post McVeigh lock down defender. Slattery should be able to do the job in a reasonable side.

Dempsey will prosper when the team stops leaking like a sieve. I reckon we could go into games next year with a back six of Fletcher, Hurley, Hooker, Pears, McVeigh, Dempsey.

Good write up Kelvin_Sheedy

Really think that we need to do a melbourne and play these young guys ahead of these older guys who are slowing us down..

 

[Kong]

Agree with everything kelvin's written, the only exception being I'd rather Dempsey up the field.

 

[Phone]

Atkinson, Jarrod - 2010
Bellchambers, Tom - 2011 (not confirmed)
Carlisle, Jake - 2011
Colyer, Travis - 2011
Daniher, Darcy - 2011 (not confirmed)
Davey, Alwyn - 2010
Dempsey, Courtenay - 2012
Dyson, Ricky - 2011
Fletcher, Dustin - 2010 (veteran)
Gumbleton, Scott - 2010
Hardingham, Kyle - 2011
Hille, David - 2012 - re-signed 5/4
Hocking, Heath - 2011
Hooker, Cale - 2011
Houli, Bachar - 2010
Hurley, Michael - 2012 - re-signed 5/3
Jetta, Leroy - 2010
Laycock, Jason - 2010
Lonergan, Sam - 2010
Long, Anthony - 2011
Lovett-Murray, Nathan - 2011
Melksham, Jake - 2011
McVeigh, Mark - 2010
Monfries, Angus - 2012 - re-signed 7/15
Myers, David - 2010
Neagle, Jay - 2011
Pears, Tayte - 2011
Prismall, Brent - 2011
Reimers, Kyle - 2010
Ryder, Patrick - 2012
Slattery, Henry - 2010
Slattery, Tyson - 2010
Stanton, Brent - 2010
Still, Michael - 2010
Watson, Jobe - 2013 - re-signed 5/11
Welsh, Andrew - 2011
Williams, Mark - 2012
Winderlich, Jason - 2011
Zaharakis, David - 2012


Obvious things

Delist Atkinson, Laycock. Do our best to trade Prismall. promote howlett.

then wait until we find out who we lose to the GC before deciding other things. think about putting still on the rookie list. offer reimers, myers, houil up for trade bait.

 

[Yoda_]

Atkinson, Jarrod - 2010
Bellchambers, Tom - 2011 (not confirmed)
Carlisle, Jake - 2011
Colyer, Travis - 2011
Daniher, Darcy - 2011 (not confirmed)
Davey, Alwyn - 2010
Dempsey, Courtenay - 2012
Dyson, Ricky - 2011
Fletcher, Dustin - 2010 (veteran)
Gumbleton, Scott - 2010
Hardingham, Kyle - 2011
Hille, David - 2012 - re-signed 5/4
Hocking, Heath - 2011
Hooker, Cale - 2011
Houli, Bachar - 2010
Hurley, Michael - 2012 - re-signed 5/3
Jetta, Leroy - 2010
Laycock, Jason - 2010
Lonergan, Sam - 2010
Long, Anthony - 2011
Lovett-Murray, Nathan - 2011
Melksham, Jake - 2011
McVeigh, Mark - 2010
Monfries, Angus - 2012 - re-signed 7/15
Myers, David - 2010
Neagle, Jay - 2011
Pears, Tayte - 2011
Prismall, Brent - 2011
Reimers, Kyle - 2010
Ryder, Patrick - 2012
Slattery, Henry - 2010
Slattery, Tyson - 2010
Stanton, Brent - 2010
Still, Michael - 2010
Watson, Jobe - 2013 - re-signed 5/11
Welsh, Andrew - 2011
Williams, Mark - 2012
Winderlich, Jason - 2011
Zaharakis, David - 2012


Obvious things

Delist Atkinson, Laycock. Do our best to trade Prismall. promote howlett.

then wait until we find out who we lose to the GC before deciding other things. think about putting still on the rookie list. offer reimers, myers, houil up for trade bait.

Phone

keeping Laycock?

 

[Burzum]

What?

 

[BomberTime]

To put Michael still on the rookie list means we have to delist him and then take him in the rookie draft doesnt it?? So any club can take him before we do? Like Richmond did with polak last year.

 

[Yoda_]

To put Michael still on the rookie list means we have to delist him and then take him in the rookie draft doesnt it?? So any club can take him before we do? Like Richmond did with polak last year.

Yeah, which means he will be on the senior list IMO.

 

[Ben the Gooner]

They're considering making it possible to move players directly to the rookie list. Not sure when that'd be implemented.

 

[DaSawx]

Agree with everything kelvin's written, the only exception being I'd rather Dempsey up the field.

So do I, except a couple of little things.

a) Wouldn't trade Lonergan, like him as a depth player and wouldn't have a whole lot of value

b) Would love for T.Slattery to unseat Hooker from the back 6 in the future. Agree Dempsey will be ok when they're al playing together for a while.

Tough decisions need to be made on Welsh and Lovett-Murray, up and down players who have no chance of being part of our next premiership push.

 

[Nuts4Bolts]

I've had a few today so go easy on me, but did I read in today's paper that the Eagles were contemplating giving up their first pick for Daniel Wells? I know that you should take anything written in the papers with a grain of salt, especially with the Herald Bum and then especially with the Sunday Herald Bum, but if that story was close to the mark would either Jetta or Davey plus Riemers be in the mix? To get it across the line maybe even throw in our second round pick.

I might add that i've no idea on what the draft quality is and whether a No. 4 pick this year would get a gun mid with the Gold Coast concessions.

 

[sup3rfish]

of those that are out of contract at end of year those that should not be offered new contract and in turn 'traded in' IMO are-

Atkinson... Jetta.... Laycock.... Lonergan.... Henry Slattery...

where does Quinn fall in our list? and when can we get rid of him?!

Should look at trying to get someone like Wells or Aaron Davey to help Watson out.... add to that a medium lock down defender who can use the ball well like Sam Gilbert or Goddard not that many more of those players are out there.... also need a 'defensive forward' seems to be the key word atm.... someone who can tag.... we get hurt when Welsh isnt out there....