Are we mortgaging our future to entice suspended players back?

Football Discussion Trade week Duursma head in
1

The news that Colyer has resigned for 3 more years is both positive and, to me, a bit of a warning sign.
Great he has resigned, a show of confidence in the direction of the club and commitment to his mates.
It is also a sign of confidence in him from the club to sign him to end of 2019.
Someone of his calibre, and don’t get me wrong I think he is a good player tho not great, would normally be on a 2 year deal, and the three year deal says, to me, that club under pressure to give longer deals than they otherwise would.
Presumably all the other suspended players will also be able to extract overly generous deals which may leave us up s…t creek in 3-4 years.

Yes we want all of those boys back, for morale as much as anything, but I also question if we will have room for them come end of the year, both in terms of list and salary cap options. And how much is the morale boost of everyone coming back worth to the club, long term, esp as we are essentially creating a whole new team this year?

How hard do we go for Bellie to come back, now Loui is performing (his injury prone nature notwithstanding) better than Bellie did? Can we afford two number 1 rucks?
Howlett must be borderline and Stanton may warrant one year, if he wants to continue, and both of these guys may not be in our best 25-28 at the end of this year.
Our midfield is holding its own so far this year, if they stay fit, and Parrish gets through, they are gonna be hard to dislodge.
Both Hurley and Hooker, while I’d love them both back, can demand long, high end contracts that may come back to bite us in 2019, 2020, 2021, a la the Mark Mercuri 5 year deal that killed us circa 2000. Heppel ditto. We only have to look at Buddy’s depression that may still make a mockery of his contract and screw the Swans for years.
Jobe may only want year by year if he comes back, reckon that ought to be his choice given his role over last 3 years.

Tough questions for list management team.

Thoughts?

2

Colyer deserves 3 years, and as for the rest of the thread, it’s a bit early to speculate Ralphy.

3

No.

4

We have one decent ruckman (who is only one injury away from retirement), why would we not want Belly back?

5
The news that Colyer has resigned for 3 more years is both positive and, to me, a bit of a warning sign. Great he has resigned, a show of confidence in the direction of the club and commitment to his mates. It is also a sign of confidence in him from the club to sign him to end of 2019. Someone of his calibre, and don't get me wrong I think he is a good player tho not great, would normally be on a 2 year deal, and the three year deal says, to me, that club under pressure to give longer deals than they otherwise would. Presumably all the other suspended players will also be able to extract overly generous deals which may leave us up s..t creek in 3-4 years.

Yes we want all of those boys back, for morale as much as anything, but I also question if we will have room for them come end of the year, both in terms of list and salary cap options. And how much is the morale boost of everyone coming back worth to the club, long term, esp as we are essentially creating a whole new team this year?

How hard do we go for Bellie to come back, now Loui is performing (his injury prone nature notwithstanding) better than Bellie did? Can we afford two number 1 rucks?
Howlett must be borderline and Stanton may warrant one year, if he wants to continue, and both of these guys may not be in our best 25-28 at the end of this year.
Our midfield is holding its own so far this year, if they stay fit, and Parrish gets through, they are gonna be hard to dislodge.
Both Hurley and Hooker, while I’d love them both back, can demand long, high end contracts that may come back to bite us in 2019, 2020, 2021, a la the Mark Mercuri 5 year deal that killed us circa 2000. Heppel ditto. We only have to look at Buddy’s depression that may still make a mockery of his contract and screw the Swans for years.
Jobe may only want year by year if he comes back, reckon that ought to be his choice given his role over last 3 years.

Tough questions for list management team.

Thoughts?

I hope he didn’t resign. We are really going to need him next year breaking lines with the likes of Raz and Tippa

6

You can’t have enough good players on your list.

7

Would imagine Dodoro would have all this under control. I dont think either of the signings so far would have broken the bank.

8
We have one decent ruckman (who is only one injury away from retirement), why would we not want Belly back?

Sure, but Bellie has not been great the last two years, injured, poor form etc. Not saying he should go, but posing question - tough business, footy.

9

There is a legitimate question to ponder somewhere on this subject.

Not sure you nailed it though

10

I don’t have your answers but it’s not an insurmountable problem. Players come and go every year, players get delisted or go on to the rookie list. There would have to be harsh calls on fringe players to keep the numbers right, but there will be plenty of room for talented younger guys. If the salary cap become a problem we may have to trade out someone who wants more cash, but this may give us a draft pick that can be used on a kid who gets paid less. It will be a big job for Dodoro and his team, but it’s a problem they’d be happy to have IMHO. The future’s looking good.

11

No doubt the most common discussion amongst Essendon fans has been on the 12 players missing due to the CAS finding and obviously our hearts are with the other 22 guys either at other clubs, coaching or retired. There are many views on should all 12 comeback, would that be good for list management, salary cap and future success?…and who is important to retain and who is ok to get possible draft picks or open up spots for new draftees.? I haven’t commented too much on this as my personal view is everyone has a right to their opinion and most are coming from a place where they would love club success. I do want to state where I stand and why and I hope it comes across well. First of all I believe the salary cap is an ok spot to retain the 12 but we are clarifying more each day around AFL rules on compensation and cap.

I personally want though EVERY ONE OF THE 12 BACK wearing the Red Sash in 2017. This is not so much a list management decision for me but my club that I have followed for 35 years showing the spirit and character I think is required at this point of time to honour these 12 men. Common sense says every player has a choice and not all 12 coming back is guaranteed but I LOVE that the club is hell bent to have them all back and that is their priority over anything else. Dodoro said on SEN” There is not one person at the Essendon Football Club who doesn’t want all players(12) back” Best way you can truly move on is have a time to heal, re-gather and then have a common passion as a united group to succeed. From what I hear Worsfold has been instrumental in providing a clear exciting direction for these guys. I don’t think there will ever be a time on day one of a pre-season you will see 45 men with a resilient determination than this group in November 2016.

2017 for me will likely have the strongest playing list at Essendon since 2001 I would suggest. We have genuinely found 5 quality players already this year with the likes of Fantasia, Parish, Tippa. Langford & Leuenberger …not to mention we have Francis and Laverde still to come having injuries. No doubt a big weakness of ours in recent years was guys being able to break the lines with genuine speed so we can’t under estimate how big Tippa, Fantasia and Parish growth is for us….especially with overnight news of Colyer remaining and Zach Merrett becoming a star.

You need a deep midfield of about 10 players rotating through your team like the Hawks have shown so in 2017 our midfield could be Watson, Zaharakis, Myers, Heppell, Z. Merrett, Parish, Laverde, Colyer, Hocking & Fantasia. Now if that doesn’t get you excited not much will. It allows smart older Midfield players to setup in other parts of the ground to help fill gaps like Goddard, Stanton etc. Down back it gets even better, Hibberd, Hurley, Tippa, Gleeson, Baguley and Hartley. This setup allows what I think the club to do a strategic move to boost the forward setup. Francis is a very good forward as well as back and I know before CAS they were thinking of him as a forward…no doubt marking and reading the play is his strength. So now you can setup a forward line of Daniher, Francis, Hooker, Redman. If anything we are probably 1-2 smart small forwards short but hoping Eades can come on to fill one of those spots. We will have a low draft pick next year so will be interesting if they target a trade or kid.

I hope though you can see this list is building far better than I think externally many understand. The key ingredient in all this coming together though is having most of those 12 boys coming back. Talks are going very well as backed up by Dodoro yesterday morning…in fact he said he would be surprised if not all 12 came back . What those boys coming back gives the whole playing group, coaches and staff is a very strong passionate edge to have success and show a few that this club and playing group is proud and no doubt now VERY driven. Part of me wants Sept to hurry up to begin the process but saying that I am having fun watching our kids take the game on and improving week by week.

In what was said in media to be a miserable year for EFC, I can see information from club on 12, Colyer, Hocking signing already and our kids taking the next step to be far from that. There is a storm brewing folks

12

No. If they want back, they’re back, we owe them that at the bare minimum & if we want them back, & theey’re being wooed, we go hammer & tong to ensure they are.

It’s not even a question. … end thread.

13

No.

We are moulding our future by offering each of the 12 an additional year on their current contracts.

14

All clubs have to mortgage their future in an attempt to obtain success.
I personally think having a fit Luey will make TBC pull his finger out or he’ll see out his contract in the 2’s

15
You can't have enough good players on your list.

agreed, but his royal hotness tho?

16
You can't have enough good players on your list.

/ Thread

17
You can't have enough good hot players on your list.

18

Its a point that would obviously be discussed internally at length, I think in this case it’s a positive having Worsfold at the helm on these decisions. I think it very positive for both Hocking and Colyer to re-sign, so far so good. If we give Tayte or Benny 3 years that’s a different kettle.

One area to ponder is the midfield. Provided we actually form a competitive and more dynamic midfield b/w Parish, Zaaharakis, Z.Merrett, Langford, Fantasia, Bird, Cooney do we really want all of Hocking, Howlett, Watson, Myers, Stanton and Heppell or would we be better off taking a pick for say Myers or Howlett. It’s obviously difficult to take the emotion out of it and no doubt the club owes the players but purley based on a list management decision it’s not cut and dry.

And of course the very emotional debate of Hooker vs pick 2-4. I’m not suggesting we take the pick, to be honest I’m not sure which outcome I’d prefer. However it’s a real debate. What is going to be better for the club in pursuing the next premiership, pros and cons on both.

Belly needs to be retained or upgraded, can’t rely on Luey no matter how impressive he has been so far.

19

Agree with CJ. We want them all back. Brings huge amount of drive, passion & talent. They all deserve to be at Essendon if that’s where they want yo be. Sitting back and enjoying the miserable faces on media scum will be a bonus.

20

I’d love it if they all came back. and I agree the morale factor will be massive. Just there are issues.
12 players coming back, plus we have to recruit 3-4 new players I think, that means 15-16 players we have to drop from list - the older top-ups gives us 4-5 maybe, depending how they go this year, age etc, so that leaves us 10 players, mostly young, to cull.
We are in unique situation, with unique challenges re list management, that is really what I am talking about, and they may not be solved by automatically re-signing all 12.
And yes, as CJohns said, we will have a very strong list next year, possibly good enough to win it, with a hawthorn-esque mix of age and some youth.
Personally I am very confident re 2017, after all we have, in effect, an 18 month preseason.