I actually really like Monty, I think he has neat foot skills to go with great dukes and a good read on play.
Could be a Heppell replacement if this is his last go round.
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Agree on Monty - think heās a keeper.
Now we have Hunter I think this will certainly put pressure on Stewart and possibly even Jonesā¦
Stewart 33 games in the last 4 years (including this year 0), and Jones only 31ā¦
Jones has more upside - sure - but will his body stand up to the rigors of AFLā¦??
He still has some currency and is out of contract so might get shopped aroundā¦
Both the Stewart & Jones situation will be fairly dependent on how Hunter & Voss go in the reserves from hereon - all will be much clearer towards the end of the yearā¦
I agree with your assessment on Stewart and Lord. Itās hard to see Tippa going forward unless he makes a total effort to lose more weight and improve his fitness levels. Phillips could be in his last season depending on what Bryan does. Totally disagree on Hind and Snelling as they are still of value to us. You also mention Montgomerie, why would you want to delist him? Heās playing solid backline for our VFL and could develop into an excellent AFL player. On Hepp, the decision may be up to him, especially if he maintains good form and probably has one more good year in him.
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@Ants The issue with picking the 200cm skinny players wasnt picking them per se, but having so many picked in close proximity, ie Reid + Cox in 1 draft + year after Jones.
It adds a lot of adjustments to programs for strength and conditioning coaching, and means need to focus more in this area for these guys.
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Itās not about me disliking any of those guys Kialla. Montgomerie has definitely been solid coming in as that mature age 3rd tall cover in the VFL. I didnāt say I want to delist him but I also donāt think itās that far fetched to suggest a mature age recruit, yet to get a game when there were vacancies a month or so back, will be on the borderline and spoken about as a candidate in these conversations by the list management team towards the end of the year. Factors such as if there was a shock retirement from a Jake Kelly or if Hepp does indeed get asked to retire, Redman and Massās future would all have some influence one way or the other but I donāt reckon heās as safe as you might think.
Hind and Snelling, yes are AFL standard depth players, no disagreements.
But this is the entire pointā¦ Our list spots are incredibly tight, especially if both Redman and Parish were to stay. And as such there are going to be guys who come out of contract at the wrong time. And for some decisions it will be a call about whether you give a younger uncontacted guy another year or two to allow him to continue to develop (guys like Baldwin, DāAmbrosio, Bryan, Voss etc) or do you move them on and continue with the Hinds, Phillips, Snellings etc. I think the club will err towards backing in those younger guys to come on.
I encourage you to actually go through the current state of our list and line that up against the contracts in place and also factor in the rookie list Vs primary list. From your comments above, you are basically only comfortable moving on Lord, Stewart, Tippa, Phillips. Iām not sure that is going to be enough Kialla. We will be looking to continue to refresh and improve the list and we are probably going to want to take 3-4 draft picks (ND, RD or SSP) and maybe bring in 2-3 guys via FA or trade.
I made a concession with Stewart but you canāt be paying multiple contracted guys out.
P.S. Apparently Nick Hind is contracted until 2024 so he might well be safe. Trade candidate perhapsā¦ gonna be tough!
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Our views are not too far apart and it will have to be a tough call as to who gets delisted as we probably have to lose 5 off our list as a minimum. It maybe easy to pick 4 to go but then it gets tough. The reason I wouldnāt consider letting Montgomerie go is that he is only 22 and itās his first year in our system. Saddly, I see that Tippa might have to āretireā again unless he can get his fitness up to date. A month ago I would have had Heppell on the āto goā list but heās turned it around. These difficulties in making list decisions, hopefully, reflects that we have a healthy, developing list capable of taking us to finals success.
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The only thing I would argue with that is that the plans are longer in 5-7, itās just very hard have anything less than that.
Iāve broken down our list at the halfway point of the 2023 season and given players a rating (highly subjective of course). Overall we are in pretty good shape - sit 8th on the ladder, get key players back over coming weeks and should play finals this year. A few players can obviously play multiple positions, but Iāve just allocated them to one role for simplicity;-
Key backs:
Ridley : A
Zerk: B+
Lav: B
Baldwin: C
Reid: C-
Hayes: C-
Stewart: D-
McBride: D-
Medium defenders:
Redman: A
Kelly: B
Monty: C+
Small defenders:
McGrath: A
Hind: C
Massimo: C-
Lord: D
Inside mids:
Parish: A
Stringer: B+ (medium forward)
Setterfield: B+
Caldwell: B
Hobbs: B-
Tsatas: C
Outside mids/Wings:
Merrett: A
Martin: A-
Shiel: B-
Durham: C+
Heppell: C
Cox: C-
Key forwards:
2MP: A
Weideman: B
Jones: C
Voss: C-
Hunter: C-
Medium forwards:
Stringer: B+ (inside mid)
Langford: B+
Perkins: B-
Munkara: D-
Small forwards:
Guelfi: B-
Menzie: B-
Snelling: C
Davey X 2: C
Wanga: D
Tippa: D
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Great post, thank you.
It highlights for me that we have very few A class forwards. There is a spot for Nick Watson in my opinion despite the number of small forwards on the list.
I look at the medium defenders and reckon we could use a Dodoro half back flanker.
Very surprised Parish is not on the inside midfielder list. Very.
Iād like to see the Davey boys split, because I have a lot of tickets riding on J Davey being the greatest small forward ever seen. Iād put Alwyn on the outside mids list.
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is A the highest or A+?
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agree Parish should be an inside mid - have edited 
Stewart forward or back?
Itās a trick question. Correct answer is neither, he never plays.
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ESSENDON
Elite players 2023: Jake Stringer (general forward), Kyle Langford (general forward), Mason Redman (general defender), Nic Martin (wing).
Elite players 2022: Zach Merrett (midfielder).
Above average players 2023: Andrew McGrath (general defender), Archie Perkins (general forward), Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (key defender), Darcy Parish (midfielder), Dylan Shiel (midfielder), Jordan Ridley (general defender), Jye Caldwell (mid-forward), Zach Merrett (midfielder).
See Essendonās number of elite-rated players fly up, up under new coach Brad Scott this season.
The Bombers had one elite-rated player ā Zach Merrett in 2022 ā but now boast four, which puts them equal-third in the competition.
Match-winner Jake Stringer, Kyle Langford, Mason Redman and Nic Martin have all earned an elite-rating so far in season 2023, but Merrett has slipped to above average.
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You can add 2MP in that list if he wasnāt injured.
Not such a ā ā ā ā list after all
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How is Merrett not elite?
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Clangford is elite but Merrett isnāt? Herald-Sun hilarityā¦
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Still not a fan?
Not sure how Merrett isnāt elite tbh, is it relative to others that play the same position?
Ohhhā¦ thatās clever!
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Heād drop the c if he just kick into the man on the mark so oftenā¦
Any chance you could stop with this sh*t ?
Heās one of our best contributors this year, and almost certainly responsible for the W in Rd.2 !!!
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