I thought anyone wanted to trade Ridley was a halfwit
If we only are trading Ridley for a max return, we are even more fkn cooked than I thought.
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No worries Welshy
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Whoever we recruit, whatever position, they must have elite attributes in two or more of these categories:
- Athleticism (pace, strength/power, aerobic capacity)
- Skill (elite by hand and/or foot)
- Football intelligence
- Leadership/competitiveness/toughness
No more recruiting your Tsatas types who are not elite in any of these categories. No more vanilla plodders on the list.
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I’d say Tstatas has elite hands, but at AFL level is not currently up to standard in aerobic capacity, footskills or defensive intensity.
Let me save the fan boys the trouble… “but what about Parish!!”.
As much as we need to target elite attributes, we equally need to avoid glaring weaknesses in the attributes you’ve listed.
Tsatas is clean, but his first instinct is to immediately handball the ball, rather than assess for better options or take the players on. He often releases the handball to another player under pressure.
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The 3 years is the reason we should take whatever we can get and run. I’d take a late second rounder and pay some of his contract. He’s useless to us. Just another senior player that wants to leave.
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We should target Zorko. His importance to the Lions is underrated externally. He is everything we want McGrath to be as a captain.
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100%. Refers pressure onto others. He rarely puts anyone into space or in a better position.
I amended my post to say you need 2 or more elite attributes from those 4 categories. The only time I would consider only one elite attribute is if you were some kind of freak athlete that OK maybe don’t have great skills or got football IQ but the athletic gifts are too good to ignore. Aside from that, if you had good skills but had zero athletic capability, or were tough/brave but butchered the footy constantly, no thanks.
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You take what you can get for Ridley and Parish.
Under no circumstances should they be allowed back at the club in 2027
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You must be athletic these days. Whether that is fast or just be able to run you opponent into the ground. You can’t just be a clearance player, because you get burnt too much in the other direction.
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When you watch Willem Duursma do his thing yesterday and go head-to-head v Bont, he is the exact sort of midfield player and athletic profile we need. Robey is awesome and already probably our best centre square player, but he doesn’t have the engine or the pace that Duursma has. We badly need that inside-outside player to go with Robey and Sharp. We will have Pick 1 or Pick 2 (3 or 4 after Walker/Cochrane bids), but we must try our hardest to trade up and get a 2nd Pick in that top bracket this year before Tassie own the 2027 Draft.
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I think 17 other teams would love Duursma. He will be a star.
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We tried to trade up for Duursma last year fwiw. Eagles said no.
That’s why you’d try to get Zane
The funniest one was when we trying to make a move on Zac Bailey. I could not stop laughing and trying to figure out who was running the show
No player mid career will wish to join us unless we offer huge dollars. We’re too far away from being competitive. We go the draft and develop a culture that encourages talent to stay. Long long road.
Other teams need to simply rebuild a list. We need to rebuild a club.
Essendon enter race for Melbourne midfielder Tom Sparrow
After missing out on Jed Walter, Essendon has turned their attention to another trade target in a bid to fast-track their midfield rebuild.
Jay ClarkChief football writer
3 min read
July 13, 2026 - 6:13PM
AFL: Catch this full segment from Midweek Tackle as Ralphy gives his take on Zach Merrett’s trade value if he were to go to Hawthorn.
Essendon wants boom Melbourne hard nut Tom Sparrow to fast-track its midfield rebuild and reverse the club’s mature-age talent drain.
The Bombers have entered the race for the unrestricted free agent who will weigh-up minimum five-year deals from at least three clubs at season’s end.
Essendon has targeted the hard ball winner to help cover the loss of superstar playmaker Zach Merrett, while the Power is also keen on him to replace superstar onballer Zak Butters.
But Sparrow, 26, could yet remain at Melbourne where he has enjoyed a career-best season after rising up the charts to become the 41st-ranked player in the game according to Champion Data.
Essendon are keen on Tom Sparrow. Picture: Getty Images
The Bombers are continuing the hunt for established talent while they search for a new coach from a pool of candidates including champion ballwinner and former captain and coach James Hird.
Essendon wants a new coach in position before the season ends to help spearhead the club’s list decisions at the trade period and draft.
Interviews with prospective candidates, including Hird, are expected to begin as soon as this week.
Sparrow is expected to attract offers north of $800,000 a season, but the Bombers’ deal may need to approach $1 million in their current predicament to tempt him out of the finals-bound Demons.
The South Australian polled another six AFL Coaches’ Association votes in Sunday’s win over Richmond at the MCG and has averaged career-highs in possessions (22), contested possessions (9.2), score involvements (5.6) and clearances (5.4) in 2026.
The 183cm tough nut is first at Melbourne for pressure acts, equal second for centre clearances and ground balls, third for total clearances and contested possessions across 17 games this season.
Sparrow is enjoying a breakout season. Picture: Michael Klein
Melbourne coach Steven King said he was desperate for Sparrow to stay, but understood it could be a financial decision.
“I know he’s playing his heart out for us every week, I know how valued he is at our club and how much he means to us,” King said.
“He’s super important to us and I’d love him to stay … I’m just glad he’s proving to the footy world how valuable he is as a player.
Essendon fell to a crushing 90-point loss to Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday night, leaving the red and black at one of the club’s lowest ebbs over the past two decades.
It means Essendon faces a significant fight to secure prime mature-age talent due to the club’s on-field decline, having lost all but one of its past 30 games across the past two seasons.
The tailspin follows a series of senior player departures from Tullamarine in recent seasons including Sam Draper (Bris), Patrick Voss (Fre) Jake Stringer and Jayden Laverde (GWS), and Massimo D’Ambrosio (Haw).
Six-time best-and-fairest winner Merrett, gun defender Jordan Ridley and veteran midfielder Darcy Parish are all expected to request trades at season’s end, but only Merrett seems certain to move.
With Zach Merrett set to leave, Essendon are on the hunt for another midfielder. Picture: Getty Images)=
The Bombers’ horrific slide has prompted the club to ask the league for draft assistance at season’s end in the same vein as West Coast (2025), North Melbourne (2023), and Gold Coast (2019).
Geelong coach Chris Scott has been among the biggest critics of assistance packages, labelling the bonus early selections and extra list spots “blatant manipulation” from AFL House.
Essendon currently holds the number one pick, and will receive an extra end-of-first-round choice if it slides outside the top-five due to father-son and academy choices.
Essendon has also been linked to Geelong’s Jack Bowes, who is struggling to clinch a regular spot in the Geelong side and is out of contract at season’s end.
The Bombers also missed out on Gold Coast spearhead Jed Walter – who met with Essendon on the day former coach Brad Scott was sacked – but he re-signed with the Suns this week.
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Big fan of Sparrow.
Seems like pretty crazy money, but ■■■■ it, we have it sitting there.
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