Im very excited about the young talent on our list and have full confidence in them, but I’m as hungry for success as any fan that you’ve encountered and i’m a man in a rush.
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I’m not in a rush, if it takes 4,5 or 6 years to do it properly then I’m all for it.
The absolute worst thing we can do is win a few games next year and finish mid table for the club to then go the top up route again and the circle never ends. We need at least 2 more years of high end draft picks and then look at FA’s
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yeh our talent is ok, then you look at the competition
Will Ashcroft pick 2 should have been 1
Levi Ashcroft pick 5
Morris as good as caddy
Fletcher pick 12
Annable pick 2-5
even if we say
Ashcroft miles better than Tsatas currently
Levi younger and better than roberts
Fletcher better than Clarke
Annable another gun mid - day similar to Sharp/Robey/Greevers whoever we pick.
they are missing a gun junior small forward like Kako.
but pretty much have us covered in youth as well as mature and experienced players.
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You guys sound like Sam Mitchell.
Some of the young talent we have will leave if there is a whiff of tanking for a spoon.
what is good is taking in lots of young talent that has probably crossed paths in junior footy to build something. Which we are doing with 2 perhaps 3 or even 4 top 10 picks this year and we will probably miss finals next year for another top 10 selection.
The clubs at the top haven’t bottomed out for a spoon for over a decade and won’t for another 10.
We just need to build the footy program to compete with them. Then it will start happening.
Blakiston is 27 – if he’s not able to give Bryan support now he’s never going to.
We’ve also got 2MP who can pinch-hit and Viggo as the developing kid.
I’d much rather back that mix than tie up close to a million a year and hand over draft capital for Darcy when there are far bigger list gaps to address.
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You may be right. Not sure what the Academy/bidding rules were back then, but he was part of their Academy. He was pick 61, maybe no-one bid on him.
Interestingly, their other Academy player was Liam Dawson, pick 44. From Aspley, same club as Harris Andrews.
Darcy won’t be a problem and instead be of benefit if Freo subsidise his salary.
I think he is an excellent move given the circumstances.
As long as they cut the list elsewhere to bring in young talent it will be fine.
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Caddy will ask for a trade in 2 years if we tank for spoons
Carlton had 3 spoons in a row didn’t mount to anything
Yes, and Brisbane also finished bottom 4 every year from 2014-2018 (inclusive).
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I’m thinking we take all his salary and get a draft pick off Fremantle. Then package that pick up for something else.
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Freos 2026 first would you do it?
Yeah, I’d do the same for JUH and not even expect him to get a game. One thing we have a heap of is salary cap, let’s use it to our advantage.
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Essendon will have no need to tank for a low finish in 2026.
Just look at the playing list FFS.
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And this is the key point.
If we strike it lucky, this crop of young kids might get us competing in finals…… but it’s simply nowhere near enough to build a Premiership team around.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t promising kids….. but we need more and better talent, to compete against 20 years of poor culture and elite rival clubs.
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The beauty for us we can take all of his salary and still have plenty of cap space to play with
We could end up like gorf!
We hit the draft this year and in 2026.
2024,2025,2026 that gives us 3 years of going to the draft then in 2027 we can start going for quality FA
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I agree.
I want us to strive to finish eight and play in interstate elimination finals.
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No one is saying to lose deliberately, tanking isn’t a thing, making decisions for the long term over the short is what we should be doing. Big 2 years at the draft coming up, have as many top 30 selections as possible.
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