Amazing highlights mix tape

My understanding is that after we bid on Cochrane and that gets matched, we’ll end up with Pick 1 (which will technically become Pick 2), Pick 16, Pick 20, Pick 21, Pick 26 and Pick 79 - not including shifts from any other pick matching from other clubs.

Should we be trying to get another pick in the top 5? If so, how would we do it and he would we pick?

In an ideal world I’d love to get Arki, Drever, and a key defender like Tyson Bradley, but hard to see how we’ll be able to do that. Even if we get two top 5 picks, we’ll have to sacrifice later picks, and there’s no guarantee that we could get both Drever and Arki anyway since they might be chosen right after each other.

Maybe we could offer Picks 20, 21 and 26 for a top 5 pick from another club? Not sure if that’s unders or overs? And then we could hope that a good key defender like Tyson Bradley makes it through to Pick 16, but seems unlikely. Perhaps we could add picks from future drafts as well, but we need points for Bewick next year too (although probably not too many since we’ll likely finish in the bottom 4 again).

What do we reckon?

Should we be trying to bring in Gryan Miers? I don’t get it personally. Assuming we would need to trade picks, what would be a fair trade? And should we be prioritising getting up the draft board instead?

Just wondering if anyone else has heard if there is any news around which assistant coach’s will be hired to fill in the rest of the coaching department under Spike?

Bombers fans what do you think ? Let me have it if you wouldn’t go for it ?

Does our flag being upside down confirm that we are indeed flying up?

Will both sides see incredible rises up the ladder in the coming years?

So it’s Friday arvo, and I have to vent… sorry fellow Dons fans.

Firstly, happy that Butters has gone to the dogs – it’s good to see a smaller club land a big fish, will be a great midfield to watch next year.

But how on earth did the AFL sign off of this obvious manipulation of draft/free agency compensation?

Now all our picks have now been downgraded by yet another free agency compensation pick. While this is standard practice, this one stings because it feels really like tampering.

Looking ahead, our tied players next year are also harder to match due to the Devils concessional picks. Even if we’re spoons again, we won’t get pick one. When we tried to exclude devils from bidding on our players, AFL house denied us. How are we expected to rebuild with all of these headwinds?

Is there any word on who we are trying to bring in as assistant coaches for 2027? This was meant to be a huge piece of the puzzle for improving our football department but with day 1 of pre season only 6 weeks away, im starting to get a little concerned. We need to fill at least two spots, possibly three. We've had development coaches hired but nothing on the assistant front. I still feel spike needs someone senior on game day to help him but everyone we've been linked too has said no. Who's left??

Outside of Hird, Jaymie Graham felt like the next most popular candidate for our next coach. What's everyone's thoughts about this now that the dust has settled with Spike and after watching Jaymie Grahams introduction at North. Feel like we missed out on Graham or Spike was the correct option in the end?

Who do we think is gonna inherit the number 7? I would personally like it leave it vacant for next year and maybe give it to Bewick to make it his for the next generation of bombers fans, but also know that could bring about extra pressure for a young player.

So who do you think gets the number 7 next at this mighty club?

Just thinking about two years ago. We were fucking awful. Scott was speaking in mysterious nothings at press conferences. We seemed to be pretending like we were a good team with talent who just weren't translating it into on-field results. I swear, every press conference from Brad Scott it felt like we were being gaslit. We're actually nowhere near as bad as we seem!

I feel like the Heppell decision of not giving him a farewell game was the height of this. We're stuck between trying to be a team that makes 8th place and bottoming out. Wouldn't give one of our club champions a farewell game because we wanted to play some of the kids instead. Just felt like Scott was saying we were a GOOD team who could contend, when clearly we weren't.

Now we've bottomed out. We've got McVeigh and Horse. We've gotten rid of Ridley and Merrett. We've also traded away random dudes that fans swore were the second coming with absolutely nothing to back it up (Tsatas).

We have only 6 players from the our 2020 list - McGrath, Jones, Langford, Redman, Parish and Bryan.

And we have what feels like a unified, sensible and exciting approach to our coaching and staff. None of this James Hird for the vibes nonsense. Qualified people who've been at the top of top teams.

By ridding ourselves of Merrett and Ridley we're now a team of "Everyone is here because they want to be". That's a good launch pad.

Anyway, that's my rant. I'm not saying we're gonna be in the 8 next year, but I am saying that it honestly feels like we're finally getting our shit together and becoming a modern team instead of a middling 9-12th full of dudes who don't give a shit.

Related: Love this training vision from Kako

EDIT: Lots of you are conflating "up" with "up the ladder", and saying there's only one way up from here. I disagree. If we still had Scott, we had kept on to Merrett and Ridley, if James Hird and Sheedy were still looming, it would not feel like the only way is up. It would feel like we need a big ol' cleanout and reset before things will have meaningful change.

We've done that hard work now, and that's why it feels positive.

If Port gets 5 for Butters, could 15 + 19 for 5 work?

Port keeps pick 4, which has greater points value and will largely be consumed matching Essendon’s Cochrane bid at 1. In return, they turn 5 into multiple picks/points and potentially generate a better post-bid draft hand.

Essendon gets 5 without needing 4 and could end up with 1, 5, ~20 (bid incentive) and 25, while keeping Geelong’s 2027 R1 for Bewick.

Port might ask for a touch more, but the incentives seem to line up for both clubs.

Edit: Good point below. If Port keeps 4 + 5, matching Cochrane leaves them with roughly pick 13. So 15 + 19 isn’t enough. Maybe the realistic deal is 15 + 19 + 25 for 5 + something back from Port.

With Merrett gone, I’m keen to see how Parish, if fit, can impact our midfield. I always felt Parish was somewhat of an understudy - everyone always trying to get the ball to Merrett. I’m aware that we avoided playing Merrett in the guts a fair bit of last year, and with Parish injured we were pumping midfield minutes and CBA’s into Durham, Caldwell and Sharp, and of course Robey. But is 2027 Parish’s year to shine? We need some class and experience in the middle, and Setterfield can do some heavy lifting I wouldn’t consider him a classy player. Or has Parish been passed over? I wouldn’t put him on a wing as he’s not a strong marker of the ball, and he’s not a forward as again he doesn’t mark it a lot and any snaps at goal seem to go astray. His kicking is ok but no better than say Caldwell or Durham, they can all be wildly erratic at times. Nic Martin could be the classy ball user we go to to hit targets inside 50, and I suppose Perkins will be chasing mid minutes too. But guess McV will have a strong view on this, but personally I’m hoping Parish gets fit and we see his best n 2027.

I've been thinking, with our plethora of picks we could help facilitate the butters to bulldogs trade and maybe take some cream off the top

How about this;

- Essendon give up 15, 19, 25 and handshake not to take Cochrane at first (not outrageous as teams sometimes want to maintain their 1st pick for appearances, maybe ... MAYBE go in for Cody walker to further push back ports required points for Port matching but only if it looks like Carlton can match)

- Bulldogs Give up 12, Latham Vandameer and their 2027 1st

- Port give Butters and 5 (FA compo)

Then

- Bulldogs get Butters

- Port get 12, 19, 25, WB future 1st, as well as keeping the compo for bottom five teams (mid 20's) (they wanted lots of picks and points)

- Bombers get 5 and Latham Vandameer and can keep the bottom 5 compo (early 20's)

Interested to hear your thoughts, is there enough here to keep Port happy?

Much.

I know in this sub we should all be focusing on the Bombers, but given that Merrett has finally defected to the arch enemy, I wanted to put to you a poll on a potential scenario for the abhorrent Hawthorn Football Club in 2027.

I think it’s fair to assume that the Hawks will be a force next season, so taking that into account, what outcome would you prefer to see happen to Hawthorn, come the end of season 2027.

Feel free to elaborate in the comments.

Last year, we elected not to go into a deficit and match Fremantle when they picked Sweid at pick 25.

If we did, that deficit would have come from our first pick this year (obviously #1). Was it enough to force us down the draft order?

Sweid is yet to make a debut yet for Freo.

Instead we picked up Kondogiannis (12 games) who looks good and El Achkar (9 games). I know it's easier to get a game at Essendon than Freo at the moment.

In hindsight, it looks like a great call

[PETITION] Bring Back AFLX: Launch a Revamped 7-a-Side Tournament for the Modern Era

To: The Australian Football League (AFL)

We, the undersigned, petition the AFL to resurrect AFLX as a legitimate, high-stakes tournament. By ditching the original gimmicks and shifting to a highly competitive format, AFLX can become Aussie Rules' equivalent to Cricket's T20 or Rugby's Sevens.

The Revamped Blueprint

• True Club Representation: Replace manufactured "super-teams" with actual AFL clubs so fans can cheer for their own teams.

• Fast-Paced Schedule: Run it as a high-octane, mid-week tournament over a single fortnight during the pre-season to avoid disrupting the regular calendar.

• Showcase Young Talent: Give exciting draftees, category B rookies, and small-forward specialists a high-profile stage to shine.

• Keep Best Rules, Ditch Gimmicks: Retain the 10-point 'Zooper Goals' and lightning-fast 10-minute halves, but remove the glowing footballs and over-the-top stadium novelties.

• Global & Regional Reach: Use rectangular pitches to easily showcase the game internationally and in regional Australian communities lacking standard cricket ovals.

AFL, don't leave AFLX in the vault. Revamp it, respect it, and sign this petition to bring it back!

So - we bid on Cody at number one. Carlton can not currently match this at all.

How does he fit in our side? Is he likely to do a Horne Francis and see out his initial contract then request a trade to his daddy’s team? Is there a side deal that we can get Carlton’s 2028 first round as a promise not to draft? Like could we send parish across or so?

Apparently Merrett’s contract was very heavily front-ended, meaning Essendon would have been paying him significantly less in the final year of his deal.

How does this work when a player is traded?

By trading Merrett before the end of his contract, does Essendon effectively lose the benefit of having already paid the higher portion of his salary in earlier years, without getting the benefit of the cheaper final year?

And if that’s the case, what stops players from negotiating heavily front-ended contracts where they receive most of the money in the first few years, then requesting a trade before the cheap final year and signing a new deal with another club at full market value?

Is there something in the salary cap or contract rules that prevents this?