Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath share a laugh back in April. Merrett could yet cede the captaincy to McGrath before next season.Credit: AFL Photos
Due to injury and other factors, the Dons’ top-10 picks that year – Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid – have been unable to perform at the level the club needed. Reid, it must be said, is an excellent tall defender when he sets foot on the field.
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Having forsaken Ben Hobbs from the 2021 first round, and with Elijah Tsatas (pick No.5, 2022) as yet unable to cement a spot, the Bombers cannot afford to strike out in this year’s national draft. Since 2023, they’ve gotten on base more often, and hit a home run in Nate Caddy.
Of necessity, their strategy in Brad Scott’s time has been to hold on to their high picks, take the long road and try to build a list to the level that will make them attractive to free agents and seasoned A-graders from 2026 onwards. The acquisitions of free agents Ben McKay, Jade Gresham and Todd Goldstein and Xavier Duursma in 2023 was the exception, and they did not cost any draft capital.
Zak Butters, if he’s leaving Port for a contender, is long odds to choose Essendon over, say, Geelong and the Bulldogs – even though he could easily get from Tullamarine to Bacchus Marsh.
Essendon have to create a base of serious talent before they can land someone of that quality.
It’s not happenstance that the Dons’ first three picks of Sullivan Robey (192 centimetres), Jacob Farrow (187) and Sharp (188 and a beast) have size. Sharp, judging by the scouting reports, also redresses another Essendon deficit: leadership. Essendon’s midfield, headed by Merrett, Darcy Parish and the departed Dylan Shiel, has been one of the AFL’s smaller divisions. Sam “Bull” Durham stands out like Gulliver.
A crucial difference between 2020 and 2025: unlike 2020, when the Dons were blindsided by the exits of Daniher and Saad and forced to scramble trades, this year’s draft haul was planned during 2024.
The Bombers held their nerve on Merrett, defying the convention that you shouldn’t hold a player against his will.
They’ve held their nerve on preferring to draft, rather than pursuing the likes of Dan Houston. The draft might be compromised, the Bombers haven’t.
The upshot is that the resurrection project in Scott’s time hinges on execution of the plan, not the plan itself.
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