{"id":301970,"date":"2025-11-22T18:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T18:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/301970\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T18:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T18:36:12","slug":"what-was-behind-the-brave-draft-plan-of-the-essendon-bombers-where-they-ended-up-with-sullivan-robey-jacob-farrow-and-dyson-sharp-to-pair-with-zach-merrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/301970\/","title":{"rendered":"What was behind the brave draft plan of the Essendon Bombers, where they ended up with Sullivan Robey, Jacob Farrow and Dyson Sharp to pair with Zach Merrett"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Zach<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Due to injury and other factors, the Dons\u2019 top-10 picks that year \u2013 Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

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\u2019s national draft. Since 2023, they\u2019ve gotten on base more often, and hit a home run in Nate Caddy.<\/p>\n

Of necessity, their strategy in Brad Scott\u2019s time<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Zak Butters, if he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Essendon have to create a base of serious talent before they can land someone of that quality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not happenstance that the Dons\u2019 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\u2019s midfield, headed by Merrett, Darcy Parish and the departed Dylan Shiel, has been one of the AFL\u2019s smaller divisions. Sam \u201cBull\u201d Durham stands out like Gulliver.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s draft haul was planned during 2024.<\/p>\n

The Bombers held their nerve on Merrett, defying the convention that you shouldn\u2019t hold a player against his will.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve held their nerve on preferring to draft, rather than pursuing the likes of Dan Houston. The draft might be compromised, the Bombers haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The upshot is that the resurrection project in Scott\u2019s time hinges on execution of the plan, not the plan itself.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath share a laugh back in April. Merrett could yet cede the captaincy to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-301970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}