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It\u2019s forced Essendon to go back to ground zero after a series of misses with early draft picks this decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s face it, five picks within the top 13 (across multiple drafts); you could say most of them have been busts,\u201d Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result this club that should be surging up the ladder is having to backwards again \u2014 in Brad Scott\u2019s own language \u2014 to try find some A-grade talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the latest edition of Midweek Tackle\u2019s digital-only show \u2018Tackle The Headline\u2019, the Herald Sun team took a trip down memory lane and ran through the 10 costly list calls that led the club down this path.<\/p>\n
A look at Essendon’s list mistakes over the last decade.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
1. TOP FIVE MISS IN 2022<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cThe first of course, is Elijah Tsatas: he\u2019s not playing football, and he\u2019s not a great kick. George Wardlaw was a pick before him where other clubs had free agency and father-son picks. Some wanted (Mattaes) Phillipou on that list, there were some that would suggest others in the list management team were very keen on Tsatas.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look that draft. Lewis Hayes has had some injuries at Pick 25. He might be a good player, but he\u2019s not there yet all these years on. Then, Alwyn Davey Jnr (Pick 45) and Jayden Davey (54). It\u2019s not just you miss your top five pick, but you effectively maybe take one adequate player out of that draft.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. 2020 \u2018NOT QUITE THE ASTERISK DRAFT\u2019, BUT…<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cThe 2020 draft isn\u2019t quite the asterisk draft, but it is a situation where they really didn\u2019t get to look at some of the kids (with Covid). But, when you\u2019ve got Pick No. 8, you want to nail it. Nik Cox started of reasonably well, and I think people thought: \u2018This kid\u2019s going to make it, he\u2019s going to be a very good pick\u2019. He just didn\u2019t quite get it, his body let him down \u2014 he had concussion issues as well, so that\u2019s a bit of concern.<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cThe issue with him as well, was what kind of player was he going to be? Was he going to be a centre-half forward, or a star midfielder?\u201d<\/p>\n
Garry asks Daicos about Tassie interest | 02:42<\/p>\n
3. TAKING ARCHIE PERKINS AT PICK 9<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cAt Pick No. 9, has played lots of football, but none of it elite; he\u2019s not a robust enough player. What you might say, is if they were going to have three picks in a very, very lightly-raced draft through a Covid year \u2014 maybe the decision should\u2019ve been to push one of them back into the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
4. … THEN REID AT PICK 10<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cFooty clubs do live for the moment, they want the trifecta in that sense. Zach Reid obviously at Pick No. 10 hasn\u2019t quite worked out. His battle with his body has been the issue that\u2019s held him back. Build-wise, you wish he was stronger … that trifecta of three selections just hasn\u2019t worked. That can set up a footy club forever, and unfortunately, it hasn\u2019t. He\u2019s still got time to turn it around, and I think that\u2019s the important bit as well.<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cWe\u2019re five years in. He had eight great games last year, got a nice contract and then has unfortunately has had a really tough couple of weeks, because there\u2019s zero pressure up the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daicos addresses shock Tassie trip | 01:07<\/p>\n
5. HOBBS HEADS \u2018WIPE OUT\u2019 2021 DRAFT<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cA lot of good player after him in the 2021 National Draft: Darcy Wilmot (Pick) 16, Kai Lohmann 20, Connor Macdonald 26, Mitch Owens 33, Jake Soligo 36, Marcus Windhager 47. Nas Wanganeen-Milera went two picks ahead of (Hobbs), in a draft which the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood picked Sam Darcy and Nick Daicos. Essendon\u2019s next picks were Alastair Lord at 46 and Garrett McDonagh at 50. Officially a wipe out of a draft only five years back. That should be the nucleus of your success, they should be turning 23 and having played 100 and flourishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
6. LETTING MASSIMO GO<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cHow the hell did they let Massimo D\u2019Ambrosio go? That\u2019s the one I still look at now and think that couldn\u2019t happen. He\u2019s an elite user of the ball, he\u2019s fitted in perfectly to the Hawthorn system, he\u2019s played finals and played good footy. He would be ideal for the Essendon Football Club. They had him, they couldn\u2019t keep him, they didn\u2019t offer him enough. For the Hawks, it\u2019s be an absolute bonus, and the Bombers have lost our again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cHe played well in early season games, he got dropped, he got brought back as a sub or a half-forward … he\u2019s exactly what they needed in terms of exquisite skill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daicos Pies B&F drama REVEALED | 03:50<\/p>\n
7. AND PATRICK VOSS<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cSometimes you need a hard man, sometimes you even need a fake hard man. Maybe he\u2019s the latter, I\u2019m not sure! But you need someone who\u2019s prepared to stand up. Sometimes you need a distraction, you need a melee, whatever it might be, you need to stop the clock when you\u2019re getting absolutely smashed \u2014 that\u2019s what Patrick Voss was. He won the VFL goalkicking in his last season, he got delisted. I think he knows he has some quirks in his personality, but he was a s tough as a mallee bull, he could run all day, he wasn\u2019t a great over head mark, but he was an aggressive forward. Right now they have Peter Wright \u2014 and it\u2019s harsh because he\u2019s won a best and fairest \u2014 but his form early in the season is the opposite of an aggressive forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
8. DRAPER WALKING<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cWent from being a player wow as going to commit long term, to not after that, a player that wanted out. They desperate need a player (like him), they\u2019re trying to patch up the ruck position at the moment … it\u2019s been a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cThey like Lachie Blakiston but he\u2019s been jumped over at times, it\u2019s going to be a long year for him. More to the point with Draper, he\u2019s someone who brings the team together … I totally understand the Essendon point of view, that not many players of his age who have had Achilles injuries get better after that. But right now, would you like Sam Draper running out for you against North Melbourne and Tristan Xerri? I would.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lauren Wood says: \u201cI caught up with Harris Andrews at AFL Captain\u2019s Day. He talked about, after the Lachie Neale saga in Brisbane over the summer, it was Sam Draper who got everyone onto the tennis court, had the barbecue, rallied the troops. Harris was really struck by this, by this guy who\u2019s new to the club. He was the one who brought them together. So you can only imagine what it would\u2019ve been like to have him there bringing this scenario together post Merrett.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greene defends Voss’ taunting fine | 02:26<\/p>\n
9. KEEPING MERRETT?<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cI thought they did the right thing standing their ground six months ago. I understand now Hawthorn is upset. I\u2019m going top say, if you kept him, you had to play good enough football to build on it. They haven\u2019t done that. But I can\u2019t now come back and say it was a disgrace they kept him, because I think a lot of people felt they did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
10. TAKING MCGRATH AT PICK 1<\/p>\n
Glenn McFarlane says: \u201cRobert Shaw said earlier in the year that Andy McGrath as captain would take the team up on his back. He hasn\u2019t done that, and he\u2019s a very good player. But is he Hugh McCluggage? Again, that\u2019s draft reshaping, but gee Hugh McCluggage would look alright. And Essendon chose McGrath but absolutely loved McCluggage in that draft year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jon Ralph says: \u201cAnd Tim Taranto is probably the Richmond captain next year. All of those things in isolation you can pick apart. Maybe if you had a better midfield and a better defensive methodology, Andy McGrath is a really good player. We all understand they\u2019re interconnected. But when you look at all of them, it\u2019s a litany and tale of woe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How did Essendon get here? The Bombers have come under intense scrutiny this week after consecutive heavy losses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[277398,65070,106612,64,63,689,277405,696,651,73697,218845,139257,277402,11231,232375,1127,10145,14414,28450,40742,277404,12138,12160,681,15631,15651,277397,277399,120528,68973,233523,677,12156,12174,277403,701,65198,277401,139265,12105,11244,11395,85,74466,9022,19086,277400,698,25581,29649],"class_list":["post-562921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-addresses-shock","tag-alwyn-davey","tag-andy-mcgrath","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-body-let","tag-brad-scott","tag-brisbane","tag-club-sitting","tag-connor-macdonald","tag-draft-misses","tag-draper-walking","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-footy-clubs","tag-fox-footy","tag-garry-lyon","tag-george-wardlaw","tag-glenn-mcfarlane","tag-harris-andrews","tag-head-mark","tag-hugh-mccluggage","tag-jake-soligo","tag-jon-ralph","tag-lauren-wood","tag-list-management-team","tag-list-mistakes","tag-mallee-bull","tag-memory-lane","tag-mitch-owens","tag-nik-cox","tag-oceania","tag-patrick-voss","tag-peter-wright","tag-player-wow","tag-queensland","tag-right-thing","tag-robert-shaw","tag-ruck-position","tag-sam-darcy","tag-sam-draper","tag-season-games","tag-sports","tag-tennis-court","tag-tim-taranto","tag-toby-greene","tag-trade-blunders","tag-western-bulldogs","tag-zach-merrett","tag-zach-reid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562921","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=562921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}