{"id":769984,"date":"2026-06-30T13:47:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/769984\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:47:16","slug":"essendon-step-up-bid-for-afl-draft-assistance-as-coaching-panel-snub-gets-called-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/769984\/","title":{"rendered":"Essendon step up bid for AFL draft assistance as coaching panel snub gets called out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Essendon<\/a> have stepped up their bid for draft assistance from the AFL<\/a>, putting together a \u201cmeaningful and compelling\u201d case. <\/p>\n

Channel 7\u2019s Caroline Wilson has revealed the Bombers are pleading their case, and quietly confident despite being told by the league that many of their problems were of their own making.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are they looking for a new coach, but in the last week the Essendon president (Andrew Welsh), list boss (Matt Rosa) and CEO (Tim Roberts) have been in to see AFL bosses Greg Swann and Tom Harley and their teams and put forward their case for special assistance,\u201d Wilson told 7NEWS. <\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is the AFL\u2019s response to date was non-committal.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wilson said she believed that the AFL powerbrokers pointed out to the Essendon bigwigs that the club had not made the most of some of their early draft picks in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cA similar point was made to West Coast when West Coast put forward a similar bid last year,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

However, West Coast ultimately received assistance last year, setting a precedent that could work in Essendon\u2019s favour. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo my prediction is that Essendon could receive an end-of-first round draft pick as an extra next year, along with a couple of extra rookie spots,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

West Coast\u2019s special assistance package in 2025 included an end-of-first-round draft pick and additional rookie list spots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do need help,\u201d Wilson said of the Bombers.<\/p>\n

\u201c(They) put forward a fairly meaningful and compelling bid, looked at their results over the last few years, looked at their results over the longer term, and I think Essendon (are) bordering on confident that they will receive an end-of-first round pick and maybe some rookie spots as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Wilson said it was \u201cfascinating\u201d that the Bombers were doing this before appointing a new coach.<\/p>\n

Last week the club unveiled the selection panel for the coach. It consisted of Welsh, Anthony Di Pietro (vice president), Ted Richards (former player and chair of football governance committee), Roberts, and Caroline Monzon (people and culture manager).<\/p>\n

But AFL great Luke Hodge noticed a glaring omission and that was Bombers champion Jobe Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a part of the Melbourne (coaching panel that selected Steven King),\u201d Hodge said on Channel 7\u2019s The Agenda Setters.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he\u2019s seen what they did, who impressed him … (James) Kelly impressed him there. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just surprised they haven\u2019t put him (on the panel) considering the whole thing with Essendon is that it has been about wanting Essendon people who understand Essendon culture to help get them back to where they want to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then they\u2019ve left off Jobe Watson … I know he had a Brownlow taken off him (after the supplements scandal) but he was captain of the football club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stream The Agenda Setters live or watch anytime on-demand at 7plus<\/a><\/p>\n

Wilson said that maybe Watson would be conflicted when interviewing candidate James Hird, given that Hird was coaching during the scandal that led to Watson\u2019s suspension for doping.<\/p>\n

But Hodge said everyone was conflicted at Essendon, with Welsh and Richards former teammates of Hird\u2019s. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve all had a relationship with James … he\u2019s a hero of that football club,\u201d Hodge said.<\/p>\n

Kane Cornes said Watson would have knowledge of Hird and the way he coached which might be an \u201cadvantage\u201d when interviewing the candidates.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Race for Lachie Neale takes stunning twist with new club in mix<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Melbourne put draft bounty on trade table: \u2018That\u2019s an option\u2019<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essendon have stepped up their bid for draft assistance from the AFL, putting together a \u201cmeaningful and compelling\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,11231,1625,3863,588,85],"class_list":["post-769984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-essendon-bombers","tag-lifestyle","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769984","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=769984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}