Rival thwarts Dons\u2019 handout bid; coach\u2019s \u2018paranoid\u2019 fears over training changes<\/a><\/p>\nHe also shared his latest intel on fledgling midfielder Elijah Tsatas and out-of-favour forward Jade Gresham, who both don\u2019t have 2027 deals as of yet. <\/p>\n
\u201cTsatas is out of contract; he was out of favour with Brad Scott as well \u2026 I would imagine there would be a home for Tsatas if he had a look, but I\u2019m not sure Essendon is going to get much back for him,\u201d said Morris. <\/p>\n
\u201cGresham has a games-based trigger clause that he hasn\u2019t hit yet \u2026 he\u2019s been out of favour a little bit at Essendon as well, so he\u2019s one to watch at the end of the season – I\u2019m not sure whether there\u2019ll be a home for him next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Updates on several potential departures come as emerging Suns key forward Walter remains linked with Essendon in trade scuttlebutt. <\/p>\n
The 21-year-old Palm Beach Currumbin product has yet to sign a new deal at Carrara as key forward teammate Ben King ponders his future. <\/p>\n
The 40-gamer has interest from multiple Victorian clubs, including Essendon, says Morris, in a tantalising hypothetical tandem with Nate Caddy. <\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t heard Geelong and Jed Walter for a while; I think that\u2019s more Collingwood and Essendon and those sorts of clubs,\u201d Morris said. <\/p>\n
\u201cGold Coast have offered Walter a five-year extension worth around $4.5 million in total – and I think everyone is just waiting on Ben King and what he does, including Walter himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tsatas facing the axe from Essendon? | 06:58<\/p>\n
BOMBERS \u2018REGISTER INTEREST\u2019 IN FORGOTTEN CAT<\/p>\n
Essendon is said to have a new rival target, with the Bombers reportedly among the clubs \u201cinterested\u201d in out-of-favour Geelong veteran Jack Bowes, whose contract is expiring. <\/p>\n
After featuring 43 times over the past two seasons, the 28-year-old has played just eight senior games this year, with five in the reserves as Chris Scott opts for others. <\/p>\n
Now, four years after arriving in Geelong as part of a salary-dump deal with Gold Coast, Bowes could be on the move again, per AFL Media\u2019s Josh Gabelich. <\/p>\n
\u201cJack Bowes could be a three-club player come the end of the season,\u201d he reported on Gettable. <\/p>\n
\u201cYet to receive an offer from the Cats for next year and beyond \u2026 clubs are having a look at him right now, including Essendon – they (have) registered interest. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe is certainly one to watch \u2026 he clearly wants to play senior footy, and he may have to look elsewhere by the end of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowes, who played one AFL game between Rounds 9 and 15, has averaged 18.0 disposals and 3.8 marks this year. He was omitted ahead of Geelong\u2019s Thursday night blockbuster against Brisbane. <\/p>\n
The versatile half-backer is not a free agent this year, meaning the Bombers would either have to wait to see if the Cats delist him, or fork over a later pick in a small-scale trade.<\/p>\n
Then-coach Brad Scott met with Bowes in the 2022 trade period, with ex-Sun picking Geelong over Essendon at the time.<\/p>\n
Hawks in danger of losing key forward? | 03:59<\/p>\n
DOGS TAKE STANCE AMID CROW PURSUIT<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs are chasing a \u201cmarked upgrade\u201d in key defence, as their pursuit of Adelaide free agent Jordon Butts intensifies. <\/p>\n
It comes as Midweek Tackle\u2019s Jon Ralph said on Tackle the Headline on Wednesday<\/a>: \u201cI think the jungle drums are beating stronger that Butts will probably find himself at the Western Bulldogs.\u201d<\/p>\nSpeaking to AFL Media, Dogs list boss Michael Regan said any pursuit of a defender wouldn\u2019t just be for the sake of it. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are at a point where if we\u2019re going to pursue a key defender, it needs to be a marked upgrade on what we have,\u201d Regan said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we want to get better \u2026 we\u2019re going to pursue anyone that we think is a marked upgrade, but we\u2019re also going to back in our youth. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe still actually think there\u2019s pretty good upside in our group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regan cited the development of Jedd Busslinger and Buku Khamis, though Khamis reportedly once again has the interest of Carlton – and this time around, he\u2019s an unrestricted free agent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updates on five Bombers have come to light as list calls beckon, while, on the other hand, they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-772027","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-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772027","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=772027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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