{"id":901737,"date":"2026-09-22T21:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T21:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901737\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T21:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T21:28:19","slug":"essendon-offered-small-list-lifeline-by-afl-after-poor-run-of-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901737\/","title":{"rendered":"Essendon offered small list lifeline by AFL after poor run of form"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL has thrown Essendon a minor lifeline after two of the most brutal seasons in club history.<\/p>\n

Essendon finished at the bottom of the ladder this year and has won just two of its past 36 matches.<\/p>\n

The Bombers applied for an assistance package but were granted just two additional rookie spots on their list in 2027.<\/p>\n

Previous assistance packages for struggling clubs have included first or second round picks.<\/p>\n

AFL general manager Greg Swann said the assistance aimed to improve the balance of the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that we strive to maintain a competitively balanced competition so that fans feel their team can win on any given day,\u201d Swann said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been working with Essendon to identify areas where targeted assistance can support its on-field improvement to return to being competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe addition of two Rookie List positions will provide Essendon with greater flexibility to invest in additional talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bombers have pick No.1 of the national draft and will likely have another first-round pick if Zach Merrett departs to Hawthorn in the trade period.<\/p>\n

Mark McVeigh spoke passionately when he was unveiled as Essendon coach last month, admitting the Bombers needed to show improvement to win back the fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what they need to see is improvement and they need to see who I am as a person, what I am about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019, a no-ego coach. I think for me, we have wonderful people in front of us, the club has embraced my family (and) they have embraced me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the position on the ladder doesn\u2019t suggest it should be the happiest place, but it\u2019s pretty amazing what they\u2019ve got here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gives me great confidence and it should give our supporters great confidence. I know what they want to see, we\u2019ll go to work on what that looks like.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to surround our players with the best staff we possibly can and we\u2019ll go to work on that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to be coached hard and coached well. I hope in the next few weeks, months, that the supporters who perhaps are not aligned with us now see great change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Essendon offered small list lifeline by AFL after poor run of form<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL has thrown Essendon a minor lifeline after two of the most brutal seasons in club history.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[470182,470176,470174,470165,381856,470170,638,470178,470172,470183,189442,64,63,55,639,470177,13665,3028,470168,1635,470164,13148,5588,470184,437912,410772,6854,62479,470169,470162,470173,470158,67651,114666,470175,9051,378592,43961,410787,404134,401446,470166,470179,470163,85,315358,64706,470180,389617,379302,436236,391726,470161,387914,387923,382205,380422,404000,470157,378764,470159,470167,405505,380979,390923,470160,470181,452772,414654,364611,470171,470156,25581],"class_list":["post-901737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-2027-previous-assistance-packages","tag-a-competitively-balanced-competition","tag-a-minor-lifeline","tag-a-no-ego-coach","tag-a-person","tag-additional-talent","tag-afl","tag-an-assistance-package","tag-another-first-round-pick","tag-any-given-day","tag-areas","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-battling-bombers","tag-club-history","tag-essendon","tag-essendon-coach","tag-fans","tag-first-or-second-round-picks-afl-general-manager-greg-swann","tag-form","tag-front","tag-great-change","tag-great-confidence","tag-greater-flexibility","tag-hawthorn","tag-improvement","tag-its-on-field-improvement","tag-its-past-36-matches-the-bombers","tag-just-two","tag-just-two-additional-rookie-spots","tag-last-month","tag-list-assistance","tag-minor-lifeline","tag-months","tag-my-family","tag-newswire-sport","tag-no-1","tag-our-players","tag-our-supporters","tag-poor-run","tag-previous-packages","tag-small-list-lifeline","tag-sports","tag-struggling-clubs","tag-swann","tag-targeted-assistance","tag-the-addition","tag-the-afl","tag-the-assistance","tag-the-balance","tag-the-best-staff","tag-the-bombers","tag-the-bottom","tag-the-club","tag-the-competition","tag-the-fans","tag-the-happiest-place","tag-the-ladder","tag-the-most-brutal-seasons","tag-the-national-draft","tag-the-next-few-weeks","tag-the-position","tag-the-same-weight","tag-the-supporters","tag-the-trade-period-mark-mcveigh","tag-their-list","tag-their-team","tag-this-year","tag-two-rookie-list-positions","tag-wonderful-people","tag-zach-merrett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901737","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=901737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}