Honestly I think just avoiding back to back wooden spoons would be a win but what are your thoughts?

With the AFL Trade Period now closed, I wanted to give you an update on our men’s program.

When our players return next month, they will walk into a new football department, with new people, a new structure and a new way of working. I’m writing to tell you what that looks like.

Throughout the season, we looked closely at the football structure that gives us the best chance of sustained success. Not just what works today, but what our football department needs to look like in the years ahead. We studied other AFL clubs and leading sporting organisations around the world to get there.

The job of running a football department keeps getting bigger. So, we have split the General Manager of Football role into two senior positions: one responsible for football performance, and one responsible for football operations and list.

We are fortunate to have John Longmire and Craig Vozzo in those roles. John is a premiership coach who built one of the most consistent and successful programs in the competition. Craig led West Coast’s football department through its 2018 premiership and has a deep understanding of Essendon. Having the two of them side by side gives us a very strong combination.

John will also lead a new player leadership program, focused on developing the next group of Essendon leaders. This will commence from day one of pre-season.

Mark now has his coaching group in place. Daniel Pratt joins as Senior Assistant Coach, bringing premiership experience from West Coast and a strong reputation as one of the best assistant coaches in the AFL. Paul Thomas returns to the Club as an Assistant Coach, with a teaching background and a proven record of developing young players at Adelaide and in the SANFL. Brent Stanton continues in the group, providing valuable continuity and strong relationships with our players.

We also identified Head of Development as a critical role. Brent Prismall will bring structure, diligence and accountability to the development of every player on our list. He will lead an expanded development group of Michael Hurley, Toby McLean, Shane Mumford, Gary Rohan and Xavier O’Neill, working closely with VFL Coach Cameron Joyce. Between them, they bring more than 1,000 AFL games of experience and premiership success, and they know what it takes to be a top-line AFL player.

We have made a specific focus on targeting coaches, players and staff from successful AFL programs.

We will enter 2027 with the youngest list in the AFL and the third least experienced. So, we have chosen to invest further in coaching and development, to help every player get better, faster. As our list matures, that investment will shift with it.

We are in a clear talent acquisition phase, and our list strategy is built around three things: the draft, the development of our current players and targeted additions.

First, the draft. We hold Pick 1 for just the second time in our history, along with picks 17 and 25 in a draft we rate highly and the potential for another end-of-first-round selection if our first selection slides. We also hold two first-round picks next year with exciting academy and father-son prospects coming through. These picks will add further talent to the young players we have brought into the Club in recent years, led by Nate Caddy, Isaac Kako, Sullivan Robey, Jacob Farrow, Dyson Sharp, Archie Roberts, Lewis Hayes and Angus Clarke.

Second, the development of our current list. We believe this group has enormous potential and plenty of improvement still to come. Mark has sat down with every player so they know what we are building and the role they can play in it. Our job is to give them the coaching and support to take the next step.

Third, targeted additions. We want players who complement our group and fit the way Mark wants us to play. Jack Bowes and Keidean Coleman are examples of that, and we will look to add more experience through Delisted Free Agency and the Supplemental Selection Period in the coming weeks.

Our pre-season starts on Monday 9 November. Mat Inness and David Regan are working with Mark and John on a program that gives our players the best chance of playing a full season at their best, under a new game plan and a new identity. With the list expected to come back in close to full health we can attack this pre-season with vigour. Based off the strong training foundation we laid over the last 12 months, we can expect to see another increase in training intensity, volume, and further increases in strength in our playing list.

We have made some significant decisions, and we understand the responsibility that comes with them. They were deliberate decisions to invest in our future. Now it’s our job to turn them into a better football team.

We are confident in our direction, but we know we will be judged on what we deliver on the field. Our players return to the NEC Hangar next month, into a new football department, and this is an exciting pre-season to be part of. The NEC Hangar is always open to our members and supporters, and we’re excited with the installation of our new 65 metre shade covering.

Come down, watch the boys train and see what we’re building for yourself.

We know Jake wants to come back to Melbourne as his two older daughters are in Melbourne.
I don’t understand why some supporters are so against it. Jake isn’t perfect but he’s numbers don’t lie

Yes we should bring him back him back he had a good year at GWS 2026 performance
• 20 games
• 48 goals — the most at GWS
• 86 disposals
• 70 marks
• 23 behinds
• Averaged 2.4 goals per game and 4.3 marks per game.
Do you guys think a one year contract is worth it for a senior player ?
I want him to retire as a Bomber

I need to hear about Edward, I think unfortunately he won't be back.

Just want to discuss what everyone thinks our best 23 are post trade period and the depth we hold in each position.

For me I have:

B: Redman, Reid, Mcgrath

HB: Coleman, Hayes, Roberts

C: Fiorini, Caldwell, Farrow

HF: Martin, Caddy, Kako

F: Wright, May, El Ackhar

Fol: Bryan, Sharp, Durham

I/C: Prior, Clarke, Robey, Bowes, Day Wicks

It looks like we have decent depth in positions as I have left out Sellers (who will be on the list) Banfield (if he joined as suggested) Kondo, Johnson and Duurmsa, who will all get gametime at some point due to injuries and what not.

It also gives time for Unwin, Johnson and Kondo to develop more but this team is coming together.

Langford also sadly misses out for me as you just need gametime for younger players.

I’m concerned for our backline and our defense overall to be honest. Can anyone instill some faith in me that we have the caliber?
I know we have a great coaching group now who seem very defensively minded but that doesn’t mean that much if we don’t have good players to execute it.

Before the nice and afraid bomber fans jump on me, hear me out.

He's the best player in the draft. Walker co-captained Vic Country at the champs and was named All-Australian despite missing a game through injury, and he's firmly in the pick one conversation. He gets it done in the middle and on the outside, and he's one of the best ball users in this class.

Carlton can't easily match a No.1 bid. A bid at No.1 is worth 3000 points, and Carlton's current picks 9 and 17 are worth 2234. They can fall 412 points into deficit, which still isn't enough, so they'd have to rejig their picks to get there. Even if they do match, we get the points and our next pick.

This means we screw over one of our biggest rivals and win the draft. Carlton already lucked out with jagga, and now they are about to add another top young player to their list. The gap between us is only growing. WE NEED TO STOP BEING NICE. We are past the mediocrity of the Brad Scott era, we need to be bold. No one ever wins a premiership walking on eggshells around our competition. We rise the ladder being cutthroat and aggressive. Flag dons by 2030!!

Thoughts?

Hey anyone going that would be keen to sell on some player issue stuff for non scalping prices? Unfortunately in wa so can't make it but also not keen on having to pay some scalper on marketplace ECT.

Have lots to offer for trade too if that interests anyone plus cricket memorabilia.

Not happy at all. Richmond look in box seat to land pick 5. Ffs essendon why didn't you try harder to get this done. Bloody Richmond now going to have two top 5 picks. So angry

It’s been nice to get the psychic weight of Merrett and Ridley off our backs (especially so efficiently, and to get some good picks back for them), but the incomings (done or potential)… Bowes, Vandermeer, Banfield, Coleman… Other than Coleman, who has huge upside, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re still shopping at the ol’ Moneyball Emporium that Dodoro used to frequent. I know we desperately need experience-hardened players from successful club cultures, we’ve thrown our interest at several big guns, and it makes it hard when players of that calibre don’t want to come to your club, but… Coleman aside, I just can’t get excited about any of these ins. I’m trusting in Rosa, as his record to date’s been solid, but… How are you all feeling? I need a vibe check.

Another assistant coaching announcement made this-morning.

It’s an interesting appointment. I like that we’re looking outside the existing AFL coaching ranks, and that we’re recruiting from a few different places.

So in all likelihood we will pick Cochrane, which will be matched by Port, and we'll get the compo pick. I mean there seems to be overwhelming majority that think this is what we're gonna do.
This will give us another pick at the "end of first round" (Pick 19? Ahead of the two grand finalists sounds reasonable for a guesstimate)

Now, in all likelihood, with their first pick which at this point will likely be pick 3, Richmond will likely do the same thing, correct? They'll pick Walker, which will be matched by Carlton, they get the start of 2nd round compo.

So this is scenario 1, but there's a possible 2nd and 3rd scenario here; what if we take Walker at pick 2 as well? No, we can't get a 2nd compo, but as long as there's no rule against it, what we can possibly do is improve all 3 picks after our first and 17 by doing this.

If I'm correct, in this scenario, if we picked both players likely to be matched we would:

1. Effectively block Richmond from getting a compo as there's no one else that high that needs to be matched. So this should mean instead of the possibility of our pick 21 sliding (and the much more likely scenario that pick 27 WILL slide with Richmond picking Walker at pick 3 and getting a start of 2nd round compo) Richmond don't get a compo at all.
2. Whatever Carlton's first 2 picks are (presuming whatever deals they make to trade up see them use only 1 of 13/18 to secure it), they now use those presumably 2 picks to match for Walker at pick 2. That means one of those picks is effectively dead, and in all likelihood it'd be 13 they use to trade up not 18, so it'd mean both of our current picks AND (assuming 19 is an accurate guess) our compensation pick all move up.

That's scenario 2; Picks 1 and 2 are matched giving us Pick 3, 17, the (19) compo, pick 21 and 27, with (19), 21 and 27 all moving up a spot thanks to Carlton burning one of the picks in front of them. In a potentially very deep draft, protecting our 2 in the 20's, getting that end of 1st and ensuring our picks don't slide should be paramount.

Scenario 3; we offer a trade with Carlton; pick 17 in exchange for player X or (even better) a swap involving saints where we end up at 13, Carlton with any combination of 16+17/18 (16 + either of those is enough for Carlton to cover Richmond at pick 3) and saints with whatever of those 2 picks + a future or later pick in this draft or whatever it took for Carlton to get that deal done. So instead of just advancing the other 3 picks of (19), 21 by 1 spot but 27 potentially stays at 27 instead of moving up due to Richmond being able to get the compo, so we instead end up going from 17 to 13 AND advance 2/3 of those picks as Carlton has to use 2 to get Walker either way.

(additional, I only just saw the Coleman rumors now) imagine if we did both scenario 3 and traded 27 + a future 2nd/3rd for Coleman and ended up with 3, 13, (19), 21 and Coleman... Yikes.

Are there any holes in this thought process? Anything I'm missing? Thoughts?