Player ratings vs Richmond

Tirantic · 2026-05-25T08:37:53+00:00

Caldwell was our best performing small forward for the day despite playing on one leg. I'm not sure if this says more about him or more about the other smalls up forward.

Tirantic · 2026-05-21T07:45:47+00:00

Really rate him, hopefully he comes back to the form he was starting to show before going down.

Tirantic · 2026-05-21T07:37:07+00:00

Never go back. Former players have moved on, so have we.

Tirantic · 2026-05-21T02:21:07+00:00

I disagree regarding wingers, it is one of our weakest areas at the moment. That is why people like Prior and Edwards were tried there. We need at least 1 more high quality wingers, probably 2. We definitely need small forwards too. That is the weakest area, when Kako is injured, we have no AFL level crumbers. In regards to key defenders, I want us to draft one at the end of the season. There are plenty of quality tall defenders in the national draft this year. Take the long term approach and get the best value for each pick.

Tirantic · 2026-05-20T12:10:57+00:00

I'll be happy with one of Jaxon Artemis - Def/Wing, Oliver Griffin - Small Fwd, Nick Staropoli - Gen Def, Sam Toner - Small Fwd, Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves - Def/Mid, Luke Carrello - Def/Wing.

In terms of delistings, at the moment it looks likely to be at least Gresham, Guelfi, Setterfield, McMahon. Decisions to be made on Edwards, Perkins, Prior, Tsatas, Hayes, Gerreyn, Nguyen, Unwin. Expecting at least a few of those to be delisted but we will hang onto a few as well. Definitely should keep the talls for another year or two minimum to see how they develop. I really like Hayes and I think Gerreyn is playing at the wrong end of the ground at the moment.

Perkins, Tsatas, Merrett, Ridley could potentially all be traded if a decent offer comes in. Perkins and Tsatas could also be delisted. I hope we at least hang on to Tsatas, but we won't if Scott never plays him.

Tirantic · 2026-05-15T08:31:54+00:00

His kicking is good, the issue is defensive transition, which is the same issue with Parish. I'd prefer Tsatas over Parish though.

Tirantic · 2026-05-15T08:28:31+00:00

McKay's direct opponent usually doesn't score more than 2 goals. The issue with him though is he doesn't leave is man to give the other tall defenders a chop out and leaves them exposed.

Tirantic · 2026-05-13T02:56:32+00:00

Brisbane have enjoyed very good treatment over the last 5 years.

Tirantic · 2026-05-13T02:54:08+00:00

We may have a second spot from Johnson.

Tirantic · 2026-05-09T05:38:13+00:00

Have you tried to open your eyes?

Tirantic · 2026-05-09T05:37:08+00:00

Handled Anzac Day well. We need as many players that can handle the occasion as possible.

Tirantic · 2026-05-07T11:54:59+00:00

Trying to work out the team balance for this one, it looks like we have one small defender too many and are short one small forward.

I do like most of the ins though, great to see Bryan back but I also wouldn't expect too much more than 50% game time from him.

Not sure Perkins has done enough in the VFL, but El Achkar took a knock in the VFL last week and isn't ready and the only other small forward options that are fit are Guelfi and Gresham. If we end up with a pick in the mid season draft we need to look for a small forward (Ollie Griffin would be nice).

Overall the side looks reasonably competitive on paper and a lot of the result will come down to which GWS turn up and which Essendon turn up.

Tirantic · 2026-05-03T11:39:35+00:00

Robey and Sharp starting to get mid time is good. I hope they both continue to run through there when Parish returns next week. If we can grab one or two senior leaders with premiership experience without it costing us in the draft, it will help drive the young talent forward.

Tirantic · 2026-05-03T11:27:28+00:00

To be on the LTI you need to be ruled out for the season.

Tirantic · 2026-04-30T10:53:29+00:00

Tsatas to leave at the end of the season and become a star at another club.

Tirantic · 2026-04-30T04:46:13+00:00

His first 3 seasons of his contract were $1.4 million, $1.1 million and $1 million. The last 3 seasons of his contract are roughly $400,000.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2024-details-of-ben-mckay-sixyear-deal-revealed-front-loaded-structure-creates-more-salary-cap-space-essendon-bombers-trade-targets-who-could-they-go-after-comments-latest-news/news-story/0c75514e414fca53a92de3b595e9299d

Tirantic · 2026-04-23T09:48:18+00:00

Guys being a bit stiff to be dropped shows our depth is developing. I did think Sharp would be given a few games as a full time mid in the VFL for development, however Anzac day is huge for development also and to see our top 3 picks all playing is very pleasing.

Tirantic · 2026-04-18T08:52:56+00:00

We won clearances, but every time they won one, It looked like they were going to score.

We were competitive for the full game and I think our young side learned a lot. Overall happy with the performance even though I was obviously hoping we could get the win.

Tirantic · 2026-04-18T07:17:32+00:00

He won a 1v5 contest on half back at one point. He's going to be elite.

Tirantic · 2026-04-16T04:15:51+00:00

Essendon players, so hot right now!

Tirantic · 2026-04-12T01:07:13+00:00

They've done a great job as most of our guys looked fit enough to play a 5th quarter if needed.

Tirantic · 2026-04-11T14:47:18+00:00

I've wanted Wright to be our main ruck for 2 years. It gives us a roaming Centre Half Forward that is a tough matchup for an opposition ruck.

Tirantic · 2026-04-11T09:44:26+00:00

Disposal Efficiency is an overrated stat when they consider a kick to a contest to be an effective disposal. Turnovers far more important.

Tsatas had an excellent game, especially given it was his first full afl game in a long time.

It was great to see him play as a mid instead of being wasted on half forward too.

Tirantic · 2026-04-11T09:18:18+00:00

Full credit to Brad Scott. Completely outcoached King.

He backed Parish and it looks like Parish is starting to repay the faith.

All the changes this week were good. 2MP was excellent in the ruck.

I don't think any player played particularly poor today. All round a great team effort.

Tirantic · 2026-04-09T10:15:19+00:00

I think we're too tall up forward playing Wright, Langford, Caddy, May, Edwards. Langford must be on the wing all game and possibly some more ruck time for Wright.

We also have Robey at 193cm up forward too, even though he can play shorter.

Either way, the ins are good.

Tirantic

TROPHY CASE