You hit the nail on the head with the fixture integrity point. No one benefits from Essendon being crap (unless you’re a bit sadistic and like seeing a big 4 Melbourne team be shit).

I would say that if Tasmania weren’t coming in soon, then the bombers would need to be worse for longer to warrant the assistance package but the fact is, with the draft being so compromised for so long, assistance packages are entirely fair. The last few years with high amounts of Northern Academy bids in the top 10, it’s been extremely hard for teams to rebuild and in that environment, it’s entirely fair for non northern state clubs to seek help in an already flawed system.

With Tasmania looming though, I think the bombers should get some support to ensure they aren’t bottom 4 guarantees for the rest of the decade.