Vendetta Sports Media is once again covering Australian Rules Football in 2022. Today we continue our AFL season preview series with a look at last seasons surprise finalists, the Essendon Bombers.
In the midst of a rebuild, not much was expected from Essendon in 2021. A slow start to their campaign was turned on it’s head in a second half surge that saw them sneak into the finals, losing in week one to eventual beaten grand finalists the Western Bulldogs. Can this young and exciting Bombers outfit make back-to-back finals appearances?
For all of our previous season 2022 AFL team previews, click here.
Season 2021
8th position: 11 wins, 11 losses, 109.1%.
Rookie coach Ben Rutten was brought in to oversee the Bombers transition to youth. They attacked the 2020 draft with gusto with an eye to competing in three to four years. Little did they know that their labour would bear fruit so soon as their lacklustre start to the season was turned on it’s head by the belated emergence of a pair of long tantalising talents blossoming into super stardom.
Darcy Parish averaged over 30 disposals a game on his way to his first – presumably of many – All Australian blazer. Likewise, former Bulldog cult hero Jake Stringer finally found the consistency to augment his game breaking capability. A genuine barometer for the team, the back half of his 2021 campaign was by far the best football the enigmatic 27 year old has played.
Essendon was without veteran star Michael Hurley for the entire season with a hip injury, also missing Dylan Shiel and prized recruit Jye Caldwell for significant stretches. Thankfully, their youngsters stepped in to fill the void. Top 10 draft picks Archie Perkins and Nik Cox impressed, as did Harrison Jones, before he was shut down with a broken foot.
Essendon came into the finals on the back of a season ending three game winning streak before putting up a brave fight in a losing battle against a superior Bulldogs outfit.
Key ins: Jake Kelly (Adelaide), Ben Hobbs, Alastair Lord, Patrick Voss, Garrett McDonagh (all draft)
Key outs: Cale Hooker, David Zaharakis, Patrick Ambrose, Sam McQuillan (all retired), Irving Mosquito, Ned Cahill, Marty Gleeson, Lachie Johnson (all released)
This young Bombers outfit has lots for fans to be excited about, but also – as is the case with many young, middling teams – just as many holes.
Up front, Essendon possess all sorts of potential, though right now it’s not much more than that. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti – who is still on a leave of absence from the club – is as exciting as they come and Stringer is a game breaker both in the midfield and in the forward line. Beyond those two, there are a whole raft of ifs, buts and maybe’s. Twice a year Peter Wright will kick a huge bag of goals before disappearing back into anonymity. Alec Waterman always looks threatening but rarely delivers. The youngsters that will eventually improve this forward line are there, though, with the 21 year old Jones a likely type.
It will be a telling season for Aaron Francis. The 24 year old hasn’t lived up to his top 10 draft billing so far in his career. The physical tools are there; if he can put it altogether then it will go a long way to solving the jigsaw that is Essendon’s forward structure.
The Bombers compensated for the lack of forward line depth with a run-and-gun midfield that at times simply overwhelmed opposition defenses. Parish, Zach Merrett, Nick Hind and Jordan Ridley led a relentless group of runners that, when the going was good, poured forward to slam through so many running goals. Former first overall pick Andrew McGrath continued his development and Cox proved himself an athletic specimen on the level of Darcy Moore or a young Buddy Franklin, as his 6’7” frame galloped up and down his wing.
Where the midfield struggled, however, was in the trenches. Parish, Merrett and occasionally Stringer aside, Essendon lacked players who could get inside the packs and find their own football, the majority of their midfield instead preferring to receive the ball and initiate on the outside. When the Bombers were able to win the hard ball, that worked a treat. When they didn’t, they could get pounded on the scoreboard.
With Hurley missing, the Bombers defense was already undermanned. When their midfield were not able to provide cover, they were overwhelmed. The recruitment of former Crows veteran Jake Kelly will surely add some steel to Essendon’s rearguard. He’ll join Jayden Leverde and James Stewart in the key defensive posts. Club captain Dyson Heppell – still only 29 even though it seems as if he’s been around for ever – will quarterback the Bombers attacks from the half back flank.
Prediction: 9th
Let’s be clear: this Bombers team is going to be a real problem for the rest of the league in a year or three. At the minute? They’re still a middling squad.
Right now, Essendon are ahead of schedule as far as their rebuild is concerned, but as we’ve seen time and time again, progression isn’t linear. As such, expect the Bombers to perhaps plateau a little this season as their youngsters start to work through the increased scouting and defensive attention that will no doubt be coming their way.
Relentless and talented, Essendon will take down any opponent that isn’t 100% on their game in 2022. Young and exceedingly raw, the Baby Bombers will also fall flat on a few occasions as well.
