Squad Breakdown: Essendon Bombers 2023 SC analysis


<p>Can the Bombers get any worse than they did last year?</p>



<p>Probably.</p>



<p>Off-field, they&#8217;ve struggled even more; showcasing an absolute disaster-class in how to politely sack your coach in their attempt to go after Alistair Clarkson (a move that ultimately failed).</p>



<p>They appointed a new CEO but failed to do a thorough background check on him which would have revealed his controversial beliefs&#8230; He stepped down less than 24 hours later.</p>



<p>Maybe they’re finally on the right track after securing Craig Vosso as their new CEO and Brad Scott as their new coach; but having not coached for the last four years, is he even the right option?</p>



<p>Although, with Scott apparently interested in adopting a possession-based game style, perhaps the Bombers boys are genuine SuperCoach options this season.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Team</strong></h2>



<p><strong>FB: </strong>J. Ridley, J. Laverde, N. Hind</p>



<p><strong>HB: </strong>M. Redman, J. Kelly, A. McGrath</p>



<p><strong>C: </strong>N. Martin, Z. Merrett, S. Durham</p>



<p><strong>HF: </strong>H. Jones, P. Wright, K. Langford</p>



<p><strong>FF: </strong>J. Stringer, S. Weideman, B. Hobbs</p>



<p><strong>FOL: </strong>S. Draper, D. Parish, A. Perkins</p>



<p><strong>INT: </strong>D. Heppell, W. Setterfield, D. Shiel, B. Zerk-Thatcher</p>



<p><strong>SUB: </strong>M. D’Ambrosio</p>



<p><strong>EMG: </strong>A. Phillips, J. Caldwell, A. McDonald-Tipungwuti, R. Montgomerie</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>List Changes</strong></h2>



<p><em>All list changes are provided by Zero Hanger.</em></p>



<p><strong>Ins:</strong>&nbsp;Jayden Davey,&nbsp;Alwyn Davey Jr,&nbsp;Lewis Hayes,&nbsp;Rhett Montgomerie,&nbsp;Anthony Munkara,&nbsp;Will Setterfield&nbsp;(Carlton Blues),&nbsp;Elijah Tsatas,&nbsp;Sam Weideman&nbsp;(Melbourne Demons), Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti</p>



<p><strong>Outs:&nbsp;</strong>Cody Brand&nbsp;(delisted),&nbsp;Tom Cutler&nbsp;(delisted),&nbsp;Joshua Eyre&nbsp;(delisted),&nbsp;Aaron Francis&nbsp;(Sydney Swans),&nbsp;Brayden Ham&nbsp;(delisted),&nbsp;Tom Hird&nbsp;(delisted),&nbsp;Michael Hurley&nbsp;(retired),&nbsp;Garrett McDonagh&nbsp;(delisted),&nbsp;Devon Smith&nbsp;(retired),&nbsp;Alec Waterman&nbsp;(delisted)</p>



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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="575" src="http://13.210.220.211/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-1024x575.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2227729" srcset="https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-1024x575.png 1024w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-300x168.png 300w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-768x431.png 768w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-1536x862.png 1536w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-2048x1149.png 2048w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-640x359.png 640w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-1200x673.png 1200w, https://blog.scplaybook.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SCP-Mortgage-01-01-copy-800x450.png 800w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Lock &amp; Load</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Darcy Parish (MID, $610,800)</strong></p>



<p>Approaching the final year of his contract, Darcy Parish will be a man on a mission this season.</p>



<p>I think people are forgetting he averaged 114 two years ago, and discounting his injury effected 51 last season, he only scored below 100 on three occasions (87, 97, and 99).</p>



<p>Looking at his draw, you couldn’t ask for a better two games as a midfielder to kick things off. Hawthorn and Gold Coast give up a truck load of points to midfielders, and I don’t think the Hawks will tag this year given that Finn Maginness is nowhere near the best 22 anymore, so Parish should be able to run free.</p>



<p>As I mentioned before, reports are suggesting that Scott wants his new team to focus on holding possession for longer periods of time, a tactic that has typically been extremely SuperCoach friendly for players.</p>



<p>If Essendon’s latest match-sim is anything to go by (he dominated apparently), then Darcy Parish will be an excellent pick this year at just 3% ownership.</p>



<a id="3JCYCPt3S0V0qNGolKEclQ" class="gie-single" href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/1240801358" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;" rel="noopener">Embed from Getty Images</a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'3JCYCPt3S0V0qNGolKEclQ',sig:'BO5go0i8dsrJWLkvPGfRw62auBLapcJrVSH1o3X4mo4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1240801358',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});</script><script src="//embed-cdn.gettyimages.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" async=""></script>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Mid-Pricer</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Sam Draper (RUC, $398,700)</strong></p>



<p>Bit of a rogue one here, but given the utter chaos associated with the RUC line this year, maybe it’s as good an opportunity as you’ll ever get to go against the grain?</p>



<p>I’m getting sick and tired of my brother Eddie (and most Bombers supporters) referring to him as the next coming of Jesus, but it is hard to deny his potential.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Season 4 is when Max Gawn had his breakout. Sam Draper is entering season 4.<br><br>Ranking points per 100 minutes of game time after 43 career matches:<br><br>Draper &#8211; 81<br>Gawn &#8211; 83<br><br>Draper is $398k.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperCoach?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SuperCoach</a></p>&mdash; Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) <a href="https://twitter.com/FantasyFreako/status/1621280063336615936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>Thanks to Fantasy Freako on Twitter for the above info.</p>



<p>Is there any merit to it though? Is Sam Draper really on track to do Max Gawn-like things?</p>



<p>He’ll have most, if not all of the CBAs, so the opportunity is definitely there for him; plus, I also hear he’s having a monster pre-season so far.</p>



<p>He has a great record against his round one opponent &#8211; the Hawks too, with scores of 108 and 126 in his last two against them.</p>



<p>With a few extra trades this year, he could be worth the risk.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Cheapie</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Kaine Baldwin (FWD, $172,900)</strong></p>



<p>I’ve already hyped-up Rhett Montgomerie in my 2023 Defender Cheapies article, so I’ll turn my attention to Kaine Baldwin instead.</p>



<p>Kaine made his debut in Round 1 last year and eventually went on to play three more games throughout the season.</p>



<p>His best game came against the Hawks in Round 9, where he collected eight touches, four marks, three tackles, and goal, going on to score 60 SuperCoach points.</p>



<p>At one point in his junior career, he was touted as one of the best young key forwards in the country, and the Bombers will be hoping he’s able to replicate that form this year.</p>



<p>It sounds like they are giving him every opportunity to do so, and apparently, he is taking that opportunity so far this pre-season.</p>



<p>In Essendon’s most recent intraclub game, Kaine impressed with his aerial ability and impact on the scoreboard; he even managed to get up to the wing at times, providing the defenders with an excellent outlet option.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Avoid</strong></h2>



<p><strong>Nic Martin (MID/FWD, $436,000)</strong></p>



<p>This might upset a few people&#8230; In fact, it might upset everyone.</p>



<p>I just don’t think Nic Martin can improve on his miraculous debut season last year.</p>



<p>Perhaps I’m just playing devil’s advocate, but I think people are getting sucked in because they’re hearing rumours of him playing on-ball.</p>



<p>While that may be the case in the occasional pre-season match sim, it’s a whole different story in-season.</p>



<p>As I was writing up my predicted team for the Bombers, I couldn’t believe how many on-ballers they actually have.</p>



<p>Merrett, Parish, Perkins, Shiel, Caldwell, Setterfield, and Hobbs waiting in the wings for any opportunity he can get his hands on.</p>



<p>I just really don’t think Martin can crack into that, especially considering how well he played on the wing last year.</p>



<p>He’ll still get a ton of the footy, but can he improve on his 79 average enough to make it a worthwhile investment? I don’t think so.</p>


Squad Breakdown: Essendon Bombers 2023 SC analysis

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