Jordan Ridley (centre) during pre-season training. The young Bomber defender had an outstanding 2020. Photo: AFL MEDIA

ESSENDON
2020 record: 6 wins, 10 losses, 1 draw (13th)

THE INS
Peter Wright (Gold Coast), Jye Caldwell (GWS), Nick Hind (St Kilda), Nik Cox (Northern Knights), Archie Perkins (Sandringham Dragons), Zach Reid (Gippsland Power), Josh Eyre (Calder Cannons), Cody Brand (Calder Cannons)

THE OUTS
Joe Daniher (Brisbane), Adam Saad (Carlton), Orazio Fantasia (Port Adelaide), Conor McKenna (retired), Tom Bellchambers (retired), Ross McQuillan (retired), Shaun McKernan (delisted – St Kilda), Jacob Townsend (delisted – Gold Coast), Mitch Hibberd (delisted), Kobe Mutch (delisted), Josh Begley (delisted), Noah Gown (delisted), Henry Crauford (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
What a revelation Jordan Ridley proved to be last year. He had shown glimpses of his enormous potential in his previous three years at the club, but he absolutely exploded in 2020 to become the club’s best defender and earn a place in the All-Australian 40-man squad. He ranked third and fourth in the AFL for intercept marks (2.8) and contested mark intercepts (1.1) per game respectively, while he also led Essendon for intercepts (5.2) and metres gained. At just 21, he became the fourth-least experienced winner of the Bombers’ best-and-fairest award, behind only John Coleman (1949 – 21 games), Jack Garden (1920 – 21 games) and Albert Thurgood (1901 – 22 games). Ridley rightfully earned himself a four-year contract extension at the end of the season as well. Despite Michael Hurley and Cale Hooker being in the twilight of their careers, and the departures of Saad and McKenna, the backline still looks solid enough, especially with the underrated Patrick Ambrose coming back from a serious foot injury. Andrew McGrath continues his journey towards superstardom and has “future captain” written all over him, while Zach Merrett had another superb year in a struggling team. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Jake Stringer are proven match winners, and while the Bombers experienced a mass exodus of senior players at the end of the season, coupled with their poor ladder position, the flip side of that situation meant they took a strong hand to the draft, where they had three top 10 choices for the first time in their history. In the end, they selected Cox, Perkins and Reid with picks eight, nine and 10 respectively, and they’ll be hoping they can look back on that draft as a turning point in the club’s history. Their solitary win over a top-eight side last year (Collingwood) was a welcome exception in an otherwise glum campaign, while their victory against Hawthorn was quite spectacular, as they pulled off their fourth-biggest comeback from half-time (36 points) to win by 16.

THE WEAKNESSES
Like Collingwood, the club’s culture simply has to come under serious question. Why was it that so many senior players decided to leave this off-season? Daniher, Saad and Fantasia have left a huge hole in the list, and when you throw in the retirements of Bellchambers and McKenna, a large chunk of the Bombers’ best 22 is now missing. Sam Draper looks like he is ready to replace Bellchambers but, like the other new members of the best side, he still has a lot to prove. Speaking of Bellchambers’ retirement, his denial of a farewell game in round 18 by in-coming coach Ben Rutten caused a lot of consternation among senior players, such as Hooker and Hurley. It was a fitting full stop to a dreadful season away in the hub. No wonder one of new chairman Paul Brasher’s first points of order was to commission a “brutally honest” review of the football department, which claimed the scalp of footy manager Dan Richardson (replaced by Josh Mahoney). A lot has gone wrong in that part of the club over the last couple of years – most notably the disastrous coaching handover from John Worsfold to Rutten. Unsurprisingly, reports of conflicting messages from Worsfold and Rutten to the playing group have emerged since the end of the season, which further confirmed the bleeding obvious – that the club should have given Worsfold his marching orders 12 months earlier – especially after the Bulldogs piled on 21 consecutive goals against the Bombers in late 2019. But their half-hearted solution to the coaching dilemma paved the way for a wasted year in purgatory, and with no thorough process to search for Worsfold’s replacement undertaken by the club, Rutten perhaps unfairly, but justifiably, immediately has questions over his credentials before he even coaches his first game in his own right. One thing that should please the Bomber faithful is that Rutten at least seems to be drawing a line in the sand and the lunatics are no longer running

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the asylum, so to speak, with the “gently, gently” approach to the players adopted since the supplement saga now totally done away with. And boy, is drastic change required at Essendon, because for large chunks of last season they played dull, uninspired and meek footy. They bordered on uncompetitive in some matches, most notably against Geelong, Brisbane, Port Adelaide, the Bulldogs and St Kilda. Adding to the frustration for Essendon fans were the multiple occasions their team found themselves in winning positions before blowing it, with losses to GWS, Carlton and Melbourne, as well as the draw against Gold Coast, probably still providing nightmares for Bomber supporters. Those results just displayed a general lack of ticker and mental toughness that has crept into the club over the years. After starting the year 4-1, they completely fell away, winning just two of their last 12 games. With an average winning margin of just 10 points, their killer instinct was non-existent, and with an average losing margin of 31 points, their soft underbelly was exposed many times. Underscoring this fact is that on differentials, Essendon was ranked 10th for disposals, 15th for contested possessions and 17th for marks – just woeful. The connection between the Bombers’ midfield and their dysfunctional forward line was appalling for most of the year, and they ended up with the fifth-worst attack in the competition. Meanwhile, their backline suffered from a lack of meaningful protection from a midfield that contained too many smaller bodies, which also played a big part in Essendon’s defence being ranked 15th. Bolstering the on-ball brigade with bigger bodies is a must over the next few years. On the topic of recruiting, the footy department deserves another clip for going out and recruiting guys like Townsend, Hibberd and even Tom Cutler at the end of last year. None of them had any meaningful impact, with the first two being delisted after one season and Cutler nowhere near the best 22. For the first time in a long time, Essendon’s key position stocks look vulnerable, which explains why it went so tall at the draft in preparation for the next generation of talls. The ruck stocks are quite thin, too – it’s now a case of Draper or bust, with Andrew Phillips his only recognised back-up. One concession Essendon does deserve is how many of its key players – Ambrose (17 games), Dyson Heppell (14), Daniher (13), Fantasia (12), Hooker (nine), Stringer (seven), and James Stewart (seven) – missed big chunks last year due to injury. Captain Heppell played the second half of 2019 with a foot injury, and then only played three games last year due to another foot injury. His absence last year reinforced how important his leadership is to the team, and they desperately need him fully fit in 2021.

ONE TO WATCH
Draper is just the man Essendon is looking for to lead it into its next phase of development. He’s big, he’s tough, he has spunk and does not mind throwing his weight around. He might have only played eight games last year, but the budding ruckman’s raw talent and potential is obvious, and his delayed entry into the side as a result of an ACL injury sustained in 2019, was worth the wait.

UNDER THE PUMP
Devon Smith just hasn’t seemed right since suffering a season-ending knee injury in early 2019. The former Giant made a splash in his first year at Essendon, breaking the AFL’s all-time tackling record and claiming the best-and-fairest. But it’s been slim pickings since, and his impact on games last year just wasn’t there. Add to that his occasional lack of discipline, and it’s fair to say the midfielder owes it to the club to return to his 2018 form.

BEST 22
B: Michael Hurley, Cale Hooker, Matt Guelfi
HB: Jordan Ridley, Patrick Ambrose, Mason Redman
C: Zach Merrett, Dylan Shiel, Devon Smith
HF: Jake Stringer, James Stewart, Kyle Langford
F: Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Peter Wright, Jayden Laverde
R: Sam Draper, Dyson Heppell, Andrew McGrath
Inter: Aaron Francis, Will Snelling, Nick Hind, Darcy Parish
Emerg: Brayden Ham, David Zaharakis, Jye Caldwell, Brandon Zerk-Thatcher

Heppell back will be huge, as will the return of Ambrose who is pound-for-pound one of the best key defenders in the game. Redman is in the best 22 for now, but he really needs to experience big improvement in 2021 after going backwards following a bright start to his career. Gleeson has experienced a big kick in the pants after being delisted, rookied and then slipping out of the best 26. His best is very good, though, and if he works hard and manages to recapture that form, he’ll be back in the frame at some stage.