With two years left on his contract, it won’t be easy for Josh Dunkley to make his way to Tullamarine. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

One of the worst-kept secrets of the trade period is out of the bag and it has sent shockwaves through the Western Bulldogs.

Premiership midfielder Josh Dunkley officially wants out of Whitten Oval and wants to continue his career at Essendon, of all places.

When you look not only at the way both clubs finished the 2020 season but also compare how healthy they are on and off the field, Dunkley’s decision almost beggars belief.

With a young, promising list, the Bulldogs have made back-to-back finals appearances and still have a large core of 2016 premiership players. Meanwhile, Essendon has failed to win a final since 2004 and its plans for its next premiership have been left in tatters with Joe Daniher, Adam Saad and Orazio Fantasia all jumping ship.

Essendon’s football department is also currently subject to a thorough review which has already cost football manager Dan Richardson his job. Given Richardson was Ben Rutten’s chief supporter, it means Essendon’s new coach will have a sense of unease as he embarks on his first pre-season.

Having aggressively poached Jake Stringer, Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel in recent years, the Bombers look very much a club now caught between two strategies.

So why would Dunkley want to leave a club seemingly on the rise, which is being led by one of the game’s few premiership coaches, for Essendon – a club which is probably only being outshone by North Melbourne in the upheaval stakes?

Dunkley’s manager Liam Pickering told Trade Radio on Thursday that the Bulldogs’ culture had nothing to do with his client’s decision and that it had everything to do with a lack of playing opportunities in the midfield.

While that may be the case, coupled with the frustration of having to do back-up ruck work on occasion, it would still seem to be a quantum leap to then want to leave the Bulldogs for a club in turmoil like Essendon.

No doubt the offer of significantly more money would have helped sway Dunkley, but he may also feel energised by the prospect of “getting in on the ground floor” and being part of the rebuild of one of the league’s biggest and most successful clubs.

With two years still to run on his contract, though, it won’t be easy for Dunkley to make his way to Tullamarine, especially when you consider the Bombers’ track record of dealing at the trade table.

With picks six, seven and potentially eight, assuming Carlton gives that up for Saad, Essendon has no shortage of attractive assets to offer the Bulldogs if a trade is to be facilitated.

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And, of course, players could also be part of the package. But like the Bombers did with Daniher last year, the Dogs are maintaining that Dunkley is a required player, so if the Dons want to make a deal happen, they’re really going to have to work hard for it.

The big-bodied Dunkley would be an ideal addition to the Bombers’ undersized midfield, which is crying out for extra oomph in the clinches.

However, according to The Age, Essendon is far from guaranteed pick eight, because it is in a stalemate with Carlton over Saad. The Blues apparently also want a second-round pick in return for pick eight, and the Bombers are not too thrilled about that demand.

Elsewhere, AFL Media is reporting that the Bulldogs are interested in recruiting either Brisbane’s Stefan Martin or Hawthorn’s Ben McEvoy as they desperately search for support for young ruckman Tim English, who was frequently bossed around by much bigger opponents in season 2020.

And despite reports of being pushed out of Punt Road, Richmond fan favourite Jack Higgins has not yet requested a trade, according to the club’s general manager of talent Blair Hartley.

The contracted Higgins has been linked to St Kilda, but Hartley told the ABC that, despite rival clubs showing interest in the livewire, no trade deal was on the horizon at this stage.

Finally, the only completed trade of day two saw Adelaide key defender Kyle Hartigan join Hawthorn for a future fourth-round selection.

Hartigan follows fellow grand final teammates Brad Crouch (St Kilda) and Rory Atkins (Gold Coast) out the West Lakes door, well and truly ending an era at Adelaide.

COMPLETED DEALS
1. Rory Atkins (Adelaide) joined Gold Coast as an unrestricted free agent. Adelaide received pick 36 as compensation.
2. Isaac Smith (Hawthorn) joined Geelong as an unrestricted free agent. Hawthorn received pick 42 as compensation.
3. Joe Daniher (Essendon) joined Brisbane as a restricted free agent. Essendon received pick 7 as compensation.
4. Zac Williams (GWS) joined Carlton as a restricted free agent. GWS received pick 10 as compensation.
5. Aidan Corr (GWS) joined North Melbourne as a restricted free agent. GWS received pick 30 as compensation.
6. Zac Langdon (GWS) traded to West Coast in exchange for pick 54.
7. Oleg Markov (Richmond) traded to Gold Coast in exchange for future third-round pick.
8. Jesse Hogan (Fremantle) traded to GWS in exchange for pick 54.
9. Brad Crouch (Adelaide) joined St Kilda as a restricted free agent. Adelaide received pick 23 as compensation.
10. Kyle Hartigan (Adelaide) traded to Hawthorn in exchange for future fourth-round pick.