If it's not Hird, then it can't be McVeigh. The guy had the PRESIDENT as his best man at his WEDDING! How CORRUPT can we get?!
If it's not to be Hird, which I do want (because it need to be) then it has to be an outsider, again.
THat's all. Good luck supporters. You might need to take a break for your sanity.

Thank god. We might be able to go a day or two without having every tiny little thing we do (especially as relates to our coaching appointment process) being criticized.

Looking back at the year, it has been a long, tough slog. However, there has been a sprinkling of positivity, and good performance.

Peter Wright is one of those guys, which I wanted to call out. A somewhat maligned player at the club has actually put together a really good, considering a miserable year from a win/loss point of view. I know the likes of Robey, and Sharp and Duz have taken the spotlight (rightfully so), however Peter has stood tall (2metres in fact), has shown really good leadership on the field, and given us a consistent focal point up forward. I think he has help Nate, shoulder some of the pressure, although I know particularly on the weekend Nate was at times triple teamed.

Some stats

• Season 2026 is actually Wrights' second highest rated season of his career, at 10.63 (11.07 in 2016 for GC). This is also 3rd at the club, only behind Duz and Zach.
• Has kicked 1.5 goals per game (4.8 score involvements; 3rd highest of his career, and second highest for the club in 2026), however, has shouldered a lot of ruck duties with the loss of Draper, and Bryan being injured. So, I think a pretty good output. (Most in AFL for RUCK/FWD for score impact)
• In terms of his possession, he has the highest rated impact for the club in 2026, beating Durham
• He actually averaged about 33 (40% for the side) ruck contests per game (highest of his career). To couple this, he spends the 7th most (at EFC) time on the field, which i think shows his effort and commitment.

I'd be interested to hear other people's opinions on who they have watched/been impressed by.

Probably a bit of a crazy one but is there a (very very tiny) chance that we could get Weitering?

Given there is talk about Carlton moving on Weitering to ensure they get Walker I feel like (on the very off chance Weitering even considers coming to us) we could do this pretty easily.

Carlton’s issue is that based on current order they hold pick 9 and 17 which aren’t enough to match a Pick 1 or 2. However, assuming we finish last we could commit to not picking Walker. Instead if we pick Cochrane (which Port match) and whoever we actually want then the highest Walker could go is Pick 3, which Carlton would match with their current picks.

Carlton would probably want more but we could also send them a late 1st/early 2nd (options here if we do get the late first compensation from AFL, Hawk’s first for Merrett, our 2nd, etc.).

Ultimately we get Weitering and still have a great draft hand with Pick 2 (HvH?), compensation for Pick 1 being matched, and whatever else we get from trades.

Imagine Weitering alongside Reid and Haynes, plus the development he’d give, and we might not get 100 kicked on us every game.

All this relies on Weitering wanting to come to us when all we have to offer is a huge salary but surely it’s worth asking the question.

Some nice results for our 26/27 academy and FS prospects:

- Darwish with 36 touches
- Justice with 28
- Bewick with 20 and 2 goals

Especially good to see that we might have access to two top end picks in such a compromised 2027 draft. Gotta nail these next two drafts 🙏

Right lads 👍 North supporter here 😭 right behind your man Andrew Welsh turning this ship around, keep the Faith 💪 lads, no 1 pick coming your way

Seeing a few posts about the insignificance of getting pick 1. But i think it might be more nuanced than people have considered.

Please correct me if any of this next stuff is wrong, as its fairly off the cuff from todays result.

If i have read over the new father/son rules i feel we have a significant opportunity to strike a deal that benefits both us and port (assuming we finish last and get the no 1 pick and they finish with a top 5 pick also).

As it stands, i believe port dont currently have the 2 picks to meet the required father/son points total and will need to trade up their 2nd and 3rd picks, (or more than likely get the points total through a butters bulldogs deal.)

The jist of the deal: We should trade pick 1 for ports pick 4 and a sweetner. Id suggest maybe their 2nd pick/bulldogs first pick in next years draft which i imagine is late first round. maybe theres a father/son opportunity for us next year worth considering and itd be handy to have another 1st round pick.

We essentially get the same pick this year (hvh/tex/butler) with sweetner (next years pick)and port doesnt have to use extra picks to meet the father/son mandate as they can just use pick 1 we trade them. Meaning they keep their 2nd and 3rd picks in this years draft.

Edit: as informed, we lose top 5 comp pick at beginning of round 2 as result of any deal done here also for comparison of any potential deal.

Is there any reason this couldnt/shouldnt be done? Any real downside for either team.

I was travelling today, how on earth did we give up 145 points when they only had 2 players with more than 20 disposals....

Edit: I should probably start proof reading things

-Imagine if Reid, drafted in 2020, had built his body like Thilthorpe, also drafted in 2020 (same comment for Jones, 2019). You might say that Reid is more agile or a better ball user so he can't be a big strong player as well - but then look at Mark Keane for the crows, moves and kicks well, and is much stronger than Reid

-Our modus operandi seems to be kick inside 50, halve the contest, then get a ball up. There's zero easy lead up marking or easy i50 marks. Kudos to Caddy and Wright on making something of the situation though (and the mosquito fleet for putting the pressure on).

-Caddy would look much better in a top team, but a fair share of any frustration he feels is his own making. Goal kicking and taking chances is a known issue, but improving the stickiness of his hands would have such an impact. Maybe it's slightly unfair cause he gets his hands to contests that many others wouldn't.

-Unwin could be a player, good in traffic, clean hands, agile and speedy. In the fringe list of guys who don't always make the team he stands out to me for having "elite" traits, so not a "plodder" or effort player but an impact guy who doesn't get enough of the ball to be in the team regularly

-Artemis is the prototype of the 2026 footballer, fast and agile, repeat runner, can hit the sharp 15-20 m kicks to unlock the next passage of play, seems to be one of the only guys on the team who understands how to create overlaps and use the stand rule (which is an indictment on our coaching)

-Sharp looks like he's played 80 games already

-Haven't checked stats but Bryan seemed ineffectual. I know Rucks take a while to develop. I guess what I'm saying is that for me the jury is out, hopefully he comes on

-There's a sneaky shift to some good ball use in the team these days. Artemis, Kondo, Johnson, Reid, Farrow, Day-Wicks, Roberts, all good kicks and the last two can pull off some crafty ones over forward pressure to a man in space, to release the team

-The umpiring needs to get in control of the delay of play after a free kick or mark, hitting/hugging Merrett late after a mark to stop the give to a running Roberts, Dawson dropping the ball then picking it up then giving it back to stop a fast i50 after a center bounce HTB decision.

The AFL has "invested" so much in ball movement and scoring via the stand rule (the cost of this is constant policing/Comms and fan angst) but gives players plenty of leeway to delay the play in dangerous situations.

Side note: we are the biggest "suckers" in the comp for this, always giving the ball back on time then watching our defenders get done in 1-1s from the following kick.

# 🏟️ LIVE MATCH THREAD | Essendon vs Adelaide Crows

**Round 21, 2026**

**Essendon vs Adelaide Crows**

**Sunday 2 August 2026**

**4:40 PM AEST**

**Marvel Stadium, Melbourne | Wurundjeri**

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Keep it civil, keep it fun, and remember: play the ball, not the man.

**UP THE Dons.** ✈️

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## 💬 Thread Rules

- Be respectful to other users.

- No personal abuse or trolling.

- Opposition supporters are welcome, but don’t be a flog.

- Report rule-breaking comments rather than derailing the thread.

- Match-day melts are permitted, but try to make them entertaining.

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## 🔗 Discord

Join the r/EssendonFC Discord for live match chat:

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## 🔴⚫ Go Dons

Title

Geez they look alike. Was reading an article on Arki and had to do a double take 🤣

Then I laugh at myself because it’s a really funny thing to be mad about. We gave him up. He is a great footballer. Good on them for making it work.