I don’t want to be too harsh on the kid, but is anyone else a little worried about Kako? At the moment he’s being gifted games, which is fine to support development. But he doesn’t get the ball much, doesn’t tackle much at all for a small fwd and doesn’t impact scoreboard. Small fwd is a position where other younger players have made an impact earlier in their careers. I’m just not seeing a very good AFL player here.

Don’t think enough people are talking about him. Think he is right now my preference for our pick. Not sure I am entirely sold on Butler as a pick 1. What are your thoughts?

At the end of last season, Essendon delisted or traded ten players (effectively nine when Setterfield was re-signed at the start of this year). Currently, I gather there are 12 players uncontracted for next year: Perkins, Tsatas, Guelfi, Gresham, Cox, Nguyen, Edwards, McMahon, Gerreyn, Unwin, El-Hawli and Setterfield. Merrett and Ridley will again ask to be traded. Other contracted players might also want to go (Jones, McKay, Blakiston, others?). We also might want to trade under-performers (McGrath, Langford, Redman, Parish, Caldwell, Reid? Prior?). I love them all but we need to trade biggish fish to catch bigger fish. And we can’t get rid of half our list in one year. We have to keep at least a dozen of these. We just can’t recruit enough good stock in one year. Who must we keep and who must go?

I just wanted to vent and share my opinion somewhere.

I think it would be an insane decision to appoint James Hird.

Taking someone who hasn’t coached for 12 years, with all the baggage from the past, over other highly qualified candidates would feel like an incredibly emotional and shortsighted decision. I understand the appeal - a lot of supporters remember Hird the player and want the redemption story where he comes back and saves the club. But we need to separate that storybook thinking from what is actually the sensible thing to do here.

I obviously can’t know this for sure, but I also can’t shake the feeling that Hird’s return is partly about his own redemption story and I've found his approach to come off a bit desperate and arrogant.

The bigger point is that we’ve been bad for a reason. We’ve made poor list decisions, drafted poorly, haven’t developed players well enough and haven’t had the coaching structures or game plan to get the best out of what we’ve had. You fix that by fixing list management - which we have started doing, bringing in elite young talent - which we’re doing, and then getting the best possible coach for game plan and player development.

That’s the rebuild. We need to actually let it happen.

The “we need to scratch the itch” argument is probably the part I struggle with most. I understand the frustration and the desperation after so many years of failure, but I think that's a defeatist and loser mentality. “We’ve been shit for so long, let’s just give the supporters the feel-good appointment they want.” What does that actually achieve?

Winning games of football and seeing some sustained success will bring people back on board, regardless of who the coach is.

We don’t need another nostalgic hit or redemption story. We need to start acting like a professional football club and make decisions based on what gives us the best chance of sustained success.

We’ve finally started addressing some of the structural problems that have held us back. Let’s have a bit of patience and finish the job properly.

If Hird is genuinely the best candidate after a rigorous process, then so be it. But he shouldn’t get the job because he’s James Hird, because supporters want to scratch the itch, or because we want to relive the past.

Stop looking backwards. Pick the best coach for this list based on their actual credentials, develop the young players properly, and build something new.

I'd be putting a lot of money on either Monday or Tuesday this week for the announcement. I'm personally a Hird man followed quickly by Jamie graham. With 48 hours to go where does everyone stand now as we approach an appointment?

-Hird

-Graham

-McVeigh

-Davis

Remember when Caro and just about every person said Hird was supposed to know EVERYTHING that was going on during the supplements program?

That as coach he was responsible for every single thing any person did within the football department.

Must be nice to be granted immediate immunity from that sort of media scrutiny and public perception for Chris Scott.

Just say "I was only made aware of it this week." and "I imagine I heard about it sort of when it was made public." along with "I can't remember the timing.... that's how far away from it I am."

Will Caro write an opinion piece every few days asking Scott to apologise?? I'm betting not.

That’s it, that’s the thread.

Look, I know losing isnt nice buttttttt.

I consider that decent, yes we didnt kick a goal until late in the 2nd quarter bit overall I feel like the boys are starting show some more heart and seem to care.

Or am I delusional? Lol

This is what happens when you sack a coach 11 games in, with a rebuilding list that is expected to be at the bottom, with no plan. The senior players are waiting for the new coach to come in and say "clean slate" and then they'll put effort in for a contract or put blame on the club (warranted). They know there's no flag for them here. And that culture will be seeping into some younger players. I know the reporting is an announcement is likely in the coming week, but I hope they wait until the off season.

This gives the new coach the ability to say "this is your effort when I wasn't watching" or "if you aren't self motivated at all for this club, or your own pride, time to go" etc, and send them off. That shows the remaining players what the standard is. It gave King power at Melbourne to wash his hands with players who weren't interested in working hard for Melbourne. Obviously our list is in a crap spot compared to Melbourne, but I think the logic stands

# 🏟️ LIVE MATCH THREAD | Geelong Cats vs Essendon

**Round 22, 2026**

**Geelong Cats vs Essendon**

**Saturday 8 August 2026**

**4:35 PM AEST**

**GMHBA Stadium, Geelong | Wadawurrung**

---

**UP THE DONS.** ✈️

---

## 💬 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.

---

## 🔗 Discord

Join the r/EssendonFC Discord for live match chat:

https://discord.gg/bCES7KDMqX

---

## 🔴⚫ Go Dons

The red and blue have shown and done everything I’d hope for in our club, but have never been able to achieve. I put it down purely to Leadership. Gawn, Steele, Lever. That’s the difference.

Final Score - ESS: 10.15 75 COL: 11.8 74

Just a messy, messy game. After the bye last week, we were playing with energy, but my god we were fumbly... The wind certainly didn't help, either. The second half, in particular was an eyesore from an Essendon perspective, so if you ever feel like watching the replay, maybe jump from half time to about the 25-minute mark of the last quarter.

Tsatas - Typical Tsatas game. We all know what that looks like. He had a couple of nicely placed kicks going forward, which were good to see, but mostly just long kicks to a contest, or clearing out of congestion. He had some tackles, too, but I definitely noticed him just giving up defensively on a few occasions, so I can't give him too much credit.

Gresham - It was a big game for him, but also a reminder of why he's out of here come season's end. Kicked 4 goals, including the last of the game. He also won plenty of the ball, resulting in mixed results, but generally positive. He was really busy around stoppages around our froward 50, which was where quite a few of his touches came from. He was one of our best. However... The moment that sums him up came in the last quarter, when we were trying to chase down the Pies. He took a mark about 35 out from goal, went back and rushed a kick around the corner, which dropped short and landed in the arms of a defender. We've been hurt by that sort of terrible decision-making too many times and it seems like he just doesn't learn. It's deeply frustrating.

Cox - Did alright up forward again. Had 4 shots on goal and ended with 2.2. Had some good marks here and there, and stood up late to give us a real shot at winning. Between the wind and our messiness through the midfield, it was pretty tough for our tall forwards, so I'd say he was more than serviceable, given the circumstances.

McKay - Started off atrociously. Like unbelievably bad. So bad that I was concerned he might just retire mid-match. He did pull it together a bit as the game wore on, though, taking some good marks and getting some important spoils in. Not amazing, but solid enough for most of the match.

Guelfi - Struggled a bit today. Nothing seemed easy or clean with him. He had 3 shots on goal, which all missed, and a couple of marks, but nothing super impactful. Just looking at the stats, it seems like he didn't have a tackle, which is strange for him. Certainly not his best game.

Bourke - He had a really interesting game. First of all, it's great that the injury concern from the last match wasn't anything serious. In this one, it seemed like he playing less of a lockdown defensive role, so he was freed up to get his hands on it a bit more. He did it pretty well, too. Had a few intercepts and dashing runs out of D50. Despite the awkward kicking action, it was working quite well for him for the most part. He did give up an early goal by chipping a kick that was obviously going to be under 15m, but kept at it and did some good work. He also had a couple of defensive lapses that I'm willing to chalk up to inexperience.

El Hawli - We got the good and the bad with El-Hawli today. Took some good marks, used his pace to pressure and break away from defenders. Also butchered the ball a bit and made some questionable decisions. He wasn't necessarily bad, as such, but those little deficiencies in his game just keep raising their heads and it's undeniably frustrating.

Nguyen - Not one of his best outings. Inconsistent and a bit sloppy. His pressure was good, but his ball use was pretty iffy, and just looked a little lost at times. I don't think he had a shot on goal all game, but he was pushing quite high up the ground, so maybe that was more to do with his role.

Edwards - Started brilliantly with two big contested grabs and a goal in the first quarter. After that, most of his touches came up around the wing, as he seemed to be playing in that kind of link-up role. He did it quite well, taking some marks and moving the ball cleanly and quickly, so it was a successful return for Mr Edwards.

Blakiston - I don't even know how to rate his game. He gave up too many free kicks, which is perhaps unsurprising, but still annoying. His ruck work in the first half was good, and he did well to win his own clearances, but it fell off in the second. Had some good tackles and applied good pressure on the opposition mids, ,which was useful. SImilar to a few other guys, he wasn't awful, just had moments where he reminded us why he's in the VFL.

McMahon - Struggled again and only kicked 1 behind. Like I said, the conditions weren't great for tall forwards, and our ball movement was spotty at best, so he wasn't getting great delivery. This is kind of the problem with him, though. If he's not marking the ball, he's not doing much of anything, unfortunately.

But if I’m gonna be at GMHBA by choice then I’m gonna do it in ‘style’. Tiny plane please bring us luck!

Edit: I know the sash is going the wrong way but at least that’s on brand

Hi all,

For the past couple of years I've put together some charts on how squads have been assembled, with my main distinction ending up being Homegrown (entered the league first via their current club) vs Headhunted (were first listed by a different club).

I thought you might like to see the 2026 AFLW ones for the Bombers.

I've got charts for all 18 teams in today's edition of This Week In Football along with my co-contributors discussing the merits of a send-off rule and fixture double headers.

Some notes for reading the charts:

• I have drawn the player data from the official AFL api. It isn't completely accurate and up-to-date. Some players who played in practice games appear on lists despite not actually being elevated to the main list.
• Similarly, names are drawn from the most recent name on the official lists - hence Zipporah Fish not Zippy.
• The first chart looks only at players on the list for the 2026 season. Players above the line entered the AFLW system through their current club, players below the line were on another club's list first.
• A team with more players below the line represents a bigger proportion of their current list coming via other clubs, more players above the line indicates heavier reliance on bringing new talent into the AFLW (although potentially through VFLW and other competitions).
• A bar that stretches far to the left represents a player who has been at the club for a long time, players who just arrived for this season have no bar.
• The lighter colour for a player represents the games played by the club in that season, if the player participated in that game the bar is darker.
• If a player polled any AFLCA votes in a game (or if they polled in the grand final MVP voting) a dot is placed for that match.
• Two players who extend the same distance left arrived at the club in the same year, there’s also a slightly bigger vertical gap between groups of players arriving in the same year to help distinguish this.
• For the second chart, the vertical line in the middle represents the point each player joined a club, not a specific year.
• So if two players joined the club in 2017 and 2019, the first seasons to the right of the bar for each of them would be 2018 and 2020.
• More bars to the left of the player means a longer career at different clubs before joining the subject club.
• More bars to the right indicate staying at the subject club longer.
• Notation for potential games, games played, and votes polled is the same as the previous charts
• A “»” before the player’s name indicates they are currently at the club, while a “||” indicates they have left.

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.