I’M FEELING A LITTLE NATALIE IMBRUGLIA
I’m torn.
Torn between two needs.
Do I want to see the Essendon Football Club win more games this season, or do I want it to continue to bring in the best available talent in the country by sucking just a little bit longer?
It’s something that as a Bombers fan I’ve grappled with countless times over the past 20 years – we all have. Losing sucks and doing it for what seems an endless span of time, is exhausting. But as is the design of the AFL, in most cases underperforming in the short term is the necessary ingredient to reviving a club’s fortunes in the long term.
That is of course, unless you’re fucking Geelong.
But for the rest of us mere mortals, heading to the draft and getting picks early is the key to being able to fight your way out of the doldrums. It is a long and often arduous journey from cellar dweller to the wild card, finals and what we all hope for … grand finals and premierships. And despite the inequities of modern-day football; academies, father/son selections, free agency and any other number of factors that have assisted in cultivating a unequal playing field for football clubs, you need only look to the likes of Adelaide and North Melbourne to see that it is possible to build the bulk of your team via the draft.
Now, no one wants to live down in the depths as the Kangaroos have for as long as they have – but it is mightily evident that they have drafted the right foundations for this new list. They got Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw at picks 3 and 4, respectively in 2022. They took Colby McKercher and then Zane Duursma with picks 2 and 4 the following year, and then Finn O’Sullivan at pick 2 in 2024. They’ve even had success at some rookie drafts and so on, but their recent haul of early picks is the key. And it’s gradually paying dividends. One wonders how much more they’d be paying off now had Jason Horne-Francis stayed at Arden Street, once their prized number 1 pick from 2021.
It’s been tough for them, but now, should all things continue to point in the right direction, North Melbourne look likely to start moving back into the thick of things. Beltings will still occur while things get off the ground, their most-recent loss to the Crows was pure vomit. But there is progress – visible progress. And it’s all off the back of seasons with no more than 2, 3 and 3 wins.
Hot take … Sullivan Robey is pretty fuckin’ good at football.
This is the sort of area Essendon are in right now. Though the rebuild technically started in the draft season of 2023, this year in particular feels a little bit like ground zero. Matt Rosa and Brad Scott have begun to collect the pieces they think can bring about the Dons next sustained period of success, but it’s still half-baked. Sure, we have Nate Caddy, Isaac Kako, Archer May, Archie Roberts and the trio of jets from the 2025 draft class (Sullivan Robey, Dyson Sharp and Jacob Farrow), but they’re not enough. The utter misery that was Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Dockers was evidence of that. There are green shoots – but each line has huge holes. Sure, trades can fill many of the gaps down the line, but the future of this club still requires more success at the draft, and with the Tasmania Devils on the nearest horizon, absolutely nailing this year’s National Draft is simply non-negotiable. There can be no mistakes. And with the class of 2026 still very up in the air once you look beyond the top three prospects, the earlier the pick the better.
Thus, the conundrum.
My torn feelings.
Because this Friday night’s matchup against Richmond is easily the club’s most winnable game in the foreseeable. And no doubt, the Tigers will be thinking the exact same thing. Though when you look at the side Richmond has available to cobble together, it isn’t much chop. Their injury list is giving vibes of Essendon circa 2025, with their collection of TBC’s seemingly growing by the second!
The pressure is on for Friday’s bottom of the table clash … with so much on the line for people who rhyme with Bad Pott.
Should the Bombers win, it will give the club a solitary 4-point lead over the Tigers with a little percentage as a buffer. Suddenly, should we sneak another unlikely win somewhere down the track we’d be an outside chance to even leapfrog West Coast (less likely now after that surprise W over the Giants) and possibly Carlton, should the Blues get back to their usual miserable ways. Sidenote, the Bulldogs ruined my Saturday evening by falling for the oldest trick in the book … ‘The Interim Coach Bump’. Apparently, we all saw it coming, except for those out west. But anyway, and most importantly, this singular win against Richmond would also take us further away from being a solid chance at nabbing pick number 1 and the likes of Noah Williams, Kobe LeCras and my favourite of those available Harry Van Hattum. With so much top end talent aligned to academies and father/son selections, being as low to the bottom is crucial.
But so too is the opposite – which simply put – is progressing as a football team.
Right here right now.
Because Essendon may falter against the Tigers and not win another game for the remainder of the season, it can happen. It would be a worse result than 10 years prior during the top-up season of ‘16, but it can happen. What would that do to our playing list that is with us right now? What would that do to the psyche of a group of young men just dying to be a member of a successful team? What would that do to Caddy or Kako? Or the trio? And what would it do for seniors like Zach Merrett and Jordan Ridley, who could just as easily request another trade away from Melrose Drive.
Losing is just like winning, it becomes a habit. You do anything long enough and it suddenly can become second nature. Have a gander at quality outfits in the AFL like Sydney, Geelong and Hawthorn. Each has only flirted with the concept of falling into the void once or twice since the turn of the century, yet very rarely have. Even in their weakest patches, no opposition would take them lightly. Because quality outfits, whether at their peak or sliding into a minor trough know how to win. And if you think you can take them lightly, do so at your own peril. Because at clubs like these, winning is an engrained habit. A culture. In the same way that at clubs like Carlton and Essendon, losing has almost become a way of life. Second nature. It is this reality that has me torn between tomorrow and today.
Getting the next young gun would be a delight, but at what cost today? How close do we want to sail this ship to oblivion, only to have survived, but be several key sailors short after they’ve all jumped ship.
It’s why I know winning remains important in 2026. It’s why hope is necessary.
And it’s why a quality win on Dreamtime is beyond needed. This club has shown some good signs here and there this season, with a win and two honourable losses for their efforts. But drubbings have been the main course this season, a flavour the players and fans alike are sick to death of tasting. So now it’s time to get our second win, a true reward. What will be will be when it comes to the draft order, and unlike in days of old, I have faith our new recruitment team actually knows what they’re doing.
We’ll be okay when November rolls around, and don’t forget the mid-season draft before that! God knows we’re great with those picks!
But what’s important for now is a win over the Tiges on the big stage at the MCG. It is essential! Because there’s no tonic for misery quite like fuckin’ up an old rival in front of the entire nation on a Friday night!
Go Planes.