AFL Assistance for Essendon? Mark Duffield - The Editorial (15.07.2026)

**Mark Duffield** (0:00)
So good, so good, so good.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
New summer arrivals are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Get ready to save big with up to 60 percent off brands like Rag & Bone, Levi's, Adidas, and Free People. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free.
Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

**Paris Hilton** (0:26)
Hey, babes, it's Paris Hilton. So I was checking my points balance in the Hilton Honors app the other day, and yeah, I've got about a billion, which feels excessive, even for me. Just kidding. You can never have too many Hilton Honors points. And I want to do something iconic this summer, so I'm giving away all my Paris points. Just find somewhere you've always wanted to stay, then go to my socials or Hilton's and tell me about it. Just make sure you're a Hilton Honors member, and I might be sending you Paris points, because when you want points that make your summer even hotter, it matters where you stay.

**Mark Duffield** (0:57)
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the SENWA radio studio. We're out here at Optus Stadium. It is a Wednesday morning in Perth. We are here thanks to Beaumont Homes. Award-winning design, built to be loved forever. Warm and sunny in our fair city today, a top of 24 degrees, made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.
So, OK, folks, it is on. Essendon are in talks with the AFL over the possibility, let's make that the likelihood, that they will be granted some form of draft concessions from the league at the end of this disastrous season. Now, I know that draft concessions spark a lot of passion amongst footy fans. So, I'd love to hear from a range of views from you today. If you're one of the people that says they shouldn't get any, if you're one of the people who thinks they should get something, what do you think they should get? So afl.com.au was last night reporting that Essendon is likely to get a draft package similar to the one that West Coast got at the end of the 2025 season. And West Coast, of course, were able to take Willem Dersma with the first pick in the draft, and then take Cooper Duff-Titler with a pick inside the top five as free agency compensation for the loss of Oscar Allen. And then they were able to trade in Brandon Starcevich with a pick gained from the league as part of a concession package, which saw them handed a pick at the end of the first round. Now, you throw in Josh Lindsay, who the Eagles took at pick 19, and West Coast were effectively able to harvest three top level talents and a high level AFL defender in one trade and draft period, in a significant boost to their rebuild.
Let's not forget that Harley Reid, Job Shanahan and Ruben Jinby were already at the club pre the concessions.
So if we look at Essendon by comparison or contrast, Nate Caddy and Sullivan Roby side, the Bombers may not yet have that level of existing talent. It is understood that the AFL is likely to turn down an Essendon request that they block any Tasmanian Devils attempt to bid on their father, son and NGA prospects for 2027 Now, Kobe Buick, the son of Darren and a couple of handy NGA players, including David Roden's son, some of the players the Bombers want Tasmania kept away from. So West Coast had to drop as low as winning 11 games off 4 seasons before the AFL granted them assistance. The Kangaroos won just one more game than the Eagles across a 4 year stretch before the AFL intervened to help them.
Whether you think that Essendon deserves assistance probably depends on whether you take a longer or shorter term view at the list and performance. So the Bombers have won 18 of their last 69 games over 3 seasons. It's a poor record, but hardly catastrophic.
But they have won just once this year, and they lost their last 13 last year. They sacked Brad Scott and inserted interim coach Dean Solomon, but things have gotten worse, not better. They were beaten by 67 points by St Kilda 2 weeks ago, and they were flogged by 90 points by Brisbane at the weekend. Now had Brisbane not taken the foot off the pedal in the final term and allowed 7 Essendon goals, this would have been one of the worst AFL performances in recent memory.
If you are a regular listener to this show, you will know that I stopped opposing draft concessions to struggling teams some time ago. I stress struggling teams because teams in the northern states are well past the point where they need draft concessions. Essendon haven't won a final in more than 20 years. Right now, their list looks as bad as West Coast and North Melbourne's did at any time during their dark days at the bottom of the ladder. Whether we like it or not, the AFL runs its competition as a business, and having a team like Essendon trawl the bottom reaches of the ladder is bad for business. Having any team, regardless of size, win one of 30 games is very bad for business. So my view is get in and help them fix it. This might take more than it took to fix the Eagles. Zach Merritt is tipped to try to leave again this year, and the Bombers should definitely let him go this time. That means the search for good players will start with the loss of their best player. Give us your thoughts. 487 736 736 is the text line. Let's have your thoughts and questions. 13 12 55 is the Barra and Doday open line. If you feel strongly about this enough to give us a call.