Mornings with Mark Duffield FULL SHOW (03.06.2026)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
No one goes to Hanks for his spreadsheets. They go for a darn good pizza. Lately though, the shop's been quiet. So, Hanks decides to bring back the $1 slice. He asks Copilot in Microsoft Excel to look at his sales and costs, to help him see if he can afford it. Copilot shows Hanks where the money's going, and which little extras make the dollar slice work. Now, Hanks has a line out the door. Hanks makes the pizza, Copilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at m365copilot.com/work.

**Mark Duffield** (0:32)
Made in WA, for WA.

**Eliza Reilly** (0:34)
This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SEN WA.

**Mark Duffield** (0:40)
Hello everybody, welcome to the SEN WA Radio Studio. We're out here at Optus Stadium. It is a Wednesday morning in Perth, a chilly one too, 11 degrees outside at the moment, building to a top of 18 degrees later in the day. Made in WA, for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SEN WA. News yesterday that Essendon have formally asked for a draft assistance package from the AFL. And I'll be carrying out talks with the league in the coming weeks to work out what form that assistance may or may not take. Now, as far as I'm concerned, they should absolutely get assistance. So AFL clubs and their supporters are the greatest bunch of imbys you can imagine. Yes, that's imbys, not nimbys.
When it comes to anything that might help them, they are the absolute opposite to those who oppose development or infrastructures near their homes.
It's yes, definitely in my backyard when it comes to allowing them in someone else's backyard, all hell breaks loose. So the bombers are broken. Maybe they wouldn't look quite as broken without the injuries, but they are broken nonetheless. They've just sacked their coach. Let's remove the whole question of whether to herd or not to herd from this debate. Essendon's list is poor. They're about to confront the draft concessions given to Tasmania. They need help or we are looking at a club anchored to the bottom for several seasons. Is it self-inflicted? It's mainly self-inflicted. There have been injuries and plenty of them. Two of their three top 10 picks from the 2020 National Draft, Nick Cox and Zach Reid have experienced significant injury issues. Their best defender Jordan Ridley has played 106 games in 8.5 seasons in this competition and he's not managed more than 10 and either of the last two completed. He's played just two of his 12 this year. He may play this week, but he's going to struggle to get to 10 games again. The already wrecked Essendon team that had just sacked Brad Scott came to Perth without Ridley and also Peter Wright, Captain Andrew McGraw, midfielder Sam Durham, defender Mason Redman and utility Matt Guelphie. They lost forward Archer May early in the match.
Now, if we go back to West Coast list collapse, it included a long injury list and misses in recruiting.
Like the Bombers, a mix of misfortune and self-inflicted misadventure. People cried foul when the previously successful Eagles were granted draft concessions. I'm sure there will be similar opposition to Essendon. The AFL should ignore the outcry and get on with helping the Bombers become competitive again.
So much of the AFL is about brand protection. Helping Essendon or any other struggling club bounce a little more quickly is good for the brand, so how about we just get on with it? And let's not be hypocrites about this. Let's not wint and moan about a struggling club getting a leg up because so many clubs receive leg ups of some shape or form. Collingwood, their 2023 flag team had three father sons, all guns. Two day costs, one more. The same people who winched about West Coast draft concessions just a few years after their 2018 flag had no issues with Collingwood getting their best player, Nick Dacos, under the father son rule, even less years after the Pies had played in that famous 2018 Grand Final. So Brisbane, please, let's not even get started. Three gun father sons in 2025, one won his second Norm Smith medal. That was Will Ashcroft. He's got plenty of more years to go. And then there are their Academy picks. The Lions moved smoothly from flag celebrations to the draft, where they took top five pick Dan Annable.
The Gold Coast, finalist last year with several Academy picks on board and more arriving at an alarming rate, including two top end draft picks in the draft last year after they beat Fremantle in the final here.
The AFL is the most unequal, equalized competition imaginable. So when a team hits the bottom and threatens to stay there, let's do something about it. They constantly prop up Northern States teams because it's good for the code. It's good for footy in WA for West Coast to show signs they're starting to climb back up the ladder. It's not good for footy for any club, let alone a big one like the Bombers to be stuck at the bottom. As long as the AFL is just as happy to move as quickly for other clubs, it's not a problem. It's called consistency. The league should look it up in the dictionary and help the Bombers out. Your thoughts are welcome. 487 736 736, that is the text line. 1312 55 is the Barra and Doday open line. Barra and Doday, because the little things are everything. Let's get on to Four Thoughts on sport to get us rolling this morning. And first thought is on the news that all time great tennis star Serena Williams will return to tennis, at least to play doubles at Queen's Club in the run into Wimbledon. It sparked speculation of a return to the tour. Let's not get carried away. Serena hasn't played seriously for four years. She turns 45 in September. She may return to the tour. She will not dominate the tour. Time stands still for no man or woman, not even the goat of women's tennis. Second thought is on the annual Hands Able AFL game, which this year of course will be North Melbourne versus Fremantle on Saturday. It's a North home game. It's obviously a place near and dear to my heart, Hands Memorial Oval. Let's make sure this multi-year deal doesn't fizzle out into nothing in years to come. It's good financially for North and it's good for WA footy. We need more footy in WA.