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ESSENDON has set itself for a genuine tilt at the premiership next year after its most active and successful trade period in more than two decades.
The triple acquisition of Jake Stringer, Devon Smith and Adam Saad should power the Bombers from being a possible finals side in 2018 to a flag contender. It is doubtless the most talented Essendon list since the last time they were premiers in 2000.
Speedy Sun Saad off to the Bombers
And the club's ability to bring in all three players, without losing any of their own via manoeuvering picks and future selections, adds further weight to the view the Bombers are one of the big winners out of this year's NAB AFL Trade Period.
Trading has not been Essendon's forte in the past, and at the launch of the trade period earlier this month, long-time list manager Adrian Dodoro bristled at suggestions his club was hard to deal with.
As outlined by AFL.com.au in the lead-up to the trade period, Essendon, after finishing in the top-eight but being belted by the Swans, needed to hit this trade period hard.
They planned well and executed it. Some canny use of the salary cap allowed the Bombers to finally have room to hit the market, and they beat other suitors to Smith and Saad. The queue was narrowed to one for Stringer by the end, but his deal was the most difficult to navigate as the Dogs stood firm.
Each player's arrival adds something different to the Bombers. Smith will add more pace and drive to a crop of buzzing midfielders, while Saad will play off half-back and free up Andy McGrath for more midfield time.
Bombers win race for in-demand Giant
Stringer will bolster an already formidable Essendon attack, and the onus will also be on the Bulldogs premiership star to get fitter and spend more time in the midfield.
As a medium, leading forward who plays a bit taller than he is, Stringer could also release Cale Hooker to play in his more natural defensive post (he kicked 41 goals last season but Essendon missed him in the backline).
Many will argue that despite the Bombers' busy period, they didn't address their most pressing need: for inside midfielders and big bodies at the contest. This was an issue obvious in their disastrous elimination final loss to Sydney.
It's a fair point. Smith (175cm) will join a midfield of smaller types, including Zach Merrett (180cm), McGrath (178cm) and David Zaharakis (180cm). The Bombers have been reluctant to place Merrett and Parish inside the centre square together without a bigger body among them, and Smith won't be that guy.
With Jobe Watson retiring, Brendon Goddard not playing that inside midfield role and questions over David Myers' durability, the Bombers may look to Kyle Langford to step up in that position as he enters a crunch fourth season of his career. There's an opening there for Langford to take.
Not since 1995, when the Bombers brought in Sean Wellman and Paul Barnard, and also made the deal to gain Matthew Lloyd as a compensation selection, have the Bombers hit the market so aggressively.
Essendon defends its poor history of trading by pointing to a tight salary cap following the 2000 premiership, a turbulent period after Kevin Sheedy's departure and then the ASADA saga.
But in luring and landing Stringer, Saad and Smith, Essendon not only added some potential match-winners and players capable of lifting it from the middle of the ladder to the top rungs. In two weeks' good work, the Bombers also improved their reputation at the trade table.
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