The Bombers want to redevelop their home base to keep pace with AFL rivals, but share the Windy Hill precinct with both the Essendon cricket and bowling clubs.
Essendon is close to reaching an arrangement with the cricket club that will allow them to remain anchored at Windy Hill in the future instead of being forced to train at La Trobe University in the off-season, but relocating the bowling club is proving more difficult.
With free agency on the horizon, Robson is desperate to resolve the issue as he believes once it is introduced the facilities that clubs can offer players off the field will become critical.
“We want a level playing field here,” Robson said.
“It’s not just about what’s at Whitten Oval or what’s at Arden Street, it’s about what’s going to be at Subiaco and what’s at Adelaide.
“This is a very, very intense competition and in two years’ time we’ve got free agency coming into the landscape.
“They [players] are going to be interviewing clubs, not the other way around, and we want to have a facility and infrastructure here that is the level that is at the competitive mark of the competition.
“And if we do nothing here at Windy Hill, it won’t.”
Speaking from Essendon’s headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, Robson admitted his club might have to pack up and move should it not be able to come to an agreement with the bowls club.
The Bombers chief said his club was in negotiations not only with the bowls club, but also the local council as Essendon tried to find a workable solution.
Robson didn’t nominate a deadline for the ongoing discussions but was philosophical about what may lie ahead should the Bombers not be able to come to a workable solution with the bowling club.
“If that doesn’t happen, we look at the reality and we’ll have to move,” he said.
“One thing that is not sustainable, it’s not an option, is for our club to continue to send its elite footballers - with all due respect to the fine facilites at La Trobe University - off site to train during the summer months.
“That’s not sustainable and that’s not what this club is going to stand for going forward.”
Robson said the Bombers were yet to formally look at alternate training bases, but had been approached once news of the possible move spread.
“We’ve had a lot of organisations come to us,” he said.
“Some of them are private land owners, some of them are local authorities. We’ll continue to explore. Who knows - it may well be we put an ad in the paper calling for expressions of interest?”
Robson said Essendon’s facilities had slipped in the AFL pecking order.
“If we were to compare candidly where our facilities stood say five years ago we would have thought we were probably in the top four [in the competition] and we’re probably now looking to be in the bottom four or five,” he said.
“The rate of acceleration in that space has been extraordinary, and we intend to be competitive in this space.
“This club has been a force on and off the field for many, many years and we’re not going to stand idly back and allow us to fall behind the competition.”
Meanwhile, the Bombers chief labelled speculation that his club might be courting Hawks list manager Chris Pelchen as “complete nonsense”.
