{"id":593,"date":"2023-10-27T11:17:55","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T08:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/593\/1664b1ecce08fa8b4a6afbb7253778a0\/"},"modified":"2023-10-27T11:17:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T08:17:57","slug":"1664b1ecce08fa8b4a6afbb7253778a0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=593","title":{"rendered":"Essendon Bombers, Ben McKay, Jade Gresham, Todd Goldstein, top eight, potential, big moves, analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Essendon is shaping up to be one of the ‘big trade winners’ after securing three players – and still managing to retain its prized pick 9 in the upcoming draft.<\/p>\n

The Bombers landed Jade Gresham as a restricted free agent on Friday when St Kilda opted not to match the offer \u2013 instead getting pick 21 (currently) as compensation.<\/p>\n

This follows deals for Ben McKay and Todd Goldstein that did not require a trade, with the possible addition of Port’s Xavier Duursma still scheduled for the final days of next week’s trade period.<\/p>\n

Boxing: Tim Tszyu defends his world<\/a> title against Brian Mendoza SUNDAY OCT 15 12PM AEDT | <\/i>Order<\/b><\/i> now with the Main Event on Kayo Sports<\/b><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI like what Essendon did \u2013 I think they did it very well,\u201d Leigh Montagna said on Fox Footy. Trading day<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrad Scott preached patience\u2026 but now they have gone wonderfully and got to three, even four players so far.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\n

The Bombers paid big money for McKay! | 02:18<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cTo try to recharge where they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be a challenge for all eight.\u201d<\/p>\n

His colleague Nick Dal Santo agreed that the Bombers should aim for the final in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this roster, if it plays at a level close to its potential, better than what we saw with last year’s team? Absolutely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be around eight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montagna believes McKay’s inclusion in the Bombers will play a crucial role in their finals hopes – comparing the fullback to Lions star Harris Andrews.<\/p>\n

Stats show that McKay averaged a +7.5% 1-on-1 win<\/a> rate against Andrews and +1 steal per game, while trailing only 0.1% in steal possessions over the last two years.<\/p>\n

\u201c(McKay) has taken the most steals in the last two years per game,\u201d Montagna said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m surprised by some of Ben McKay’s football<\/a> comments.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\n

Dogs’ young gun gets monster contract | 01:31<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cThe suggestion that he has only played a handful of good games or that he is not a top player is far from the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we’ve seen that his best is very, very good.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis numbers compare as well as anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to remember that he played on a team that sees more of the ball going into their backline with no real defensive system than any other team. I think by going to a team that will have a better defensive setup, he will have better defenders around him. I think we’ll see the best of this guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, Essendon has been the big winner in this trading period so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dal Santo said he also evaluated Gresham’s recruitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has more upside\u2026 he has the ability to win matches,\u201d he praised.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been St Kilda\u2019s version of (Jordan) De Goey, (Christian) Petracca or Dusty (Martin) \u2013 he\u2019s definitely not at that level. He has the traits of some of those guys.<\/p>\n

Statistics show Gresham is one of five current players to average more than 18 disposals and a goal in their career – joining Martin, Patrick Dangerfield, Toby Greene and De Goey.<\/p>\n

<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\n

Why Port must bet on Cat | 02:40<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cMaybe he\u2019s not the best runner in the competition, maybe his kicking is a little slow \u2013 he\u2019s a player who has qualities that are among the best players in the competition.\u201d , Montagna said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re definitely not saying he fits that mold yet\u2026but he’s got that talent in him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Essendon is shaping up to be one of the ‘big trade winners’ after securing three players – and still managing to retain its prized pick 9 in the upcoming draft. The Bombers landed Jade Gresham as a restricted free agent on Friday when St Kilda opted not to match the offer \u2013 instead getting pick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[727,721,698,720,719,724,662,661,722,726,725,723,357],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-analysis","tag-ben","tag-big","tag-bombers","tag-essendon","tag-goldstein","tag-gresham","tag-jade","tag-mckay","tag-moves","tag-potential","tag-todd","tag-top"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5069,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions\/5069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}