It’s time for Essendon to commit to that dastardly four-letter word beginning with “t” in order to fully maximise their ability to shoot up the ladder in 2026.
It was the Skyhooks who once said “ego is not a dirty word”. Well, neither is “tank”.
Would the Bombers losing games from here really equate to tanking? They’ve fallen apart due to injury this season in a massive way, and it has left them with the third-worst percentage in the entire league, so there’s an argument to be made that it doesn’t really count.
Right now, they’re expecting some important cattle back, but the absence of quality key position players will likely be felt for the remainder of the year.
Unfortunately, Kyle Langford has re-injured himself and seemingly put a bow on a disastrous season for a fringe All-Australian quality player of the last couple of seasons. But Mason Redman will be back soon after a minor setback, there are hopes that Zach Reid is simply sore and will be ready to also return, Jordan Ridley is arguably the Dons’ most important player and will come back, while Sam Durham returns from suspension.
Here’s the thing – winning is great and obviously the end goal, but the Bombers have been presented an excellent opportunity to simply lean into the chance to continue to offer young players more responsibility in key moments.
There has been a lot of conjecture around Zach Merrett’s usage this season, for example. He has been a bit of a utility through the year, but especially since things took a turn for the Bombers from a health perspective. He has mainly been used on a flank at either end and peripherally around contests, instead of the main man.
That is perfect use of the skipper in 2025. Let’s be honest, what is there to achieve this year for Essendon that warrants playing their veteran through the middle full time, other than some sort of boost for fantasy coaches?
By playing the role of conduit, a clear head in a manic situation escaping defence or sending the ball inside 50, he offers excellent service for young players at either end.
The reward? Speedy development, particularly of Jye Caldwell and Durham, Will Setterfield getting the opportunity to prove himself as an impactful AFL player for the future, at either Essendon or increasing his trade value elsewhere, and minutes for other players.
The Darcy Parish conundrum comes at season’s end as he becomes a lowly-relied upon player at the club or a trade target elsewhere, but the fact Essendon has barely had to worry about trying to fit him in this year has actually been of benefit. This isn’t to diminish the 27-year-old’s efforts, but he’s a certain type of player without versatility and that doesn’t quite fit the agenda.
In the NBA, some players are known as “tank commanders”. Sometimes it comes in the form of just giving the keys to guys down the depth chart and let them put up numbers while not playing winning basketball.
More pertinently in this scenario, it also comes from giving some young guys the chance to run the show and experience the responsibility in real time, to accelerate development.
Jye Caldwell looks dejected after Essendon’s loss to St Kilda in 2024. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
For the rest of the season, this can offer a risk-free chance at sink-or-swim opportunities for guys like Elijah Tsatas and Ben Hobbs in the middle, who suffer from the same positional ailment as Parish without over half a decade’s worth of experience.
If they play well, it gives them confidence without needing to be match-winning pieces right now. If they can’t take advantage of the opportunities, then so be it, you tried.
Already, we’ve seen the benefits of playing Archie Roberts and Nate Caddy all year long. Roberts is well and truly in the race for the Rising Star award and has played some great footy, but has been given unnaturally defensive roles at times as part of his development.
He has done it well in the moment, but it’s not what lies in his future. Maybe Brad Scott has been pulling the strings all along.
Caddy is just fun. He isn’t a winning player right now and fits the bill of said “tank commander”, but that’s not necessarily a derogatory term when we are able to embrace the fact that Essendon has some really strong young guys coming through. Who knows, Archer May could be his long-term partner in crime.
Caddy has been a highlight machine and grabbed headlines, but he has still only kicked 15.16 in 14 games, averaging 11 disposals and four marks. This is an awesome start for a 19-year-old, but it’s not winning footy. And that’s the mutually beneficial point we’re talking about here.
Vigo Visentini has played one game and his opponent was best afield pretty convincingly, but if you watched that game and didn’t come out of it impressed by his competitiveness, commitment and follow-up work, we might be seeing different things.
One game can have a transformative effect – the Sam Draper financial commitment becomes a little more tolerable to put a cap on the offer and ensure maximum draft pick compensation from a move to Brisbane, the pressure on Nick Bryan to be the only option eases, and quite frankly, we don’t need to see Todd Goldstein play every game for the year. Give the man a rest, he needs it.
Ben McKay’s current timeframe for a return is TBC. Switch that to “season”, give him rest and recovery and let him work to being the good partner to Zach Reid that he can be in 2026.
Out of necessity, the Bombers have blooded so many different young guys it’s impossible to list them all, but it’s entirely possible to see them having careers at the level.
They’ve had to use 40 players so far this season and have blooded a number of debutants that bring back memories of darker times at Essendon.
The Bombers have finished in the bottom four once in the last eight years, while squeezing into finals three times.
If we extend back a little further, ignoring the 2016 asterisk season when the ‘Essendon 34’ copped their WADA ban, since 2007 they’ve finished in the bottom four three times and played finals just six times in 17 years.
That’s a lot of middling results, and we know those finals appearances have not brought one iota of joy.
Even better, they have control of their own pick, while also having Melbourne’s first-rounder. The Demons will do everything they can to win as many games in the back half of the year, but they’re not that good, so it’ll be a good pick.
There’s quality to be had in this draft too. Without a standout, many downplay the depth of a draft when in reality, it simply offers more of a chance to land a really good player. Having multiple picks in these situations is good, especially with someone new in charge.
That leads us to Essendon’s run home. This Gold Coast game in Round 17 is one the Bombers absolutely can win and cause an upset, but then we would need to ask, what’s the point?
A serotonin boost that will be well and truly forgotten about come season’s end.
For the rest of the season, they’ve got the Suns twice, Geelong, the Bulldogs and the Giants, before Sydney away – and at full strength. Then it’s Carlton, Richmond and the Saints.
You’ve seen Essendon win some of these sorts of games before, and even this year. If they’re serious about their future endeavours, they’ll manage to find a way to win a couple at most.
Lean into a WWE-style catchphrase if you need to: four letters, one word, (uh uh), TANK.
Earlier in the season, I wrote that the Bombers were setting themselves up nicely to make a sustained play at finals and to be a chance of winning in September in 2026.
That doesn’t change in the slightest with what happens at the back end of this year.
For the last 20 years, Essendon has been “living in the 70s” over and over, a time when their barren run was evident.
It’s time for the Bombers to skip that track on their Skyhooks playlist and realise that “tank” is not a dirty word.
Dem Panopouloshttps://www.theroar.com.au/2025/07/04/theyve-tried-everything-else-and-nothing-has-worked-its-time-for-the-bombers-to-give-tanking-a-go/They’ve tried everything else and nothing has worked. It’s time for the Bombers to give tanking a go
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