ESSENDON remains comfortable with Sam Draper’s contract talks as the ruckman works through his decision, which the Bombers know has been “complicated” by his Achilles injury.
Draper is an unrestricted free agent and has an offer up to four years on the table from the Bombers.
Essendon coach Brad Scott said the Bombers weren’t putting any pressure on the 26-year-old for a decision as he gets into the first months of his recovery from the season-ending Achilles rupture.
“It’s no change from my perspective. I’ve been really clear with my view on it that ‘Drapes’ has to assess all his options. He’s a highly valued member of our team. We set the vision and try to show the players the direction the club’s going in and it’s incumbent on players who are free agents to assess their options,” Scott said on Thursday.
“If Drapes makes the choice to stay with us we know he’s made it with all the information available and he’s fully committed to our direction. We’ll give him as much time as he needs to make that call.”
Draper’s injury, which followed the ACL blow suffered by fellow out-of-contract big man Nick Bryan, has added extra intricacies to the contract calls for both players.
“It’s complicated in probably all senses. At the start of the year all our rucks are jostling for position a bit, including Peter Wright in that too, and can we play three or four 200cm-plus players in the same team? We’re not wrestling with that problem at the moment obviously,” Scott said.
“Even though we were playing two rucks at the start of the year, with both of them being out, they’re not going to get a lot of clarity as to what our best structure looks like and neither are we. It probably complicates everyone’s decision-making process there.”
Nick Bryan is seen on crutches during Essendon’s clash against Melbourne in round five, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
Scott’s first focus is on Sunday night’s King’s Birthday Eve clash with Carlton, with midfielder Darcy Parish to return for his first game of the season after back and then calf troubles in recent months.
“The only caveat on that is he has to get through our main session but we planned for this for quite some time and he’s had an uninterrupted last month in terms of his build. He played two games in the VFL and played really well and barring incident today he will be available,” Scott said.
The Bombers delivered an exciting performance on the road last week despite their injury limitations, pushing Brisbane at the Gabba. Conditions may again be wet against the Blues, but Scott said the Bombers would continue to implement a quick game style on Sunday.
“[The injuries last week] forced a more aggressive style, which ultimately we want to get to, and not relying on talls just taking contested marks all over the ground even though our forwards held up really well. I thought the slight and subtle changes were positive and probably even more positive that they were implemented with only a week’s notice,” he said.
“Regardless of conditions we’ll play a similar style and we won’t be relying on the weather to bring the ball to ground, we’ll have to do that ourselves.”
