Q. Adrian, do you see Jason Laycock starting as a forward in 2003 ordeveloped as a ruckman?
A. Interesting, I think he's got two strings to his bow, he can play as a ruckman and a forward, but to me he looks like a natural forward. He is an exciting young player, and may start up forward and in years to come he will give guys like Hille a respite from the ruck duties.
Q. Which one of the 2002 draftees besides Alessio is most advanced toplay senior football and why?
A. Hard one to answer at this stage, because the only time you can makea definite call is after they finish their first pre-season. But we wouldexpect Laycock and Winderlich to press for selection first, and we wouldexpect Jobe Watson to press to selection shortly - like Tim he is advancedfor his age. Tristan Cartledge could surprise, but he is only 17, and needsto build up his upper body strength, as does Darren Walsh for next season.
Q. The predraft rumormill had Paul Johnson as the second best ruckmanahead of Jason Laycock and both were available at our pick, what put Jasonahead in your mind?
A. With no disrespect to Paul Johnson as we think he will have a greatAFL career, we thought Jason was the best tall in the entire draft thisyear. We were surprised he was there at pick 11. Having said that if hewasn't there, then Paul would have been a serious consideration.
Q. Would the Bombers have picked Hamish McIntosh if was available?
A. Hamish had a terrific year this season and was highly regarded in thedraft, but we felt Jason was the best pick for us. Guys like Johnson andMcIntosh would have been considered if Jason hadn't have been there.
Q.Is the same true of the other highly fancied talls (McIntosh andJohnson) that they are more forwards than ruckmen?
A. It's probably a bit unfair to pigeonhole players at this stage oftheir careers, as they haven't been given a chance to show theirflexibility. I believe that all three can be good ruckmen and all threegood forwards. In what was considered a fairly lean draft by many, thesetalls are all very exciting and should have good AFL careers.
Q. Would you ever use Danny Jacobs as a ruckman?
A. In short, no! we wouldn't use Danny as a ruckman.
Q. Is the club considering Ricky Mott as a rookie pick?
A. Obviously Ricky Mott was unlucky not to have been picked up, but wenow feel that our ruck stocks are adequate, many had criticised our positionwith ruckmen and we feel we've now bolstered that. But without giving muchaway, we would have to consider Ricky Mott if he was available.
Q. How many rookies are Essendon after this year?
A. We'll have a rookie list of six players, of which two are ScottHoward and Ken Hall, so we will have four selections in the rookie draft.
Q. Schammer was widely considered a top 6 pick but he slipped through.Did the Bombers consider his height to be a problem? If so, what is thethinking behind this, since the Bombers seem to have an aversion to slightlyshorter players to the extent that six foot two utilities are referred to asSheedy-type players?
A. Schammer was definitely considered in our calculations, as he'sgoing to be a great young footballer. Our criteria was a tall with our firstpick, and clearly we had Winderlich as the number one midfielder in thepack. If he had gone, then Schammer was very much in our considerations. Asfar as the short player syndrome goes, last year we drafted Shane Harvey soI don’t think that is much of an issue.
Q. Did the Essendon coaching staff believe Goddard and Wells were thebest 2 picks in the draft and if so what number do you think Jobe Watsonwould have been selected if he wasn't Tim's son?
A. I felt that Goddard and Wells were clearly the best two, but timewill tell. We consider ourselves very lucky to get Jobe as a third roundpick - we think that Jobe would have been a top 15 draft pick if not takenunder the father son rule.
Q. Adam Winter didn't look too bad in the London match. Why have heand the club parted ways?
A. Technically we haven't parted ways as he's actually training at thepresent time with our development squad. He's also a player in considerationfor the rookie list. Last year he battled osteitis pubis, and we'll makethat assessment in the next couple of weeks.
Q. Will Steve Alessio go back on the veterans list and if not why not?
A. We still don't know about Steve - we have the flexibility of puttinghim on the primary list or veterans list, so we'll make that decision in thenext couple of weeks.
Q. A couple of guys from Ballarat were not picked up in the draft -eg Adam Fisher. Do you agree with clubs passing there for notgiving young kids a fair go?
A. From a recruiting perspective, I don't agree with it, but I cansee that some clubs with salary cap problems might struggle. We decided wewanted to have a full list and develop the young players. Adam was veryunlucky not to be drafted and I’m sure he'll be on a rookie list for nextyear.
Q. There was early talk about Terry Daniher and Simon Madden’s boys beingdrafted. What is there status in reference to age and future drafts?
A. Simon Madden's boy is 17 and didn't nominate for this year's draft,so will be eligible next year. We'll watch his development with interest.He was very good last year. Terry's boy played with Oakleigh Chargers and iscurrently with our development squad and will be considered for the rookielist.
Q. How good is Jason Winderlich?
A. You never want to brand a young player too early, but I’ll say I’mextremely confident he will be a great league player for the club, has greatpace and endurance, and uses the ball well. Most importantly he keeps hishead over the footy which is a great attribute to have.
Q. Do you know anything about Will Minson, the Bulldogs' third pick?
A. Yes I do, and it was no surprise to me that he got drafted, possiblya little earlier than I thought, but I think the bulldogs took a little puntthere. He's had limited exposure, but is a tall boy with a lot ofathleticism and did well at a screening camp in Adelaide.
Q. A young kid named Matt Towner was training with you last year andplayed a couple of games early in the VFL, what is his status at the moment?
A. Matt is now playing out at Keilor, and I think is also having a runat Williamstown at the moment (in conjunction with Collingwood). He had apretty good year this year, and we wish him well.
Q. Will the Bombers take a 'best available player' approach into therookie draft or will you use the opportunity to take some risks on someplayers from 'left field'?
A. We see the rookie draft as an extension of the national draft, soall the homework that goes into the national draft goes into the rookie draft, sowe'll be taking the best player available, and also trying to get theefficiencies, so in the end it is a bit of a balance of both areas.
Q. Is Luke Hawkins training and can he go on the rookie list?
A. Luke Hawkins is training with the Bendigo Bombers squad, but he'stoo old to go on the rookie list.
Q. Are there any players on the senior list that are restricted byinjury and can't start pre-season?
A. To my knowledge there are a few minor injuries for some guys, buteveryone is up and running and looking in good shape.
Q. We didn't seem to draft any full-time forwards and don'tseem to have many coming through the 2nds - is that a consideration at theRookie Draft?
A. A. Again we feel that Jason Laycock is a natural forward, so I sort ofdisagree to an extent, and I also think Ted Richards is a natural forward -he's put on about 8-9 kgs over the pre-season and is looking in good shape -ready to show us something.
Q. Adrian, will there be another scholarship player at the club thisyear like Edward Darcy? If so, who?
A. We're actually waiting to hear from Longy on that one. We'd bedelighted to take another play under that scholarship - as everyone is awareMichael now works at the AFL and would like other clubs to get involved. Ifwe were asked to be involved again we would love to, as it's good for theclub and the young players like Edward.
Q. Does the club have a thought to take Darcy in the Rookie Draft?
A. Edward was terrific last year, but he got a bit tired towards theend of the year, He showed he was capable at VFL level, but whether he's gotthe stature and stamina for AFL level remains to be seen, but we wouldcertainly have to consider him because he is a very smart footballer.the coach is yet to be decided - they are interviewing right now. There isa squad training at Bendigo now, and one at Essendon now also. Both groupsare vying for a spot in the VFL team, and that will be trimmed down in thenext few weeks.
Q. You mentioned Ted Richards before. How is he progressing,particularly his foot skills which have been said to be his main weakness?
A. Ted's having a big pre-season and has set himself for a big yearnext year. He knows he has to show it next year, and has done a lot of workon his kicking skills. We believe Ted will play a lot of league footy nextyear, and are expecting big things.
