“Our fans can expect to see a very consistent effort from week to week,with a massive emphasis on development,″ said Brasher,when asked to lay out the club’s expectations for 2021.
Brasher pointed out that the Bombers had gained five first-round draft picks –Nik Cox,Zach Reid and Archie Perkins (all drafted in 2020) plus ex-Giant midfielderJye Caldwell (2018 draft) and former Gold Coast forward Peter Wright (2014).
“And we’re going to be really concentrating on putting in a strong,honest effort this year and developing these kids,who are really,really exciting. I think the fans are going to enjoy watching them. Our absolute priority will be development,because that’s the future of our club.″
While the Dons’ playing list is the second least experienced in the AFL on games played in 2021 and they have gone heavily into the draft following theexits of Joe Daniher,Orazio Fantasia,Conor McKenna and Adam Saad,Brasher did not consider Essendon to be in rebuild mode.
“I don’t think it’s a rebuild at all. I think we’ve got a team that’s capable of doing some good,but we’ve got to be realistic about the fact it’s a very young team. But we do expect to play pretty well this year.″
Asked what fans should expect to see,the president said:″I think it’s a consistent brand and it’s watching,it’s looking at these players and thinking about what they’re going to look like when there are a couple with 150 games under their belt.″