Bombers hint at draft plans

ESSENDON GM of football Josh Mahoney has hinted at what the Bombers are planning to do with their first-round pick in the 2021 AFL draft.

The club currently holds pick 11 in the upcoming draft, then no picks until the third round after pick swaps last year.

After netting Archie Perkins, Nik Cox, and Zach Reid – top 10 selections – in last year’s draft, the Bombers are once again planning to take multiple draftees early on.

“The work that Rob Forster [national recruiting manager], Adrian Dodoro [list manager], and I have done on the draft, we’d like to have a few more picks,” Mahoney told Sportsday.

“We’ll try to get involved in some potential opportunities there.

“We think there’s a good group of players between the 10-25 [pick] mark, so if we can get a few players through that, I think it can add to the three first-rounders we brought in last year.”

Perkins and Cox have shown enough in their first year to suggest they will become successful players for the club, while Reid only played the one game after suffering glandular fever and a back injury.

The Bombers have one of the youngest list profiles in the AFL and showed significant improvement in 2021 to make the finals.

– BY SEB MOTTRAM/ SEN