"We're casting the net wide" - Essendon Bombers reveal plans ahead of the upcoming AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft

The Essendon Bombers are in the market for a recruit at the Mid-Season Rookie Draft coming up on May 29th.

The club has space on its list to add a player due to Jaiden Hunter's ACL injury in January, ironically after he was the Bombers' selection at the 2023 MSRD.

This is the first time new talent and operations manager Matt Rosa has had full control of the recruitment process after long-term list manager Adrian Dodoro stepped into a different role at the Hangar.

As a part of the transition process in the Bombers' front office the big Victorian club has head-hunted for erstwhile list manager Rohan O'Brien, who worked at the West Coast Eagles for 33 years, winning three Premierships.

Rosa was actually recruited by O'Brien to the Eagles in 2005, so to have him and Dodoro as mentors has been greatly beneficial as he finds his bearings in the world of AFL trade and draft manoeuvering.

"We've got the one spot as a result of Jaiden Hunter going on the inactive list, so we'll be taking a pick in the mid-season draft.

"But a lot can change in the next couple of weeks so we're casting the net wide and hopefully we can bring someone in for the long-term." Matt Rosa said on the Gettable podcast.

Essendon under Dodoro have been masterful at the MSRD, selecting current midfielder Sam Durham, goalsneak Jye Menzie and Small defender Massimo D'Ambrosio, who they traded to Hawthorn in the off-season. Jaiden Hunter himself was a highly anticipated prospect until he got injured in pre-season.

Matt Rosa candid about Essendon's Mid-Season Rookie Draft plans

Rosa spoke on the afl.com.au podcast Gettable about the Bombers' intentions.

"We're constantly assessing the list but we're fully aware it's still a reasonably young list – I think we're the seventh youngest list in the comp, so we still feel there's plenty of growth and we're continually assessing where guys can play, if they can play multiple positions, and it's great the boys are getting some evidence out of the summer they had." Matt Rosa said on the Gettable podcast.

The Bombers' scouting team has been watching undrafted prospects in the Coates Talent League and mature aged players in the VFL, however, they may not have to go any further than their own VFL squad, with small forward Oskar Smartt and Jack Peris pushing for the mid-year draft.

Rosa's candid admission about Essendon's draft intentions is somewhat of an outlier as many clubs remained tight-lipped about their plans, with Gettable's Callum Twomey suggesting that out of 25 currently open list spots only about half of those look like being used at this stage.