Season 2009 - Wrap Up
Essendon finished eight last year thanks to improvements from some young players who showed they can play at this level. Paddy Ryder was a revelation taking over the ruck duties from David Hille, whilst Tayte Pears held his own against some of the games toughest forwards. But the player to most excite the Bomber faithful was Michael Hurley. He showed enough to suggest he is the long term answer at one of the key position spots, either down back or up forward.

For the Bombers to take yet another step forward, some past high draft picks need to show something. In some cases, like Scott Gumbleton who has been injured the entire time, anything.

With respect to fantasy football, Essendon finished seven in DT scoring as a team.

Stat Leaders
Leading goalkicker: Matthew Lloyd (35)
Leading possession winner: Brent Stanton (572)
Most kicks: Brent Stanton (329)
Most handballs: Jobe Watson(322)
Most marks: Brent Stanton (138)
Most tackles: Paddy Ryder (99)
Most hit-outs: Paddy Ryder (424)
Most Dream Team Points: Brent Stanton (2221 - 22 games)
Most Dream Team Average: Brent Stanton (101)
Most Super Coach Points: Jobe Watson (2139 - 21 games)
Most Super Coach Average: Jobe Watson (102)

Awards
Crichton Medal:

1. Jobe Watson (335 votes)
2. Dustin Fletcher (289 votes)
3. Brent Stanton (284 votes)
4. Patrick Ryder (223 votes)
5. Jason Winderlich (220 votes)
6. Tayte Pears (204 votes)
7. Ricky Dyson (201 votes)
8. Angus Monfries (197 votes)
9. Adam McPhee (192 votes)
10. Henry Slattery (186 votes)

Lindsay Griffith’s Rising Star Award : Tayte Pears

Who They Lost?
Andrew Lovett (traded to St Kilda)
Jay Nash (traded to Port Adelaide)
Third round draft pick No. 42 (traded to Hawthorn)
Bryce Carroll (rookie listed)
Thomas German (rookie listed)
Kade Klemke (rookie listed)
Matthew Lloyd (retired)
Scott Lucas (retired)
Hayden Skipworth (retired)

Who They Gained?
Mark Williams (from Hawthorn)
Second-round draft pick No. 24 (from Geelong)
Second-round draft pick No. 33 (from Geelong)

Under The Gun
After a disasterous start to a once promising AFL career, it's very close to make-or-break for Scott Gumbleton. Gumbleton needs to show them something since being a highly-touted junior that went at pick No.2 overall in 2006.

Burning Question: Can Hurley make the bombers forget about the Lloyd/Lucas combination?

Maybe one day. But probably not this year. History shows it takes a few years for a forward to really dominate and the same is true for them to be a consistent fantasy performer. It took until his fourth year for Johnathon Brown (BRL) to average over 70 points. Riewoldt (STK) and Pavlich (FRE) made good contributions in their second season but it took until their third seasons to average close to the 90 points needed to be a good player. And although he had some good 100+ scores late in the season, expect Hurley to be fairly up and down.

Some fantasy football stats for Michael Hurley:
Averages DT (69) SC (82)
High DT (106) SC (127)
Low DT (42) SC (55)
90+ Points DT (2/9) SC (3/9)
Sub-70 Points DT (6/9) SC (3/9)