Joe Daniher’s return in the red and black on Thursday evening was beyond a fairy tale, with the key forward influential in the club’s come-from-behind win over Hawthorn.
He kicked three goals and used his elite field kicking to set up others, giving the side a huge boost of energy.
However, the looming spectrum of his impending free agency remains, as does his decision to request a trade to Sydney last season.
Former Port Adelaide midfielder Kane Cornes believes it is still the right call for the Bombers to let Daniher go at the end of the year, despite his comeback performance.
“Yesterday’s game where Joe Daniher kicked three goals is a great result for Essendon. He looked magnificent, but you still trade him,” Cornes told SEN’s The Captain’s Run.
“You absolutely still trade Joe Daniher if you are the Essendon Football Club. They should have traded him last year.
“It would have been a win for the Bombers, no doubt about that and I think it would have been a win for Joe to get out of that and to go to a new club with a new fitness department and to try and get himself right.
“On the back of yesterday’s performance, it doesn’t mean you go and sign Daniher up for four years and pay him $800,000 and give him what he wants – you still trade him.
“He’s played 12 games in the last three seasons, he’s 27 in March, the injury issues usually get worse with age and they become more difficult to manage as you get older.
“It is the perfect time, and it is a blessing for Essendon that he has showed that he still has great footy left in him, to go and trade him and you get a first round draft pick.
“I just think he has got about 40 good games left in him, Joe Daniher. Are the Bombers going to win a flag next year? No. Are they going to win a flag the year after? No.
“So, while Joe Daniher is potentially playing good footy, trade him now and go to the draft and get another elite pick in and you continue to rejuvenate that list.
“Joe Daniher is still tradeable for me.”
Daniher is a restricted free agent, meaning the Bombers will be entitled to a compensatory pick if he signs with a rival club.