Essendon great Matthew Lloyd isn’t expecting much from the club’s off-season recruits.
With instability surrounding key leadership positions at Tullamarine, the Bombers failed to land any big fish, instead trading for Melbourne’s Sam Weideman and Carlton’s Will Setterfield as low-cost options.
Lloyd believes Essendon were forced to target more gettable options due to the issues surrounding the club immediately after the 2022 season.
“I think the issue is that Weideman was a very strong junior, but making the cut to AFL football is a different story,” Lloyd said on Sportsday.
“The plight that Essendon is in is that they were never going to get a big fish, why would you come when there’s a lack of stability at the club?
“Compare that to Geelong where they’ve got people falling over themselves to get there, same with Richmond, a great club, players are trying to get there.
“Brisbane have also rebuilt themselves despite the Chris Fagan situation Dunkley and Gunston go there.”
While the addition of Peter Wright in the 2020 off-season proves the Bombers can help underperforming players improve, Lloyd isn’t expecting much from Setterfield and Weideman as he considers the pair “depth players”.
“With Setterfield and Weideman, Peter Wright has come out of the box to kick 53 and win the best and fairest, but for every guy you don’t give up a lot for, a lot don’t go on and do things like that,” Lloyd said.
“So, I’m not expecting a heap, but they’ll be good strong depth players.”
The Bombers will hope the pair of former top 10 picks live up to their potential in the red and black as they enter the prime years of their careers.
Setterfield, 24, has 57 AFL games to his name while Weideman, 25, has played 59 AFL games.