Bombers trade update: Rosa confirms Giant intrigue; latest on Stringer, Laverde, Shiel.

Essendon will be “reasonably busy” during the player movement period amid a host of decisions to be made in the coming days.

Bombers list manager Matt Rosa shared status updates on multiple contracted and uncontracted players while confirming his club’s ‘interest’ in a Giants youngster.

 

Rosa and a bevy of AFL club officials congregated at Marvel Stadium on Monday morning to hold high-level discussions ahead of the trade period’s official commencement at 11am AEDT.

Veteran forward Jake Stringer, despite his contracted status, has been the biggest name involved in movement speculation at Bomber-land.

 

The GWS Giants have expressed interest in potentially acquiring the 30-year-old, and while Rosa acknowledged the rumblings about length of contract, he was coy about the possibility of a move.

 

“Jake’s clearly a contracted player,” Rosa began on AFL Trade Radio on Monday.

“(He) had a really good season this year, and there has been some interest in Jake … We’ll see where that lands (and) we’ll keep in constant contact with Jake’s management.

 

“We understand there’s the aspect of tenure that’s been discussed, but we’ll continue to work through that (situation).”

 

Key defender Jayden Laverde, like Stringer, has a deal that runs through next season but would reportedly prefer a multi-year contract.

 

Rosa said the Bombers would continue to communicate with Laverde’s camp.

“Similar with Jayden, he’s had a pretty good season … We’ll continue to have discussions with (his management) and we’ll see where that one lands,” Rosa said.

More recently, reports filtered through indicating the Giants were also exploring the possibility of luring midfielder Dylan Shiel back to western Sydney  with GWS list boss Adrian Caruso saying on Monday his club would “start doing work on those guys (Stringer and Shiel)”.

 

However, Rosa doesn’t foresee the contracted 31-year-old switching colours this year.

 

“He was frustrated early in the year with his body, (but he) came back and played some really good footy. There was clearly some interest in Dylan last year, but nothing to note this year, so we expect that he will be at the club next year.”

The 220-gamer fell out of favour with Essendon’s selection committee in the past couple of seasons, playing nine senior games this year after 12 in 2023.

 

However, he finished the 2024 campaign strong, playing in the Bombers’ final eight games  averaging 21.0 disposals, 3.8 marks, 3.4 tackles and 4.2 clearances per game.

With regards to potential imports, Rosa was quizzed on the possibility of bringing across GWS’ Conor Stone and Hawthorn’s Finn Maginness.

 

On Stone, the Dons’ new list guru confirmed his club’s intrigue in the young utility.

 

“Conor is a player that we have had some interest in, (someone) we’ve tracked along the season,” Rosa said on Monday.

 

“Our recruiting crew liked him coming through … We’re doing our due diligence on a lot of players that are out of contract, but really, our main aim over this period is to improve our draft hand.

“We’re really keen to hold onto the picks that we’ve currently got and potentially improve our hand.”

 

Stone is yet to accept a two-year contract offer from the Giants as he weighs his trade options.

 

“We still feel confident that he (Stone) will stay, but it’s unknown because he hasn’t accepted the contract (offer),” GWS football boss Jason McCartney said just a few days ago.

 

Essendon currently holds Picks 9 and 31.

On the other hand, while Rosa admitted Maginness possessed the attributes Essendon is looking for, he also acknowledged a move is unlikely given his contract status at the Hawks.

 

“Finn’s someone  in terms of where our list is at and our profile  we would like to add players with better running capabilities, and Finn’s definitely one of those sorts of players,” Rosa said.

 

“But he’s a contracted player … We don’t expect anything to happen in that space.”

Rosa also provided a word on unsigned pair Will Setterfield and Sam Weideman, with the duo facing nervous waits for new contracts.

 

“It’s tough for those guys,” he said.

 

“Unfortunately, at this time of year, you do need some flexibility with your list, and again, there’s still plenty to play out.

 

“We’ll keep in constant contact with those guys and see where that lands.”