Xavier Campbell says that Essendon will be an active player in this year’s AFL Free Agency and Trade Period, revealing they will be seeking classy, fast midfielders as their number one priority.
The Bombers chief executive says that after a few seasons of focusing on drafting and youth development, this year they will change their focus and look to add established class to their outside running players in the middle of the ground.
“For us, probably for the first time in a while we’ve managed our cap to a point where we can be active in the off-season, be it free agents or be it trade, and that is something we want to look at,” said Campbell on SEN radio.
“There’s no doubt we want to add more class to our midfield and add some more pace to our midfield.”
One of the key big names that still does not have a club for next year is GWS gun midfielder Josh Kelly.
The 22-year-old on-baller, who the Bombers are reportedly in the race to sign alongside Carlton, St Kilda and North Melbourne should he opt to not extend his contract with the Giants, is a perfect match for Campbell’s targets this off-season.
While the Essendon chief says that the his side cannot be considered a destination club for free agents just yet, he believes the situation is starting to change to a point where players like Kelly could be swayed into joining them over their rivals.
“I wouldn’t say we’re a destination club absolutely just yet (but) it’s certainly starting to shift that way, which is nice,” he said.
“We’ve got an amazing facility out there at Tullamarine. It’s a 30 million dollar facility and we have got an almost 20 million dollar expansion planned for that facility out there which will keep us at the top echelon of facilities in the league.
“I think we play an attractive style of football. Big clubs, big audiences, big games and that is a point of difference to other clubs, so I do feel like we are positioning ourselves to be attractive to free agents and in the trade market.”