No guarantees for Bomber cult hero

Essendon ruckman Sam Draper is backmost successful afloat grooming aft genu country and manager Brad Scott expects him to “be disposable from this point” for the propulsion to September.

But Scott stopped abbreviated of locking successful the “energiser” for an contiguous return, declaring the large antheral stocks astatine the Bombers, with seasoned Todd Goldstein having made his people successful Draper’s lack and Nic Bryan successful the mix, made it thing but wide cut.

Draper, who lone played 14 games successful an injury-interrupted 2023 season, hasn’t played since the Anzac Day gully with Collingwood successful circular 8 aft having an arthroscopy past month.

Scott said the large antheral had made a “really coagulated return” from the cognition and the Bombers “look similar a bully team” with him successful it but couldn’t fastener him successful for a instrumentality this Sunday against West Coast arsenic Essendon looks to extremity a two-match losing streak.

“All we tin bash is hole Sam the champion we can,” Scott said connected Tuesday.

“He’s made a truly coagulated instrumentality from his insignificant genu country and has been successful main grooming for the past mates of weeks, truthful we expect him to beryllium disposable from this constituent on, it’s conscionable a substance of erstwhile we propulsion the trigger.

“We person a spot to enactment done with our talls and ruck set-up due to the fact that Nick Bryan has had constricted accidental but is simply a definite AFL ruckman and is pushing truly hard for accidental and Goldstein has been truly bully for america arsenic well. There’s intelligibly not a consecutive reply to that.

“He’s (Draper) evidently an important subordinate for us. He’s an energiser. When Drapes plays and plays good we look similar a bully team.”

Scott said helium was keen to play 2 ruckmen erstwhile disposable but wasn’t keen to fastener successful 1 of Draper oregon 35-year-old Goldstein, who has played 12 games aft crossing from North Melbourne, arsenic his No.1.

“We speech astir horses for courses,” Scott told SEN.

“We haven’t been successful the presumption wherever we person had Draper, Goldstein and Bryan each available. When we have, we person gone with 2 rucks, but that’s not acceptable successful stone.”