Matthew Leuenberger has accepted an offer from Essendon and will move to the club immediately as a restricted free agent assuming Brisbane chose not to match the offer.
The Lions are likely to allow Leuenberger’s passage to the Bombers as they stand to gain a second round pick as compensation for the ruckman’s departure, likely to be pick 22, which is more than Essendon would likely offer for him in a trade.
Last week it was reported that Leuenberger had narrowed his decision down to competing offers from the Sydney Swans and from Essendon.
Yesterday the news broke that he had decided to join the Bombers, and the paperwork for his transfer was officially lodged today.
The Bombers have offered Leuenberger a three-year contract that will take him through to the end of 2018.
Originally drafted at pick 4 in the 2006 draft, Leuenberger has on occasions shown some elite form as a ruckman, but has been regularly troubled by injury, preventing him from achieving his full potential.
In 2011 he played 22 games and averaged 32 hitouts per game, in 2013 he played 20 games and averaged 30 hitouts per game.
However in 2014 he missed the bulk of the season with a knee injury, and in that time Stefan Martin became Brisbane’s main ruckman and flourished in the role.
Martin was dominant in the second half of 2014 and enjoyed another excellent season in 2015, with his impressive form making Leuenberger surplus to requirements.
Leuenberger still played 14 games for the Lions in 2015, but was generally asked to play forward, a role in which he did not have much success.
When Martin was suspended for two weeks he moved into the number one ruck role and was dominant, recording 51 hitouts against Fremantle, and 42 against Sydney.
He finishes his career at Brisbane having played 108 games for the club.
It’s a match made in heaven for the Bombers who were unable to find a consistent ruck option this year with the likes of Tom Bellchambers, Jonathan Giles and Shaun McKernan all struggling to make the role their own.
Leuenberger offers them a go-to option for their number one ruckman position and will allow them to use the likes of Bellchambers and McKernan predominantly as forwards.
This turn of events does place some pressure on Sydney, who are still searching for a ruckman to potentially take the number one role from Mike Pyke.
Having missed out on Leuenberger the Swans are now turning their attention to West Coast’s Callum Sinclair, reportedly asking the Eagles for him in a straight swap for Lewis Jetta.
However Sinclair is contracted to the Eagles for another year and has given no indication of a desire to leave the club, so the Swans have some work to do.
Brisbane are yet to make a formal acknowledgement of the situation, but will likely make a statement and possibly confirm their decision not to match on Tuesday.
He's nominated the Dons: http://t.co/8BBK1IhxZY Now, it's all up to the Lions #DonTheSash pic.twitter.com/NK4D6IzBpO
— Essendon FC (@EssendonFC) October 12, 2015
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