After all the uncertainty, Essendon's 2015 season looks uncertain

Andy, Hawthorn have been by far the best team in the modern era. I can remember when Hawthorn, St. Kilda and North Melbourne were yet to win a premiership. Essendon have had a reasonable record in the same period. Going on what you have written you would give Essendon no chance of beating Hawthorn in round 2. The odds should be very good and I will be taking them. If one could get a bookie who believes Essendon will be losing half their list then the odds should be even better.

Essendon have shown a complete inability to match it with the top sides during the Hird/Thompson era. They've won only 2 of their last 18 against sides who finished that H&A year in the top 4- and both of those 2 wins were by less than a goal. For Essendon to reach the top 4 it would require a huge improvement on the 2014 effort- and indeed, a huge improvement on the 2011-2013 effort. What is more worrying at that nobody at Essendon can accept criticism- if you give an honest opinion their only reply is "who do you barrack for?"

ASADA are already embarrassed, their handling of this has been absolutely dire. Even if they do obtain a favourable outcome I don't think they could hold their heads up high and say they've done a good job. That being said, Essendon going top 4 even with no suspensions ain't going to happen.

Joe - For some reason AR won't declare who he goes for. Might just be another Hawthorn bandwagoner. Plenty of those around at the moment.

Joe- I can guess who YOU go for.

AR - You have no idea... 9-13 with no suspensions lol... I could probably guess who you go for. With no suspensions the Dons will be a top 4 team this year! And only time will tell but I think ASADA will be very embarrassed after this is all over.

My understanding is that they can keep playing during a suspension. So it's possible that if suspensions are handed down, Essendon could try to manufacture the suspension period to align with the off season.

They played on emotion for those first six games of 2013- after that their ratio was 8-8 and quite ordinary, and it included some embarrassing thumpings like the Hawthorn game in Round 18. 2013 showed close to nothing in the way of classy tactics from Hird.

Dougie, Hooker also had a very good season in 2013 after which he was given a contract extension to the end of 2016. He hasn't missed a game in 2 years, his early career was restricted by injuries. As far as ordinary players are concerned I can only see Melksham and Kavanagh as players who have to prove themselves this year and I wouldn't be surprised if one or both stand up. Zac Merrett will be A grade and I expect Ashby, Gleeson, Dalgleish and Fantasia to be pushing for games. Every team has players whose bodies may or not stand up and I put Hams, Kommer and Pears in that group. Komma played 19 games in 2013, his start to this season will be delayed and he missed 2014 but he has significant talent.

You can just see Hird becoming the ambassador for Swisse Vitamins in the coming years.

Gd'day Redb Do you know what happens if the players are suspended and they then appeal the tribunal decision? Are they able to continue playing pending the appeal? (genuine question, I don't know the answer)

I don't know why you would say that. Three quarters of the way through 2013 they were second on the ladder, until the ASADA saga caught up with them. Had six wins against teams that played finals, including Freo away. In 2014 they never looked like they were in the hunt.

If Carlisle can play like he did against Collingwood and the Bulldogs last year on a more regular basis this year, the Bombers will make top 4 easily. The most dominant games I've seen by a key forward since Buddy's 13 - and before that, Wayne Carey.

They definitely did need to make a choice - even the choice to do nothing and let Hird take over as planned was a choice. If rumour is anything to go by they came very close to giving Hird the chop and putting Thompson in full time. That's just hearsay of course, but it's important to remember that they have actively chosen to reject the opportunity to install Thompson as the coach long term and instead opted to return Hird to the main coaching spot. With Thompson effectively leaving the club not long after, it's going to be very interesting to see what new information comes out about these past few months further down the track - sadly, we'll probably never know the full truth of it.

Statistics aside, I think most observers would say that Essendon under Thompson looked a more dangerous side than they ever did under Hird - I certainly would.

Hi Aransan, I admit I overlooked Hibberd, who has become a very good rebounding defender and I agree Essendon's first two selections sound 'promising'. I also overlooked (deliberately) Hooker, who had a great year in 2014, but the rest of his career has been pretty average, so I'm not sure what to expect of him going forward. Being a Bulldog fan, I love Cooney and wish him well - I'm sure he will play some good games this year, but he will also have a lot of pedestrian games. I stand by my comments regarding the other older players. Overall, I think the Bomber list puts them somewhere between 7th and 10th this year, but other lower teams will improve before Essendon does because there are too many ordinary players in the Essendon squad with limited potential to improve.

Could be worse, Essendon could have all got into the stimulant sports drinks before a game. We wouldn't have seen them playing again until 2053.

Hird was due to coach from 2015 so the Bombers didn't need to make a choice. Thompson did a very good job in 2014 but it was difficult to follow the machinations post-season. It was also difficult to understand why Thompson delayed paying his fine. My feeling was that Thompson wanted more power than Essendon were prepared to give him. But he did do a good job in difficult circumstances in 2014.

Thompson's record in 2014 wasn't as good as Hird's in 2013, and he managed to coach the team to losses against the two bottom sides.