Essendon's surprising delisting as two more let go

Sean Dillon

Essendon's surprising delisting as two more let go image

Essendon has delisted two more players to take their list changes to six during their tumultuous off-season.

The Bombers announced backman Jayden Laverde and ruckman Todd Goldstein have been delisted after the club decided not to offer either of them a contract for next year.

Laverde has played 145 games for the Bombers since being selected with pick 20 in the 2014 national draft and played 14 games for the club this season.

The backman is looking to continue his AFL career at a second club, with reports that the GWS Giants are looking at signing Laverde for some depth in defence.

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Ruckman Todd Goldstein was also delisted, which will be a surprising one to some, as the Bombers also lost ruckman Sam Draper through free agency.

This leaves the Bombers with just two ruckmen on their list: 23-year-old Nick Bryan, who has played 23 games and 20-year-old Vigo Visentini, who has played two games.

Goldstein is also keen on playing on with a third club after playing with North Melbourne for 17 seasons before moving to the Bombers for the last two seasons.

The 201cm ruckman has played 345 games across his AFL career, but will be 38 years old next July, so it will be interesting to see if another club will pick him up.

Essendon's general manager of AFL, Daniel McPherson, said they were thankful for both players' service to the club.

"These decisions are always really difficult, especially in the cases of two players who've been incredibly serviceable," McPherson said in a press release by the Bombers.
 
"Jayden's fight, leadership and courage down back were always highlights of his game, and he was dependable whenever called upon.
 
"For Todd to come in and be as great a mentor as he has for our young players - and especially our rucks - in addition to contributing on-field speaks volumes of his impact.

Laverde and Goldstein follow Alwyn Davey Jr (delisted), Jye Menzie (delisted), Dylan Shiel (delisted) and Sam Draper (free agent) as those not at the Bombers next season.

Sean Dillon

Sean Dillon is a contributing Wires Writer at The Sporting News based in Sydney, Australia