Essendon again faces a challenging year of negotiations if it is to maintain its strong playing list in season 2002 and beyond. Essendon has a number of players whose contracts expire at the end of this season however negotiations have not started in earnest with clubs waiting for the AFL to clarify the Total Player Payment Cap for seasons 2002 and 2003.

“It is basically the same story as last season,” Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson said. “The club has an excellent list at the moment … it’s obvious to anybody that we will have done remarkably well if we can keep them all.”

The club faced the prospect of losing star utility Justin Blumfield prior to last season in the face of a huge offer put to him by the Sydney Swans. Blumfield however opted to remain with the Bombers with loyalty and team success the major reasons behind his decision.

Bomber skipper James Hird also showed the club great loyalty by effectively taking a pay cut last season to accommodate other players. “We will again be relying on the loyalty and good will of our players to keep this group together,” Jackson said. “The club had extraordinary success last season and I’m sure players would find it difficult to turn their back on that. This group is particularly close, they are strong on the team things and I believe that will count for something.”

Jackson said the club would begin negotiating seriously with players once it was aware exactly what the Total Player Payment cap was for seasons 2002 and 2003. “We believe we will get those figures in about three weeks time,” Jackson said.