Sorry if this has been raised/asked before in this looooong thread (or the other JM thread), but which of our rookies do we think will be the elevated to replace JM? The chosen player will, to some extent (maybe substantially?), offset or compensate for the lost year of JM's services.
Another possible 'offset' to the damage for us, by the way, is what might be unfolding for how Essendon can accommodate its additional players in their salary cap: that is, I suspect, that there will be an AFL-proposed/endorsed arrangement that the suspended players, because they are not 'playing', will become outside the player salary cap (though maybe not the 'taxable' football department spend). So JM would go outside our cap, if that is relevant to the rookie, or for some other reason.