Frustrated Draper should play, says ruck partner

Essendon ruckman Todd Goldstein expects Sam Draper to return from a knee issue against GWS and says his partner has “learnt” from the podcast controversy that engulfed him last week.

Goldstein said Draper would have been frustrated to miss the successful round 8 trip to Perth after his knee was cleared by Bombers medical staff but coach Brad Scott opted to leave him out.

Scott said after the win over the Eagles that Draper’s “disrespectful” comments about the Western Bulldogs and coach Luke Beveridge on his 200 Plus podcast had not influenced his non-selection.

“I think (Draper will play) – I think he was hoping to put his hand up last week and the coaches have taken a real conservative look at him,” Goldstein told SEN on Tuesday.

“We’ll see how his knee pulls up … I think he’ll be ready to go, he’s not someone who likes sitting on the sidelines.

“I don’t think he would’ve taken the news too well when the captain’s call got made last week.”

Goldstein said other senior Essendon players had sat down with Draper over his podcast comments, but the veteran ruckman said it was not his place to weigh in.

“I’ll be staying well away from that … we love players to be themselves, but I think Sammy’s learnt from last week,” he said.

“I think some of the senior leaders definitely sat down and explained to him what the expectation is and how we need to make sure we show respect to the competition.

“I didn’t have a chat to him about it – my job is to worry about helping him on-field, and I think I’ll let the senior leaders help him with that one.”

Goldstein, who turns 36 in July, has played all eight games this season and was his most influential so far with 31 hit-outs, five tackles and three clearances in the six-point victory over the Eagles.

He said his preparation for games had taken on a very different look to the start of his career, but it was working well and had left him “feeling pretty good” despite the heavy workload in his 18th season.

“Early in the week is more about the work I do on cross training, things like in the pool or on the bike – I probably don’t do as much running Monday-Tuesday these days,” he said.

“It’s really just setting myself up for our main skills session, which is generally three days before a game.

“I think I’ve found a pretty good rhythm over the last eight weeks that’s worked pretty well … the club were good enough to give me only two out of the three sessions on during the pre-season, which definitely helped my body.”