Essendon urged to trade away multiple senior stars after disastrous wooden spoon season

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has encouraged Essendon to offload a host of “pathetic” senior players in a ruthless assessment of the wooden spooners.

The Bombers’ season ended with another loss on Sunday as they fell 10 points short of Port Adelaide despite holding a three-point lead in the final two minutes.

They finished the year with just two wins, which was worse than their doomed 2016 season when they still won three games despite the majority of their team being suspended as a result of the supplements saga.

This year’s wooden spoon was their first since 2016 and just their second since 1933.

Brad Scott was sacked mid-year and the club finally ended their months-long search for a new coach this week with Mark McVeigh set to be formally announced their new coach .

Former captain Zach Merrett is once again expected to seek a trade, while Jordan Ridley is another contracted player looking for a fresh start.

But Cornes has also put the heat on other senior players Darcy Parish and Ben McKay, who were both in and out of the side this year.

“I think they’ve got the most pathetic group of senior players we’ve seen in some time,” Cornes said.

“I’d be cutting wood left, right and centre. I’d get the chainsaw out and all the dead wood, I’d be cutting it up.

“I’m talking Parish, I’m talking McKay, I’m talking Ridley. And I don’t care if you have to pay some of that salary.

“A genuine fire sale at Essendon to refresh the state psychologically of that club. Merrett will go and thank goodness that saga is going to end. What a dent on his career this whole sorry 12 months has been.

“So Merrett goes, Parish goes, Ridley is threatening (to leave) ... They’d give you free to a good home, Jordan Ridley, go. McKay, go.”

Cornes then singled out McKay, who was spotted in the stands on Sunday tucking into a bag a chips during the half-time break.

“Did you see him eating hot chips in the crowd yesterday? What a professional athlete just chowing down on chips in the crowd,” he continued.