Hill can fill hole in Dons’ attack

AS Essendon fans were losing their minds at the free kicks handed to Bulldog Cody Weightman in yet another finals defeat, Ben Rutten was running out of options.

Not only did he lack the perfect match-up for the Dogs agent of chaos, he didn’t have a small forward to conjure a goal from nowhere on a bleak, wet Launceston day.

Essendon’s list build will only truly be finished when Adrian Dodoro can lure a big key forward – or Harrison Jones, Kaine Baldwin or Peter Wright are fast-tracked into the player to build a forward line around.

But if he can orchestrate a trade for GWS small forward Bobby Hill in the next three days, he will have delivered Rutten two options denied to him in that seventh straight finals defeat.

Free agent acquisition Jake Kelly is the perfect match-up for those pesky medium forwards who get under Essendon’s guard.

But while Hill isn’t yet the type of player who can turn a game in 10 magnificent minutes, the young third-year forward has serious tricks.

For now they are only cameos, as he showed in the semifinal against Geelong when he burnt off Jake Kolodjashnij and slotted a lovely goal on the run from the right pocket.

But the No.24 pick has the ingredients to turn into an elite pressure player who breaks lines and uses quality foot skills to hit Dons forwards in tight leading lanes.

It was why the Giants traded up in the draft to secure him with recruiter Adrian Caruso saying of Hill: “It’s rare to find a player with the special qualities (Hill) possesses, hence why we moved up.”

Hill is a long way from the finished article, but the beauty of Essendon’s list build is he doesn’t have to be right now.

Essendon hasn’t had a small forward kick more than 50 goals since Darren Bewick’s 52 goals in the 1993 premiership year.

Like everyone else at Essendon, Hill would be a work in progress but at least the Dons have made some moves without handing over the draft capital they might eventually need for that star forward.