BRENDON Goddard believes Paddy Ryder and Mark Thompson will both remain at Essendon next year.
And Jason Winderlich looks set to renege on his decision to retire, with the Bombers close to agreeing to terms with him on a one-year contract.
Thompson has indicated he will stay at Essendon when James Hird returns as senior coach next year, having stated he wasn’t likely to field offers from other clubs.
Goddard said he believed Hird and Thompson would work together in 2015.
"The club's obviously in talks with ‘Bomber’ and I believe he'll stay," Goddard told ABC Radio on Saturday.
"He's too invested, he loves the footy club, loves the guys and he doesn’t want to miss out on potentially something special.
"I think he'll be around so it will be a team effort of Bomber and ‘Hirdy’ upon our return, I expect."
Club great Matthew Lloyd told 3AW he believed Ryder - who is reportedly considering using a clause in his contracted related to the supplements scandal to move clubs - was the "one they can't afford to lose".
But Goddard said he thought Ryder would stay despite his reported concerns over health issues for him and his child due to the club's supplements program.
"I know he loves the footy club, he loves the boys and I can't see him going anywhere else to play footy," Goddard said.
"I think the environment we've created and he's been in for so long, that will give him his best chance to be the footy player we know he can be and he knows he can be, and essentially hopefully be a premiership player.
"I'd love him to stay, he's crucial to our chances of playing finals and being successful."
Goddard also said he didn't believe the supplement issues were driving Ryder's reported desire to leave.
"ASADA, I'm not quite sure on that side of stuff," he said.
"Paddy's a ripping guy and to be honest he's not very opinionated and he's easy going – if we say jump, he says how high?
"So I'm not sure about that."
Goddard said Ryder was the most durable ruckman in the competition and had versatility and athleticism that was "arguably better than Nic Naitanui".
He said "open and honest discussion" this year about Ryder's value to the team had helped the 26-year-old realise the positives and negatives of his game.
"It was hard for him to swallow at the start but the good thing was we saw his response from it and I think the footy world saw his response from it," he said.
"When we gave him responsibility and he had the No.1 ruck role singlehandedly, you saw him blossom into a consistent player.”
Meanwhile, Lloyd said Winderlich was set to play on despite his decision to retire in early August.
"My understanding is they've just about agreed to terms for a contract extension for next year for Jason," Lloyd said.
"I sent Jason a text about five or six weeks ago saying: 'What are your reasons for retiring because you've had the worst luck imaginable yet you're finally playing some good footy, you're getting some good consistency and you're retiring'.
"I won't explain what his reasons were.
"It's fantastic that he's reversed it. I said: 'You're a long time retired, if you can keep playing and you've got your pace - which he has - go on for another year’.”
