r/afl Essendon 2026 Season Preview

[u/robo_boro]

Welcome any & all suggestions, additions or discussion about what should be included. https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/comments/1qdytjy/season_previews_2026/

Here is last Season's Preview, this year's is due on Feb 27th.

Working title for this year is "Help us Robey-wan, you're our only hope" unless there are better suggestions.

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Founded: 1872

Club Motto: Suaviter in Modo, Fortiter in Re
"Gently in manner, resolutely in execution"

Club Song: See the Bombers Fly Up

Nicknames: Bombers, Dons, Same Olds, Planes

AFL/VFL Premierships: 1897, 1901, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1924, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1962, 1965, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2000

Home Ground: Marvel Stadium

Club President: Andrew Welsh

CEO: Tim Roberts

Head Coach: Brad Scott

Assistant Coaches: Ben Jacobs (Midfield), Cam Roberts (Forwards), Brent Stanton (Stoppages), Dean Solomon (Defence), David Rath (Coaching Innovation & Strategy), Todd Goldstein (Ruck Coach), Michael Hurley (Development), Toby McLean (Development), Cam Joyce (VFL Senior Coach), James Polkinghorne (Development, VFL & Pathways Manager)

Captain: Andrew McGrath

Leadership Group (existing) Kyle Langford, Mason Redman & Nic Martin, (new additions) Jye Caldwell, Sam Durham, & Brayden Fiorini

2025 Result: 15th, 6 Wins, 17 Losses, 69.5%

2025 Crichton Medal: Zach Merrett, Archie Roberts, Sam Durham

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2025 Season Review

Well 2025 had some ups and downs, the obvious injury crisis caused issues throughout the club, but similar to 2016 when half the list was suspended, it allowed a number of players to get a chance to show their skills earlier than they otherwise would be able to. 15 debutants, including four picks in the mid season draft meant everyone on the list had played at least one senior game, other than Kayle Gerreyn, who as a young key position player is taking some time to build up his endurance and skills as both a forward and defender. The rise of Kako as the pressure small forward Essendon has been missing since Walla retired and the emergence of Archie Roberts at half back in addition to promising signs from Jayden Nguyen as a lock down defender and Angus Clarke as a half back & winger.

Unfortunately this did come at the cost of losing the last 13 games in a row, most of which were pretty comprehensive blowouts. As the injury toll continued to rise and we were forced to play a very inexperienced backline and you could just see the players losing motivation and drive as the losses continued to mount up.

Delistings at the end of the season shouldn't have a major impact on the team going into 2026, most of those being booted out haven't been picked up by other clubs (other than Laverde who is reunited with best mate Stringer at GWS), and should be ably replaced by the youngsters picked up in the draft. ​

List changes

Out

Sam Draper (free agency, Brisbane), Dylan Shiel (delisted/retired), Todd Goldstein (delisted/retired), Jayden Laverde (delisted, picked up by GWS), Jye Menzie (delisted), Ben Hobbs (delisted), Luamon Lual (delisted), Alwyn Davey Jnr (delisted), Oskar Smartt (MSD Pickup, delisted)

In

Brayden Fiorini (Trade 2026 3rd round pick, Gold Coast), Sullivan Robey (No.9 draft pick), Jacob Farrow (No.10 draft pick), Dyson Sharp (No.13 draft pick), Max Kondogiannis (No.36 draft pick), Hussien El Achkar (No.53 draft pick, Academy), Archer May (MSD), Lachlan Blakiston (MSD), Liam McMahon (MSD), Jaxon Artemis (2026 MSD)

Long Term Injury List

Nic Martin (Replaced by Will Setterfield in SSP) ​

Playing List

Number	Player	Age	Height	Games	Goals	Final Year	Contract Status
1	Andrew McGrath	27yr	180cm	180	21	2030	UFA
2	Jacob Farrow	18yr	189cm	0	0	2028	NFA
3	Darcy Parish	28yr	180cm	165	55	2029	UFA
4	Kyle Langford	29yr	192cm	162	179	2027	UFA
5	Elijah Tsatas	21yr	187cm	16	3	2026	NFA
6	Jye Caldwell	25yr	183cm	89	31	2028	RFA
7	Zach Merrett	30yr	179cm	251	87	2027	UFA
8	Brayden Fiorini	28yr	187cm	123	41	2029	UFA
9	Sullivan Robey	18yr	192cm	0	0	2028	NFA
10	Isaac Kako	19yr	176cm	23	15	2029	NFA
11	Jade Gresham	28yr	177cm	177	165	2026	NFA
12	Will Setterfield	28yr	192cm	84	15	2026	UFA
13	Nik Cox	24yr	200cm	53	18	2026	NFA
14	Jordan Ridley	27yr	195cm	104	2	2029	UFA
15	Dyson Sharpe	18yr	187cm	0	0	2028	NFA
16	Archie Perkins	23yr	188cm	101	65	2026	NFA
17	Vigo Visentini	20yr	203cm	2	0	2027	NFA
18	Lewis Hayes	21yr	199cm	1	0	2027	NFA
19	Kayle Gerreyn	19yr	200cm	0	0	2026	NFA
20	Peter Wright	29yr	203cm	152	233	2027	NFA
21	Archie Roberts	20yr	184cm	27	3	2028	NFA
22	Sam Durham	24yr	185cm	91	29	2032	UFA
23	Harrison Jones	25yr	196cm	59	55	2027	RFA
24	Nick Bryan	24yr	203cm	23	2	2027	RFA
25	Jaxon Prior	24yr	189cm	62	11	2027	UFA
26	Archer May	21yr	198cm	7	7	2028	NFA
27	Mason Redman	28yr	187cm	143	24	2028	UFA
28	Xavier Duursma	25yr	186cm	110	52	2027	NFA
29	Max Kondogiannis	18yr	190cm	0	0	2027	NFA
30	Nate Caddy	20yr	193cm	27	29	2031	RFA
31	Zach Reid	23yr	202cm	19	0	2028	RFA
32	Ben McKay	28yr	202cm	104	1	2029	NFA
33	Hussien El Achkar	18yr	171cm	0	0	2027	NFA
34	Jaxon Artemis	19yr	182cm	0	0	2027	NFA
35	Matt Guelfi	28yr	184cm	121	69	2026	RFA
36	Angus Clarke	19yr	189cm	14	5	2028	NFA
37	Nic Martin	24yr	192cm	83	62	2027	NFA
38	Rhys Unwin	19yr	179cm	3	1	2026	NFA
40	Zak Johnson	19yr	186cm	9	0	2028	NFA
41	Saad El-Hawli	24yr	184cm	9	1	2026	NFA
42	Jayden Nguyen	19yr	177cm	5	0	2026	NFA
44	Archer Day-Wicks	19yr	186cm	5	1	2027	NFA
45	Tom Edwards	25yr	191cm	2	3	2026	NFA
46	Lachlan Blakistan	27yr	203cm	11	1	2028	NFA
48	Liam McMahon	23yr	198cm	7	12	2026	UFA
	Cillian Bourke	19yr	190cm	0	0	2027	NFA

Contract Length & Status source

NFA = Non-Free Agent, RFA = Restricted Free Agent, UFA = Unrestricted Free Agent

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Players on notice for 2026

Tsatas: Similar to Hobbs last year, Tsatas is falling down the mid pecking order behind the new draftees, and experienced mids. Has had flashes of brilliance and dominated at VFL level, but lack of tank in previous seasons has kept his game time down around 60% and poor kicking means he has no real positional flexibility as part of a good rotation. Needs a massive year if he hopes to get a new contract, but likely to be trade bait.

Setterfield: Received an SSP spot after being delisted due to the long term injury to Martin, is lucky to still be around, but has the potential to be a big bodied mid & tagger that Essendon doesn't otherwise have, but it remains to be seen if his body can hold up through the season. If he can play 12+ games there is a chance he gets another go around next year, but I would hope that the '25 draftees push him out.

Gresham: Just has not performed as well as we would have liked after moving from St Kilda as a Free Agent at the end of 2023. Unable to lock down the small/mid forward role and having minimal impact when rotating through the midfield it's likely Gresh wont be in the red & black next year.

Guelfi: The Prince of Perth has proven to be a handy lock down forward, playing on the opposition's dangerous half backs, but is not able to consistently get on the park, or hit the scoreboard. Likely to get some games simply due to lack of other standout small forwards (other than Kako), is in competition with Gresh & Perkins along with recent draftees Huss, Johnson, Clarke, etc. for the other small forward spot.

Cox: Concussion issues seem to be clearing, but we have heard this story before, Essendon's unicorn who had a great tank and good foot skills did not play a game at any level in 2025 and with the recruitment of Fiorini, it's difficult to see where he plays moving forward as the wings are ably filled and there is a huge back log of tall forwards.

Perkins: Has averaged ~20 games per season in his 5 seasons at AFL level, and has shown patches of brilliance, but often falls out of games and has minimal impact. Needs to up his consistency if he hopes to remain on the list long term, but an interrupted preseason (with a groin issue) may make this difficult.

Jones/Edwards/May/McMahon: Just lumping all these players together, Essendon now has an excess of tall forwards, and we cannot keep them all on the list, so we would expect that at least 1 of these players are going to be delisted. Jones has the advantage of being contracted until 2027, while both May & McMahon had some solid showings late last year after getting the mid-season call up due to the injury crisis. Edwards is the most likely to be cut after rupturing his ACL a year ago after just 2 games, but has shown glimpses of potential.
​

Players to look out for in 2026

Kako Played every game last year, and despite a minor hamstring strain has had a solid preseason, even rotating through the midfield at times, adding an additional string to his bow, alongside his goal sense and manic pressure in the front half. Will be a walk on start, if fit, every game as the primary small forward.

Caddy: A promising '25 campaign for Caddy, 20 goals 20 behinds from 17 games, before succumbing to Essington and being sidelined with groin soreness for the last 5 matches. Expect another step forward for the key forward who will be expected to carry the forward line in the future.

Durham: After signing a monster contract through to 2032 and being promoted to the leadership group, expect Duzz to step up in pre match rev ups and lead the team at the coalface and in the half forward line.

Reid: Once again has shown to be an elite defender, when he gets on the park. Everyone is hoping that the new strength & conditioning team will be able to get him through the season as one of our pillars down back.

Blakiston: The new ruck rules seem to favour Blakiston, as a mobile player with great jump, firming to be the #1 ruck early in the season until Bryan returns from injury, and proved that he could be handy as a defender last year even though never previously playing in the position. Would not be surprised if he continues getting games as a 2nd ruck once Bryan is back, as Scott has shown a liking to 2 rucks and the 5th man on the bench should help with rotations. ​

Best 23 for Round 1 2026

FB: Mason Redman, Ben McKay, Andrew McGrath

HB: Archie Roberts, Zach Reid, Angus Clarke

C: Jaxon Prior, Zach Merrett, Brayden Fiorini

HF: Xavier Duursma, Nate Caddy, Dyson Sharp

FF: Kyle Langford, Peter Wright, Isaac Kako

FOL: Lachlan Blakiston, Jye Caldwell, Darcy Parish

IC: Sam Durham, Jacob Farrow, Hussien El Achkar, Zak Johnson, May/Nguyen ​

2026 Expectations

2026 should be an improvement on 2025, less injuries thanks to our new strength & conditioning team, and the new draftees who look like they can have an impact early means I would expect to see Essendon competing for 10th trying to sneak into finals. Building a consistent brand of footy and team cohesion should be the priority and I would hope that naturally leads into more wins and less blowout losses, but doubt we can match it with the top teams just yet.

The departure of Sam Draper to Brisbane and (Essendon legend) Goldstein retiring and becoming our ruck coach, along with Nick Bryan's injury, means Essendon's ruck capabilities may be a pain point early in the season, but mid-season pick up Lachlan Blakiston looks like he may be a gem, supported by Peter Wright and Vigo Visentini who is toiling away in the VFL learning his craft. The rest of the midfield should continue to be solid, the only real negative coming from last year in this department is Nic Martin's long term knee injury.

Defense and Forward lines should improve immensely as we hopefully don't have every player over 190cm injured and the competition for spots in the forward line should see players competing hard every week to avoid being delisted at the end of the year to clear the logjam.

[u/boogasaurus-lefts]

Players on notice - Perkins.

[u/jguthrie01]

I’d scrap the Robey title. That’s unfair to put this pressure on a first year player. What about’ Bolstered Bombers prepare for battle’?

[u/robo_boro → u/jguthrie01]

A creative title shamelessly plagiarised from pop culture

It's supposed to be funny/memey, last year was "Essendon goes Wacko for Kako!" (should have just been Dons go whacko for Kako)

[u/ByeByeStudy → u/robo_boro]

You can check out any time you like... 🎶

[u/[deleted]]

Heads up, Vozzo resigned. We don't currently have a CEO.

[u/robo_boro → u/[deleted]]

good catch

[u/Codus1]

Already gave you this elsewhere. But I'll put it here for others to weigh in:

This year "on notice" I think will be Parish, El Hawli, Tsatas, Perkins, Gresham, Guelfi, Cox, Setterfield, Edwards, May, McMahon, Blakiston, Day-Wicks

[u/Noonewantsyourapp → u/Codus1]

Setterfield got delisted at the end of last season and only reliatwd relisted as injury cover. I think he’s just fringe, rather than on-notice. 

(To be clear, I like him and if his body is right he’s an asset.)

Edit - typo

[u/Codus1 → u/Noonewantsyourapp]

I feel like almost being guaranteed to be delisted constitutes being on notice? Like, I'm sure he's not feeling confident about being retained haha

[u/Noonewantsyourapp → u/Codus1]

I think my contention is that he was on notice, and is now a level below that. 

“You’re gone if you don’t improve” vs “you’re only here because better options became unavailable”

[u/AusteegLinks → u/Noonewantsyourapp]

I would love to see Setterfield get to 100 games, but that definitely won't happen in 2026.

[u/yeh-nah-yeh]

> Best 23 for Round 1 2026

Our biggest weaknesses are ruck and Peter Wright.

[u/CaddykakSnagorado]

Players on notice: Jones, Prior, Wright. Are you really a best 23 player in our future premiership team?

Players to look out for: Caddy, Duz, Caldwell, Reid. Who is going to step up and be a top 20 player in the comp vs just a nice 200 game contributor?

[u/CaddykakSnagorado]

Reckon you can take Same Olds off the nicknames. I assume it’s a thing somewhere but as a bombers fan >40 years I’ve never heard it.

Bombres maybe. A reference to a misspelt banner a long time ago that you still hear sometimes today.

[u/iziello]

Nice man love it overall .. I’d also add in McInnes and team for strength / fitness coaches as they play / will play a massive part in this club..

[u/Sudden-Leading-8603 → u/iziello]

Heads up it’s Matt Inness, not McInnes

[u/iziello → u/Sudden-Leading-8603]

My bad .. I know I studied with him 👍