Preview Round 12, 2025 - Brisbane Lions vs. Essendon

[Nathan Barley]

Would be great to get Kai back playing as well as he did last time we played Essendon

Also Joe

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[p4p1]

Essendon

PLAYER	INJURY	ESTIMATED RETURN
Nick Bryan	Knee	Season
Nik Cox	Concussion	TBC
Sam Draper	Achilles	Season
Tom Edwards	Knee	Season
Saad El-Hawli	Hamstring	4-6 weeks
Lewis Hayes	Knee	Season
Harrison Jones	Ankle	4-5 weeks
Kyle Langford	Quad	4-6 weeks
Ben McKay	Foot	TBC
Jayden Nguyen	Foot	7 weeks
Zach Reid	Hamstring	4-6 weeks
Jordan Ridley	Hamstring	5 weeks
Updated: May 27, 2025

In the mix​

A worrying injury list grew by four for the Bombers on the weekend as McKay, Reid, Langford and El-Hawli were hurt and will be sidelined. Essendon's tall stocks have taken a massive hit ahead of Thursday night's clash against Brisbane, with the club likely to use multiple picks in Wednesday night's AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft. Pick No.70 in last year's draft, Zak Johnson has been confirmed to make his debut, while Darcy Parish (25 disposals and seven clearances) made his return in the VFL last week. Elijah Tsatas (33 and eight) and Dylan Shiel (22) are other midfield options, although the five-day gap between the Bombers' VFL game and the Lions clash could have an impact. Archer Day-Wicks was held out of the VFL and could return to the senior side. – Dejan Kalinic

I don't know the quality of most of the outs but gee thats a huge list of outs over the next month if they are all best 22 players.

 

[Nathan Barley]

Langford is one who normally kicks a few against us

I hope someone is accountable for Merrett

 

[LoganMorrisFan]

Langford is one who normally kicks a few against us

I hope someone is accountable for Merrett

Langford is out mate

 

[Nathan Barley]

Langford is out mate

Yep. Hard to see them kicking a winning score

 

[jonnobackpocket]

I rekon its Doedee time- Dizz out, lets see what he has got. Can’t let him just float around the 2nds and we have some tough games coming up. Yes he is coming off 2 knees but it’s time to find out.

 

[3KZ is Football]

I rekon its Doedee time- Dizz out, lets see what he has got. Can’t let him just float around the 2nds and we have some tough games coming up. Yes he is coming off 2 knees but it’s time to find out.

Two weeks ago I would have said yes to this, but I don’t think Gardiner deserves to be dropped. If Doedee comes in, it will be as Sub, I would have thought, at the expense of Robertson.

 

[Viceregal]

Mood set to warp factor 10 Captain!

Raynor to kill, er kick 10.

We come in peace shoot to kill!

 

[KissKiss]

I don't know the quality of most of the outs but gee thats a huge list of outs over the next month if they are all best 22 players.

Its not just about the quality of outs its structurally who they are. If you were to line them up as who we have in their spots it would be something like us missing: Oscar, Fort, Andrews, Payne, Lester, Doedee, Gardiner, Rayner, and a few other mids and flankers as well. Its not the worst injury list I've seen in terms of quantity but its not far off it structurally.

They are down to effectively playing their ruck coach (Goldstein is still a great guy but he was mostly retired) and anything they can scramble together in the backline. They are either going to be playing guys they draft today or someone like Prior on Hipwood. If we slightly turn up in the midfield our forwards will likely be having a day out

 

[MSB ROYS]

Want to smash them.

 

[Perrip]

Coleman and McInerney won't play tomorrow night.

Lions ruck set to miss Bombers clash, defender ruled out

 

[twhowler]

Coleman and McInerney won't play tomorrow night.

Lions ruck set to miss Bombers clash, defender ruled out

Heck of a recovery for kiddy.

Takes what 14 months plus to get back playing seniors.

Now looking at 2-3 weeks to recover from that 1 game!

At this rate he might need another 2s game for match fitness

 

[p4p1]

Heck of a recovery for kiddy.

Takes what 14 months plus to get back playing seniors.

Now looking at 2-3 weeks to recover from that 1 game!

At this rate he might need another 2s game for match fitness

It looks like the workload needs to be built up in the 2's. I'm not saying the guys playing VFL aren't good runners but clearly the game isn't as aerobically demanding at that level. I am thinking that as much as I would like Kiddy back in the senior teams, and I know that playing in the VFL isn't going to get him back up to speed, if his knee blows up because of overuse when playing AFL then ramping up the kms travelled in the 2's might unfortunately be the only option available.

 

[M Malice]

Hopefully Kiddy is a minor setback and we are taking the long term view and just being extremely cautious with him.

 

[Section 5]

Coleman and McInerney won't play tomorrow night.

Lions ruck set to miss Bombers clash, defender ruled out

With those announcements we have a few options all as sub i guess.

No changes: I don't see how that helps Dev game fitness wise. We don't want injuries, so Dev comes on after 3/4 time again.

Bring in some AFL experience: Doedee looks ready.
Ease him back into the pace of AFL. If named, it will be 727 days between AFL games

Some of the usual fallback players: McKenna, Tunstill, Reville.

Debut or 1 gamer: Marshall, Beecken or Torrent seeing we are playing a depleted Essendon

With Kiddys setback and Starch still out, i would go for Doedee assuming he feels ready to step up to AFL

 

[M Malice]

With those announcements we have a few options all as sub i guess.

No changes: I don't see how that helps Dev game fitness wise. We don't want injuries, so Dev comes on after 3/4 time again.

Bring in some AFL experience: Doedee looks ready.
Ease him back into the pace of AFL. If named, it will be 727 days between AFL games

Some of the usual fallback players: McKenna, Tunstill, Reville.

Debut or 1 gamer: Marshall, Beecken or Torrent seeing we are playing a depleted Essendon

With Kiddys setback and Starch still out, i would go for Doedee assuming he feels ready to step up to AFL

Looking like almost certainly no changes IMO.

I think Dev will be the sub again, if he gets minimal game time he'll back up and play VFL on Friday for game fitness.

 

[Section 5]

Looking like almost certainly no changes IMO.

I think Dev will be the sub again, if he gets minimal game time he'll back up and play VFL on Friday for game fitness.

The main reason i think Doedee (assuming he told Fagan he is ready), is our defender depth is getting thin.
Sure, they are on the recovery trail, but it looks like we may still have quite a few weeks till they are ready.
Need to get another defender ready to play AFL standard footy in the 2nd half of the year.

McKenna, Reville, Tunstill can easily replace Dev in that type of role. Could throw in Marshall as well.

 

[twhowler]

Player i would most like rested: Payne. The big unit is too fragile and valuable!

Player i would most like to play: Marshall. Looks very promising, want to give him another taste, excellent runner so would be smart to play given 5 day break

 

[Haso]

Terrance and Phillip have one.

So incredibly glad that you found the logins for SB.

 

[jonnobackpocket]

Two weeks ago I would have said yes to this, but I don’t think Gardiner deserves to be dropped. If Doedee comes in, it will be as Sub, I would have thought, at the expense of Robertson.

More a positional thing for me, ultimately if Doedee makes our best side it’s going to be in that role. The longer we wait the less idea we get if he is still up too it. Always got try and improve the side which I think he can do if fit and firing

 

[Perrip]

No changes to the team this week. Beecken added to the emergencies for Marshall too.

Lions remain unchanged for Bombers

 

[LoganMorrisFan]

First time Beeken in the emergencies?

 

[3KZ is Football]

As predicted - NO CHANGE.

 

[moncon]

Can't believe Fagan didn't drop Lester for that huge fresh-airy of his in the 2nd quarter last time out. Clearly not up to it any more. #concerning

 

[KissKiss]

I'm not surprised we have made no changes but still think we are missing a trick by not managing or resting players more. I do hope we don't make Dev start as sub again and look to use the sub a bit earlier this game. It's a long year and coming off a short break I think it's a bit foolish to risk players