2025 Essendon Football Club season

The 2025 Essendon Football Club season is the 127th season of the Essendon Football Club playing in the Australian Football League (AFL) and the club's 151st season overall.[1][2] The club is also fielding reserves teams in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and VFL Women's (VFLW), and will field a team in the AFL Women's (AFLW).[3][4]

AFL

Main article: 2025 AFL season

Practice matches

Date and local time Opponent Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ref.
Home Away Result
Saturday, 15 February (2:00pm) Western Bulldogs 8.10 (58) 11.11 (77) Won by 19 points Mission Whitten Oval – [5][6]
Tuesday, 24 February (7.10pm) Geelong 12.11 (83) 17.2 (104) Won by 21 points GMHBA Stadium 11,626 [7][8]

Home-and-away season

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Position Ref.
Home Away Result
OR Saturday, 8 March (4:15pm) Gold Coast Match postponed People First Stadium – 8th Steady
1 Friday, 14 March (7:40pm) Hawthorn 17.9 (111) 12.13 (85) Lost by 26 points Melbourne Cricket Ground 80,735 14th Decrease
2 Friday, 14 March (7:40pm) Adelaide 15.10 (100) 25.11 (161) Lost by 61 points Melbourne Cricket Ground 46,688 16th Decrease
3 Thursday, 27 March (7:30pm) Port Adelaide 9.18 (72) 8.12 (60) Won by 12 points Marvel Stadium 25,114 14th Increase
4 Bye 14th Steady
5 Saturday, 12 April (7:05pm) Melbourne 8.9 (57) 15.6 (96) Won by 39 points Adelaide Oval 45,039 13th Increase
6 Friday, 18 April (4:10pm) West Coast 11.9 (75) 11.11 (77) Won by 2 points Optus Stadium 46,080 11th Increase
7 Friday, 25 April (3:20pm) Collingwood 16.11 (107) 10.6 (66) Lost by 41 points Melbourne Cricket Ground 92,044 12th Decrease
8 Thursday, 1 May (7:30pm) North Melbourne 9.11 (65) 9.8 (62) Won by 3 points Marvel Stadium 35,439 [9]
9 Saturday, 10 May (4:15pm) Sydney Marvel Stadium

Ladder

Updated to the end of round 23.

Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
1 Adelaide (Q) 22 17 5 0 2165 1535 141.0 68 Finals series
2 Geelong (Q) 22 16 6 0 2322 1650 140.7 64
3 Brisbane Lions (Q) 22 15 6 1 1972 1725 114.3 62
4 Collingwood 22 15 7 0 1909 1551 123.1 60
5 Hawthorn 22 15 7 0 1966 1602 122.7 60
6 Greater Western Sydney 22 15 7 0 2010 1741 115.5 60
7 Fremantle 22 15 7 0 1866 1718 108.6 60
8 Western Bulldogs 22 14 8 0 2396 1708 140.3 56
9 Gold Coast 21 14 7 0 1953 1611 121.2 56
10 Sydney (E) 22 11 11 0 1727 1851 93.3 44
11 St Kilda (E) 22 9 13 0 1746 1973 88.5 36
12 Carlton (E) 22 8 14 0 1709 1805 94.7 32
13 Port Adelaide (E) 22 8 14 0 1634 2069 79.0 32
14 Melbourne (E) 22 7 15 0 1826 1956 93.4 28
15 Essendon (E) 21 6 15 0 1421 1966 72.3 24
16 North Melbourne (E) 22 5 16 1 1705 2252 75.7 22
17 Richmond (E) 22 5 17 0 1385 2094 66.1 20
18 West Coast (E) 22 1 21 0 1415 2320 61.0 4
Source: afl.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for
(E) Eliminated from finals contention; (Q) Qualified for finals

VFL

Main article: 2025 VFL season
2025 VFL season
Essendon playing Port Melbourne in round 4
CoachCameron Joyce
Captain(s)Xavier O'Neill
Home ground

On 4 February 2025, Essendon VFL coach Dale Tapping died, two years after he was diagnosed with myeloma, an aggressive form of blood cancer.[10][11] Essendon had appointed Tapping as its VFL coach for the 2025 season only several months prior on 11 October 2024.[12] He had previously served as Collingwood's VFL coach from 2013 until the end of the 2016 season, and was named VFL Coach of the Year in 2016.[13][14]

Cameron Joyce, who coached Gold Coast in the AFL Women's (AFLW) from 2022 season 6 until he was dismissed at the end of the 2024 season, was announced as Essendon's new VFL coach on 24 February 2025.[15][16]

Essendon's round 5 match against Collingwood was rescheduled from a 2:05pm start at Windy Hill to 7:10pm at ETU Stadium in order for it to be shown live on 7mate as part of a new broadcast rights deal with the Seven Network.[17][18]

Playing squad

No. Player VFL debut Community club 2025 playing statistics Total VFL statistics Ref
Games G B K H D M T Games Goals
50 Jackson Hately 2024[19] St Bernard's (VAFA)
51 Will Hoare 2022[20] Pascoe Vale (EDFL)
52 Ricky Monti (D) 2022[21] Golden Square (BFNL)
53 Jack Peris 2022[22] Seymour (GVFNL)
54 Hamish Sinnott (D) 2022[23] Camperdown (HFNL)
55 Xavier O'Neill 2024[19] Blackburn (EFNL)
56 Shane Clough (D) 2025[24] Gisborne (BFNL)
57 Noah Scott (D) – Pascoe Vale (EDFL)
58 Jared Eckersley (D) 2022 Pascoe Vale (EDFL)
59 Dayten Uerata (D) – Sandhurst (BFNL)
60 Ryan Brodie (D) 2024[25] Strathmore (EDFL)
61 Riley Leedham (D) – Greenvale (EDFL)
62 Mahmoud Taha (D) 2023[26] Pascoe Vale (EDFL)
63 Oskar Smartt (D) 2024[19] Colac (GFNL)
64 Domanic Akuei 2022 St Mary's (NFNL)
65 Cam Nyko (D) 2024[27] Montmorency (NFNL)

Source:[28][29]
(D) Development list

Playing squad changes

Departures

Player Date Reason New club Ref
Amin Naim 18 October 2024 Club change Northern Bullants [30]
Charlie Bolmat 21 October 2024 Club change Northern Bullants [31]
James Barrat 21 November 2024 AFL drafted St Kilda (AFL) [32]
Ryan Eyre 2 December 2024 Club change Collingwood [33]
Kane Loftus 6 February 2025 VFL departure University Blacks (VAFA) [34]
Noah Caracella 3 March 2025 VFL departure Newtown & Chilwell (GFNL) [35]
Luca Alessio 11 March 2025 VFL departure St Bernard's (VAFA) [36]
Oscar Duncan 11 March 2025 VFL departure [36]
Malik Gordon 11 March 2025 VFL departure Strathfieldsaye (BFNL) [36]
Macca Hallows 11 March 2025 VFL departure Pascoe Vale (EDFL) [36]
Jack Jedwab 11 March 2025 VFL departure Romsey (RDFNL) [36]
Michael Kiraly 11 March 2025 Club change Collingwood [36]

Practice matches

Date and local time Opponent Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Ref
Home Away Result
Saturday, 15 February (5:00pm) Footscray 13.12 (90) 11.4 (70) Lost by 20 points Mission Whitten Oval – [37][38]
Tuesday, 24 February Geelong 9.13 (67) 12.12 (84) Won by 17 points GMHBA Stadium – [39]
Saturday, 8 March Collingwood 14.12 (96) 8.13 (61) Won by 35 points NEC Hangar – [40]
Friday, 14 March Box Hill 11.8 (74) 18.7 (115) Lost by 41 points NEC Hangar – [41][42]
Saturday, 12 April Box Hill 8.6 (54) 8.7 (55) Lost by 1 point NEC Hangar – [43][44]

Home-and-away season

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Position Ref
Home Away Result
1 Saturday, 22 March (3:05pm) Williamstown 14.10 (94) 12.11 (83) Won by 11 points NEC Hangar – 7th Steady [45]
2 Saturday, 29 March (11:05am) Werribee 11.12 (78) 7.13 (55) Lost by 23 points NEC Hangar – 12th Decrease [46]
3 Bye 14th Decrease [47]
4 Saturday, 19 April (7:10pm) Port Melbourne 7.13 (55) 9.17 (71) Won by 16 points ETU Stadium – 10th Increase [48]
5 Saturday, 26 April (7:10pm) Collingwood 12.16 (88) 18.11 (119) Lost by 31 points ETU Stadium – 14th Decrease [49]
6 Friday, 2 May (2:05pm) North Melbourne 10.13 (73) 12.11 (83) Lost by 10 points Windy Hill – 15th Decrease [50]
7 Saturday, 10 May (11:05am) Sydney 16.11 (107) 5.12 (42) Won by 65 points Windy Hill – 11th Increase [51]
8 Bye 12th Decrease
9 Saturday, 24 May (7:10pm) Richmond 10.14 (74) 7.10 (52) Lost by 22 points Kinetic Stadium – 15th Decrease
10 Friday, 30 May (12:05pm) Brisbane 18.11 (119) 15.9 (99) Lost by 20 points Brighton Homes Arena – 15th Steady
11 Sunday, 8 June (2:05pm) Carlton 8.6 (54) 10.12 (72) Lost by 18 points Windy Hill – 17th Decrease
12 Saturday, 14 June (7:10pm) Casey 17.10 (110) 12.11 (83) Lost by 29 points ETU Stadium –

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
17 Port Melbourne 18 6 11 1 1396 1399 99.8 26
18 Sydney (R) 18 5 13 0 1240 1657 74.8 20
19 Essendon (R) 18 4 14 0 1338 1560 85.8 16
20 Sandringham 18 3 14 1 1286 1772 72.6 14
21 Northern Bullants 18 2 16 0 1024 2140 47.9 8
Source: AFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for
(R) = Club is the reserves team of a senior club of the Australian Football League

VFLW

Main article: 2025 VFL Women's season

Home-and-away season

Rd Date and local time Opponent Scores (Essendon's scores indicated in bold) Venue Attendance Position Ref.
Home Away Result
1 Saturday, 19 April (4:05pm) Port Melbourne 7.7 (49) 4.6 (30) Lost by 19 points ETU Stadium – 8th Steady
2 Saturday, 26 April (11:05am) Collingwood 10.4 (64) 3.6 (24) Won by 40 points Windy Hill – 4th Increase
3 Saturday, 3 May (11:05am) North Melbourne Werribee 5.5 (35) 4.8 (32) Won by 3 points Windy Hill – 7th Decrease
4 Saturday, 10 May (2:35pm) Carlton Windy Hill

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
4 Sandringham 14 8 5 1 414 395 104.8 34 Finals series
5 Williamstown 14 8 6 0 450 430 104.7 32
6 Essendon 14 8 6 0 507 485 104.5 32
7 Port Melbourne 14 7 6 1 559 446 125.3 30
8 Darebin 14 7 7 0 388 431 90.0 28
Source: AFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.


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