Essendon Bombers vs GWS Giants LIVE: Ailing Bombers chase Marvel miracle win against Giants
The Bombers' tumultuous season plagued by injuries continues to worsen after losing star playmaker Nic Martin (knee) and midfielder Will Setterfield (foot) long-term in Saturday night's ugly loss against Richmond.
Essendon confirmed on Wednesday young midfielder Elijah Tsatas had also joined the injury list after straining his hamstring during the defeat.
Rising forward Nate Caddy and midfielder Ben Hobbs were also injured, but are expected to only miss a week.
Essendon will equal the most debutants in a season in the AFL era - 13 - when mid-season draftee Liam McMahon plays against the Giants at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
Archie Perkins, Jade Gresham, Vigo Visentini, Dylan Shiel and Matt Guelfi also come into the side amidst a whopping six changes, with veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein rested.
Bombers coach Brad Scott was almost lost for words when detailing the injury crisis after the Richmond game, but was more upbeat a day out from facing the Giants.
'A five-day break, there's no time to be getting distracted from what I need to do,' Scott said on Wednesday.
'I do have the utmost confidence in the people who are looking at our program. There's no doubt we will relocate resources to that (medical conditioning) space.
'We know better than anyone this year how important it is to get your players fit and available.
'It's hard not to be really frustrated, almost exasperated, just devastating seeing players like Nic Martin and Will Setterfield suffer really serious injuries.
'It's been a perfect storm of a whole range of different injuries all coming together at once.
'There are moments, don't get me wrong, where we all - including me - feel sorry for ourselves, but we've got to bounce out of that really quickly.'
Martin became the fourth Bomber to injure their ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards.
Sam Draper will also be sidelined for up to 12 months after rupturing his achilles in April.
Essendon will have 11 first-choice players sidelined against GWS - Martin, Setterfield, Caddy, Hobbs, Draper, Darcy Parish, Jye Caldwell, Kyle Langford, Ben McKay, Harry Jones and Zach Reid.
The Bombers will be spared GWS at their best, with Coleman Medallist Jesse Hogan and star midfielder Josh Kelly to miss the trip to Melbourne.
But GWS veteran Stephen Coniglio will make his long-awaited AFL return, having overcome a glute complaint stemming from a nerve issue suffered earlier this season.
The Giants also recalled Max Gruzewski and Toby McMullin.
Essendon will be facing up to former star Jake Stringer in Giants colours for the first time.
Stringer booted 207 goals in 123 games for the Bombers before seeking a move to GWS last off-season.
After a frustrating start to his time in western Sydney, the 31-year-old hit some serious form against Geelong last week with four goals.
'I played seven or eight years with some of those guys that have gone down with long-term injuries. My heart goes out to them,' Stringer said of Essendon's injury crisis.
'We won't be going out Thursday night taking them lightly.
'We'll be going out there thinking they're full-strength and getting after it.'

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West Australian
5 hours ago
- West Australian
Brisbane coach adamant that former Lions star Joe Daniher will ‘never' come out of retirement to play in Melbourne
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Perth Now
5 hours ago
- Perth Now
Daniher speculation a ‘joke': Fagan
Lions coach Chris Fagan says the suggestion that former Brisbane star Joe Daniher will come out of retirement to play in Melbourne ranks among 'the great jokes of all time'. Ex-Essendon forward Daniher was only 30 when he announced that he was retiring after helping the Lions win last year's premiership. Fagan has previously said that if Daniher made the unlikely decision to play again, it would only be for Brisbane. However, the Melbourne Demons have approached Daniher about playing next season. 'I might've sent him a cheeky text message just to check in with big Joe … but he laughed it off pretty quick,' Demons coach Simon Goodwin told AFL 360. On Friday, the Daniher matter came up again when Fagan was asked about Carlton star Charlie Curnow being linked with a move to the Gold Coast Suns, whom the Lions meet in Saturday's QClash at People First Stadium. 'I sort of noticed it (the Curnow speculation) going on in the background, but I don't have any firm thoughts on it,' Fagan said. 'It's that time of the year where everything gets speculated on. How many times are people going to come up and say that Joey Daniher's going back to Melbourne? 'It's one of the great jokes of all time – it'll never happen.' Daniher's previous spot in Brisbane' forward line has been filled for 10 games this season by former Suns player Sam Day. However, Day won't take on his former club on Saturday, having been named among the emergencies for the second successive match after missing Brisbane's win over Carlton earlier this month for personal reasons. Fagan has instead again opted to select two ruckmen in Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort. 'It's been good, but it's still just an experiment. It's just a week-to-week thing,' the Lions coach said. 'We are happy with what we've seen so far (in playing McInerney and Fort). They've both been able to contribute in the ruck, and they've both been able to contribute up forward in little ways.' However, there will be one change to Brisbane's forward line after Kai Lohmann injured his calf at training. Lohmann will be replaced by the versatile Zac Bailey, who returns after serving a one-game suspension for rough conduct. 'Zac Bailey can go and play forward. We got a bit of flexibility there, so it's good because you never know what's going to happen down the track. You've always got to be able to cope,' Fagan said. The Lions have made one other change to the 23 that beat the Bulldogs by 10 points last Friday, with Irishman Conor McKenna replacing the omitted Bruce Reville. The second-placed Lions can deal Gold Coast's hopes of playing finals football for the first time a blow with a win on Saturday. 'The truth is that the Gold Coast Suns have beaten some pretty good teams this year. The last time they played at their ground they beat (competition leaders) Collingwood,' Fagan said in anticipation of a tough encounter. 'They're a much better version of themselves than we've played against for a long time, so it's a big game.'

News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Brisbane coach adamant that former Lions star Joe Daniher will ‘never' come out of retirement to play in Melbourne
Lions coach Chris Fagan says the suggestion that former Brisbane star Joe Daniher will come out of retirement to play in Melbourne ranks among 'the great jokes of all time'. Ex-Essendon forward Daniher was only 30 when he announced that he was retiring after helping the Lions win last year's premiership. Fagan has previously said that if Daniher made the unlikely decision to play again, it would only be for Brisbane. However, the Melbourne Demons have approached Daniher about playing next season. 'I might've sent him a cheeky text message just to check in with big Joe … but he laughed it off pretty quick,' Demons coach Simon Goodwin told AFL 360. On Friday, the Daniher matter came up again when Fagan was asked about Carlton star Charlie Curnow being linked with a move to the Gold Coast Suns, whom the Lions meet in Saturday's QClash at People First Stadium. 'I sort of noticed it (the Curnow speculation) going on in the background, but I don't have any firm thoughts on it,' Fagan said. 'It's that time of the year where everything gets speculated on. How many times are people going to come up and say that Joey Daniher's going back to Melbourne? 'It's one of the great jokes of all time – it'll never happen.' Daniher's previous spot in Brisbane' forward line has been filled for 10 games this season by former Suns player Sam Day. However, Day won't take on his former club on Saturday, having been named among the emergencies for the second successive match after missing Brisbane's win over Carlton earlier this month for personal reasons. Fagan has instead again opted to select two ruckmen in Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort. 'It's been good, but it's still just an experiment. It's just a week-to-week thing,' the Lions coach said. 'We are happy with what we've seen so far (in playing McInerney and Fort). They've both been able to contribute in the ruck, and they've both been able to contribute up forward in little ways.' However, there will be one change to Brisbane's forward line after Kai Lohmann injured his calf at training. Lohmann will be replaced by the versatile Zac Bailey, who returns after serving a one-game suspension for rough conduct. 'Zac Bailey can go and play forward. We got a bit of flexibility there, so it's good because you never know what's going to happen down the track. You've always got to be able to cope,' Fagan said. The Lions have made one other change to the 23 that beat the Bulldogs by 10 points last Friday, with Irishman Conor McKenna replacing the omitted Bruce Reville. The second-placed Lions can deal Gold Coast's hopes of playing finals football for the first time a blow with a win on Saturday. 'The truth is that the Gold Coast Suns have beaten some pretty good teams this year. The last time they played at their ground they beat (competition leaders) Collingwood,' Fagan said in anticipation of a tough encounter. 'They're a much better version of themselves than we've played against for a long time, so it's a big game.'