Four fit players not in this week's squad: Essendon's injury crisis worsens yet again
Essendon will have only four fit players left on their playing list who will not be selected in their squad to take on Greater Western Sydney on Thursday night.
Alwyn Davey jnr, and teenagers Kayle Gerreyn, Rhys Unwin and Jayden Nguyen are the only available players not chosen for the Bombers, who lost a further four players to injury in their horror loss to Richmond on Saturday night.
A total of 17 players are unavailable for selection, including veteran Todd Goldstein, who has been managed due to a five-day break.
Eight of those 17 have been ruled out for the season.
The Bombers have been forced to make another six changes, due to the injury crisis which has seen the team reach the point where they are probably the most-depleted side, in terms of sheer number of players, since West Coast were forced to bring in top-up players from state leagues in 2022 due to COVID-19 and other injuries.
The Bombers have recalled the seasoned quartet of Dylan Shiel, Archie Perkins, Jade Gresham and Matt Guelfi from the VFL for the GWS game, and have taken the decision to sit out star young forward Nate Caddy and veteran Goldstein, in part because of the five-day break and the need to protect both players, especially the sore Caddy.
The Bombers also lost Elijah Tsatas to a hamstring from the widely mocked Tigers game, the teams producing the lowest combined score at the MCG since 1989, despite no adverse weather. They have promoted their 13th debutant of the year, key position player Liam McMahon, originally drafted by Collingwood (2020) and who was one of four players picked up in the mid-year draft by the depleted Dons.
Essendon are investigating the injury toll, as a matter of course, and reviewing their conditioning to avoid further carnage, with the injuries a mix of contact or accidents, such as four torn anterior cruciate ligaments – the most demoralising of which was that suffered by Nic Martin on Saturday – and soft tissue issues like those of Kyle Langford (quadriceps), Darcy Parish (calf), Zach Reid (hamstring) and now Ben Hobbs (groin).
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