Battered Bomber looks to Will-power for inspiration

The Advertiser

a day ago

Norm Smith Medallist Will Ashcroft will be Nic Martin's inspiration as the Essendon midfielder deals with his season-ending knee surgery.
The Bombers' injury crisis claimed Martin and Will Setterfield in Saturday night's horror show against Richmond, one of the worst AFL games in memory.
Setterfield's foot was stood on and he is also out for the rest of the year with a Lisfranc injury.
Martin showed impressive perspective on Sunday morning, ahead of Essendon confirming the bad news for himself and his teammate.
"A bit flat ... wrap my head around it and just move on," Martin told the Seven Network.
"In times of adversity you build a bit of resilience. As tough as it is, I'm really optimistic about what we can build post-this and the adversity the boys face will see them for the long term.
"I've just got Will Ashcroft in my head a bit, how quickly he returned and found form straight away.
"All you can do is take one day at a time and just get better."
Ashcroft, like Martin, ruptured an ACL, which ended his 2023 season. The Brisbane young gun returned to win the Norm Smith Medal as best afield in last year's grand final triumph.
Martin's teammates made a point of supporting him in the wake of his injury.
"So humbling - unfortunately we've had a bit of practice with it this year," Martin said.
"I felt so loved and cared for, really appreciated it."
Martin is Essendon's latest long-term injury, and their 2026 season is threatening to be derailed before this one even finishes.
He finished second in Essendon's best-and-fairest last year behind captain Zach Merrett, and was enjoying another strong season.
He is the fourth Bomber to injure an ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards.
Martin and Setterfield make it 10 first-choice Essendon player currently sidelined, alongside Bryan, Sam Draper, Darcy Parish, Jye Caldwell, Kyle Langford, Ben McKay, Harry Jones and Zach Reid.
"It's not just the players that aren't there, it's the players that come in," coach Brad Scott said.
"They've never played together, and it ends up looking ... a complete lack of synergy and connection.
"Rookie players making rookie errors, which is understandable.
"Nic Martin's (injury) ... that just sends a shiver down everyone's spine at quarter-time when that word sort of ripples out.
"These 12 months, injuries that are mounting up, it's going to be a real challenge to keep everyone's morale up, but that's the job of our leaders.
"I think teams can adapt and cover one or two, but when you're talking about half of the team, you've just got to accept that the synergy's not going to be there."
After slumping to a sixth straight loss, Essendon (6-10) have just five days to prepare to host rampaging GWS at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
Despite missing a host of key players, Scott opted to drop forwards Archie Perkins and Jade Gresham to face the Tigers.
Perkins collected 21 possessions in Essendon's VFL loss against Box Hill on Saturday, while Gresham didn't play.
Norm Smith Medallist Will Ashcroft will be Nic Martin's inspiration as the Essendon midfielder deals with his season-ending knee surgery.
The Bombers' injury crisis claimed Martin and Will Setterfield in Saturday night's horror show against Richmond, one of the worst AFL games in memory.
Setterfield's foot was stood on and he is also out for the rest of the year with a Lisfranc injury.
Martin showed impressive perspective on Sunday morning, ahead of Essendon confirming the bad news for himself and his teammate.
"A bit flat ... wrap my head around it and just move on," Martin told the Seven Network.
"In times of adversity you build a bit of resilience. As tough as it is, I'm really optimistic about what we can build post-this and the adversity the boys face will see them for the long term.
"I've just got Will Ashcroft in my head a bit, how quickly he returned and found form straight away.
"All you can do is take one day at a time and just get better."
Ashcroft, like Martin, ruptured an ACL, which ended his 2023 season. The Brisbane young gun returned to win the Norm Smith Medal as best afield in last year's grand final triumph.
Martin's teammates made a point of supporting him in the wake of his injury.
"So humbling - unfortunately we've had a bit of practice with it this year," Martin said.
"I felt so loved and cared for, really appreciated it."
Martin is Essendon's latest long-term injury, and their 2026 season is threatening to be derailed before this one even finishes.
He finished second in Essendon's best-and-fairest last year behind captain Zach Merrett, and was enjoying another strong season.
He is the fourth Bomber to injure an ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards.
Martin and Setterfield make it 10 first-choice Essendon player currently sidelined, alongside Bryan, Sam Draper, Darcy Parish, Jye Caldwell, Kyle Langford, Ben McKay, Harry Jones and Zach Reid.
"It's not just the players that aren't there, it's the players that come in," coach Brad Scott said.
"They've never played together, and it ends up looking ... a complete lack of synergy and connection.
"Rookie players making rookie errors, which is understandable.
"Nic Martin's (injury) ... that just sends a shiver down everyone's spine at quarter-time when that word sort of ripples out.
"These 12 months, injuries that are mounting up, it's going to be a real challenge to keep everyone's morale up, but that's the job of our leaders.
"I think teams can adapt and cover one or two, but when you're talking about half of the team, you've just got to accept that the synergy's not going to be there."
After slumping to a sixth straight loss, Essendon (6-10) have just five days to prepare to host rampaging GWS at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
Despite missing a host of key players, Scott opted to drop forwards Archie Perkins and Jade Gresham to face the Tigers.
Perkins collected 21 possessions in Essendon's VFL loss against Box Hill on Saturday, while Gresham didn't play.
Norm Smith Medallist Will Ashcroft will be Nic Martin's inspiration as the Essendon midfielder deals with his season-ending knee surgery.
The Bombers' injury crisis claimed Martin and Will Setterfield in Saturday night's horror show against Richmond, one of the worst AFL games in memory.
Setterfield's foot was stood on and he is also out for the rest of the year with a Lisfranc injury.
Martin showed impressive perspective on Sunday morning, ahead of Essendon confirming the bad news for himself and his teammate.
"A bit flat ... wrap my head around it and just move on," Martin told the Seven Network.
"In times of adversity you build a bit of resilience. As tough as it is, I'm really optimistic about what we can build post-this and the adversity the boys face will see them for the long term.
"I've just got Will Ashcroft in my head a bit, how quickly he returned and found form straight away.
"All you can do is take one day at a time and just get better."
Ashcroft, like Martin, ruptured an ACL, which ended his 2023 season. The Brisbane young gun returned to win the Norm Smith Medal as best afield in last year's grand final triumph.
Martin's teammates made a point of supporting him in the wake of his injury.
"So humbling - unfortunately we've had a bit of practice with it this year," Martin said.
"I felt so loved and cared for, really appreciated it."
Martin is Essendon's latest long-term injury, and their 2026 season is threatening to be derailed before this one even finishes.
He finished second in Essendon's best-and-fairest last year behind captain Zach Merrett, and was enjoying another strong season.
He is the fourth Bomber to injure an ACL this season, joining Nick Bryan, Lewis Hayes and Tom Edwards.
Martin and Setterfield make it 10 first-choice Essendon player currently sidelined, alongside Bryan, Sam Draper, Darcy Parish, Jye Caldwell, Kyle Langford, Ben McKay, Harry Jones and Zach Reid.
"It's not just the players that aren't there, it's the players that come in," coach Brad Scott said.
"They've never played together, and it ends up looking ... a complete lack of synergy and connection.
"Rookie players making rookie errors, which is understandable.
"Nic Martin's (injury) ... that just sends a shiver down everyone's spine at quarter-time when that word sort of ripples out.
"These 12 months, injuries that are mounting up, it's going to be a real challenge to keep everyone's morale up, but that's the job of our leaders.
"I think teams can adapt and cover one or two, but when you're talking about half of the team, you've just got to accept that the synergy's not going to be there."
After slumping to a sixth straight loss, Essendon (6-10) have just five days to prepare to host rampaging GWS at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
Despite missing a host of key players, Scott opted to drop forwards Archie Perkins and Jade Gresham to face the Tigers.
Perkins collected 21 possessions in Essendon's VFL loss against Box Hill on Saturday, while Gresham didn't play.