Bombers defender succumbs to another hamstring injury
Ridley was subbed out of the Bombers' 93-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs in the second quarter with what the club described as "tightness".
But Essendon coach Brad Scott is fearful Ridley has damaged his hamstring for the third time this year.
The one-time Crichton medallist has been restricted to just 19 games over the last two seasons due to repeated to injuries.
"A hamstring strain, almost certainly," Scott said.
"We subbed him out immediately.
"When he feels his hamstring, there's no point sugar coating it.
"He'll go get a scan, and I hope to God I'm wrong. But doubt it.
"It's incredibly frustrating, devastating, all the words that you can possibly think of to describe it."
The Bombers have used 13 debutants this season - the equal most of any team in the AFL era - as injuries have ruined any hope they had this year.
Essendon have 10 first-choice players currently unavailable, leading the Bombers to part ways with their high performance boss at the end of the season.
The capitulation to the Bulldogs was their eighth-straight defeat, slumping to 6-12 with a percentage of 71.7 - the third lowest in the league.
Essendon still have five games remaining this season - many in primetime - giving their inexperienced players a golden opportunity to impress.
"It is a privilege to play AFL football, to be a part of it, so never take anything for granted," Scott said.
"I sort of get that people, could be forgiven for thinking, 'well, what's there to be gained for us' - there's an enormous amount to be gained.
"Because we are playing some players who wouldn't get an opportunity if we weren't in this situation, in terms of our availability.
"With that comes opportunity for them to get better and test themselves against really good players.
"I'm watching really closely to see how tight the group stays, how much fight they've got.
"Because if you can fight and you can go through the hard times, it builds character and resilience for when we can execute better."
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The Advertiser
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- The Advertiser
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Admitting his sleep's "been sucking" during the Tour de France, Alex Davies sheepishly felt like a domestique in his AFL return for Gold Coast. A fan of Tadej Pogacar, who claimed a fourth Tour title on Sunday, the big-bodied Davies insists he can be the footballing equivalent of the Slovenian star and win his own ball. The 23-year-old's 30 touches and 10 tackles in the Suns' historic 66-point defeat of the Brisbane Lions on Saturday showed that. But it was the 191cm midfielder's work on Josh Dunkley - designed to free Suns star Matt Rowell - that he was picked for. And Davies delivered as a footballing domestique - French for servant - as best-on-ground Rowell finished with 37 touches, 15 clearances and 12 tackles. "Domestique," Davies offered with a laugh, when asked if he felt like a Suns hit-man or bodyguard. "My sleep's been so bad, been sucking (while watching the Tour). "But yeh, a big body ... helping Rowelly. But I can get my own footy ... 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I can play my own game; I know what I can do." Davies played just seven AFL games in Hardwick's first year at the club in 2024 and had to settle for VFL domination this season until getting the call-up on Saturday. The Suns' midfield is stacked with Rowell, injured Touk Miller and captain Noah Anderson well supported by Bailey Humphrey and emerging trio Will Graham, Leo Lombard and Jake Rogers. Contracted until the end of next season, Davies said he was "shocked" to read reports last week that he was open to an earlier move to a rival club for greater opportunities. But, while insistent he was settled and happy at Carrara, the Cairns product didn't deny it. "All my mates sent it to me and I was like, 'What's going on?'," he said of the report. "The job at hand is getting to finals because it's a special opportunity we have right now and all I'm thinking about." 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'Domestique' embraces grunt work in Suns' tour de force
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News.com.au
13 hours ago
- News.com.au
Roos' identity crisis amid Clarko question as ‘sickening' loss lays bare failed draft trade gamble
Questions continue to be asked of North Melbourne's on-field identity after a 'sickening' 101-point loss to Geelong on Saturday night amid more evidence of a failed draft gamble. The Kangaroos finished a staggering -41 for inside-50s, -10 for clearances, -16 for contested possessions, and -18 for marks inside 50 on a night they couldn't come close to halving the territory battle nor begin to contain the Cats' purring forward line, with superstar Jeremy Cameron running riot for 11 majors. It was North Melbourne's 14th-straight defeat at the hands of Geelong and its fifth-straight loss as it remains with a measly four wins to its name for the season. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. 'For North Melbourne fans, that would've been a sickening watch; incredibly frustrating. 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'They just smashed them; they walked through them. The amount of times Jeremy Cameron was out the back by himself, and it'd be uncontested possession, uncontested possession, goal,' King continued. 'I'd love to ask Alastair Clarkson 'what are you trying to achieve?' Show us what it should look like, and then we can at least enjoy the ride. Because we just go from week to week and not see it. We have seen it in patches throughout the year, but we're not seeing it now. 'I know the ruckman's (Tristan Xerri) not there, I know Nick Larkey's not there, but that shouldn't have as big an effect as what it does on their ability to stop the opposition moving the ball full length of the ground.' Patrick Dangerfield was tactically substituted out of the game, his 200th for Geelong, and the sight of the veteran sitting on the bench munching on a kebab while the game was still going on would have rubbed salt into the wound for North fans. Serious questions continue to be asked of the Roos' direction under Alastair Clarkson in the third year of the four-time premiership coach's reign, with the club benefitting from top picks for the better part of the past six years. In 55 games under Clarkson, North Melbourne is 10-44-1. The club has finished 17th on the ladder in consecutive seasons and currently sits 17th with four games left to go this season. Asked when the pressure on Clarkson genuinely gets turned up, King answered: 'It's a great question; it's hard to answer. I think you have a blind faith in the club that the decision-makers will get it right. 'Words are cheap; it's really hard to just listen to the same conversation over and over and over. It's a tough place to be, there's no doubt about that ... third year in, a penny for his thoughts, is he able to do what he once thought he could do with this group? Are there any doubts there? 'You walk off the ground tonight, you have to doubt your own plan. You've got (Jack) Darling, (Luke) Parker and (Caleb) Daniel to the club to try and stiffen up with a bit of seniority; that doesn't look like it's working as well as it probably should.' North Melbourne fielded eight former top-12 draft picks against Geelong, as King declared the club's issues didn't revolve around an absence of talented players. 'It's not a talent issue; it's a system problem,' he said. 'You can be really brutal and say 'it's coaching', right, but it's also performance of that system. 'Where's the disconnect? Are the players not understanding? Are they not prepared to work hard enough to ensure the system works? I think they're good enough, and I don't think they're that young that they can't compete defensively. That's not really a talent issue. 'I'm the same as all those people in the room and all those watching on, I don't understand the system, because I see so many flaws in it, so many holes in it. 'I don't see it; it's not consistent enough to say 'this is their identifiable brand'. And I think when you see 150 points against, I think even they'd say 'you wouldn't be able to see it tonight'.' Speaking post-game on Saturday night, Clarkson, who lamented glaringly obvious deficiencies in contest, clearance and territory, made it a point to highlight the discrepancy in experience between the sides. 'The Geelong forward line versus the North Melbourne backline, just see the void that sits there in terms of just experience and exposure,' he said. 'And I don't want to make excuses for our players, but it's where we're at, though. 'And we're giving these young players some exposure and opportunity, and in our back end in particular, we're going to be left very, very vulnerable down there against a formidable forward line if we couldn't control the middle of the ground as well as we'd like. And Geelong was too good in that space.' The Roos fielded the second-youngest team in the competition in Round 20, with eight-game key defender Wil Dawson among those in royal blue and white tortured by Cameron and the Cats, who licked their lips each time they entered forward 50. 'Everyone will look at win-loss and all that sort of stuff, and making progress — and even if it is just win-loss, we have made some progress,' said Clarkson in his press conference. 'But we've had three performances that were well below our best, which (were) the Carlton game in Round 6 here, the Hawthorn game about a month ago down in Tassie, and tonight. 'But outside of that, we've been much more competitive than what we were last year, winning more quarters and being in more games at three-quarter-time than we had last year.' But while Clarkson continues to preach that non-linear progress continues to be made at Arden Street, the Roos' list management's choice to trade away the club's first-round pick this year has come back to bite hard. Last November, North Melbourne — banking on a significant uptick this season — traded its future first-round pick to Richmond to secure the No.27 selection, key-position utility Matt Whitlock, who has played just one senior game in his debut season. That future choice is currently slated to wind up as the second overall pick. Injecting young talent isn't as urgent for the Roos as it has been in previous seasons, but given the stagnancy of this season, it's premium draft capital they'd absolutely love to have this off-season. 'I think they thought they would be further progressed, because they did trade that pick away,' Clark said on Fox Footy. 'Would they have traded that No.2 pick away if they thought they were going to finish second-last on the ladder? No way. They thought they would be up the ladder; they thought they would improve, that's why they gave that pick away. 'So, it tells you that they thought they would be better than they're at; that's really clear.' The Roos are currently slated to make their first draft choice this November at No.20, holding a pair of picks at the top of the second round.
