Essendon’s loss to Richmond has been compounded by a heavy casualty list as Dreamtime at the ‘G turned into a nightmare in the face of injuries for both clubs.
Bombers captain Andrew McGrath, power forward Archer May and Richmond skipper Tom Lynch were all hospitalized as injuries claimed seven players in the Tigers’ 18-point win – 10.14 (74) to 7.14 (56) – at the MCG on Friday night.
The Dons were hit hard by five injuries, losing McGrath to a broken jaw, Sam Durham to concussion, Matt Guelfi to a hamstring injury and Jye Caldwell to a suspected ankle injury – just before half-time – as well as May to a rib issue.
The Tigers lost young forward Jonty Faull to concussion, minutes after accidentally elbowing McGrath in a tackle, while Lynch played the game without speaking after taking a knock from Ben McKay’s shoulder to his voice box in the second term.
A large number of Essendon casualties released reduce the situation for coach Brad Scottwho needed to send Caldwell off the field to ensure his team had room on the bench to make the rounds in the final quarter after May was injured.
The Bombers have dropped to stay on the ladder, a win behind the 17th-placed Tigers, and in serious danger of getting the wooden spoon for the second time since 1933.
McGrath’s injury, detailed by Scott, is the worst.
“He’s bad,” Scott said of his captain’s plight.
“When you break a jaw and a tooth comes out in that incident, and he’s got a very visible crack that you can see and feel in his jaw, it’s not good.
“I’m not checking it, it’s like that’s obvious, but sometimes you can put a plate in it, and they can come back very quickly, but I’m not sure about that.”
Caldwell was in a fight in the first quarter but bravely played the game. He made Bombers fans dream of a big steal when he converted from 40 meters in the final term to cut the deficit to just seven points.
“I don’t know the exact incident but talking to him in a quarter of an hour, someone fell on his leg,” Scott said.
“I am not a doctor, it is a syndesmosis procedure but, as I told the doctors, if there is a syndesmosis injury, we should remove it because it is very important.
“He’s a hero, but they assured me there was no risk of further harm. Unfortunately, we didn’t have to take him off because we were going to play for a short time.”
Durham was concussed after taking a knee to the head from Lynch in a scoring contest in the first quarter. The scrappy midfielder tried to play for a few minutes but, after dropping a handball and failing to make contact while attempting a pass, he left the ground.
Already with 12 on the injury list ahead of the game, the Bombers are now in the same spot as the second half of their disastrous 2025 campaign, when they also lost.
“It’s like last week when Peter Wright hurt his PCL in the second ruck contest just trying to pass,” Scott said.
“We don’t shy away from the challenges ahead of us, but it’s hard tonight not to feel this sense of deja vu over the last 18 months of getting people on the park to build something to show improvement when you’re just throwing people from half-back to half-forward, to the goal area, to the ball to try and put it together.
“We lost control of the game a little bit in the second quarter when we were aggressive, and we had people coming out.”
The Tigers were considering taking Lynch to hospital, but he wanted to play the match to honor Premier League hero Jayden Short on his 200th game.
Lynch, who endured a tough night in front of the sticks, kicked two goals, including a valuable goal in the final quarter to shut down Essendon’s charge.
“He’s a tough disruptor, and he’s the leader of our football club for a reason,” Tigers coach Adem Yze said of Lynch.
“During the break we thought he was going to the hospital, he didn’t want to, he wanted to play for Shorty.
“It was close to his voice. It’s interesting, he’s the godfather of our front line, and we need him to speak up and lead, so we put it on our front players to obviously carry that burden because he couldn’t.
“His competition and aerial ability tonight was what we needed. He finished the game, and now he’s gone to the hospital for an evaluation and a precaution. (I’m proud of his effort, and Shorty would be happy, too.”
The Tigers had 18 players on their injured list during the week but will have four AFL-listed players coming into the VFL on Saturday.
Bombers forward Darcy Parish won the Yiyooken Trophy after being named man of the match on Friday night in a losing effort, but he accepted the award to a standing ovation from the Richmond fans, with most of the Bombers’ faithful having already left the field.
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