The 2018 Essendon Football Club season will be the Essendon Football Club's 120th season in the Australian Football League. They will also field a reserves team in the Victorian Football League.

AFL

Essendon Football Club
2018 season
PresidentLindsay Tanner
CoachJohn Worsfold
Captain(s)Dyson Heppell
Home groundEtihad Stadium
(Capacity: 56,347)
← 2017 2019 →

Main article: 2018 AFL season

List changes

Main article: 2017 AFL draft

Three veteran Essendon players decided to retire at the end of the 2017 season: two-time All-Australian Jobe Watson,[1] former Geelong three-time premiership player James Kelly[2] and 255-game player Brent Stanton.[3] After the season Essendon also announced that they had delisted Heath Hocking.[4]

During trade period three different players requested trades to Essendon. The first trade to be completed was that of Greater Western Sydney player Devon Smith, who Essendon acquired with their first round pick for the 2017 draft.[5] Later they also secured Adam Saad from Gold Coast with their 2018 second round pick,[6] before getting forward Jake Stringer from the Western Bulldogs in exchange for two second-round draft picks on the last day of the trade period.[7]

Retirements and delistings

Player Date Reason Games Goals Ref.
Yestin Eades 15 February 2017 Delisted 0 0 [8]
Jobe Watson 9 August 2017 Retired, effective at end of season 220 113 [1]
James Kelly 16 August 2017 Retired, effective at end of season 313 90 [2]
Brent Stanton 24 August 2017 Retired, effective at end of season 255 158 [3]
Heath Hocking 15 September 2017 Delisted 126 45 [4]

Trades

Date Gained From Lost Ref.
12 October 2017 Devon Smith
Pick 24
2018 second round pick (Greater Western Sydney) 		Greater Western Sydney Pick 11
2018 third round pick (Essendon) 		[5]
16 October 2017 Adam Saad Gold Coast 2018 second round pick (Essendon) [6]
19 October 2017 Jake Stringer Western Bulldogs Pick 25
Pick 30 		[7]

Squad

Essendon Football Club
Senior list Rookie list Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

Legend:
  • (c) Captain(s)
  • (vc) Vice-captain(s)
  • (B) Category B rookie

Updated: 28 November 2017
Source(s): Playing list, Coaching staff


Ladder

Pos Team
 Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
1 Richmond 22 18 4 0 2143 1574 136.1 72 2018 finals
2 West Coast (P) 22 16 6 0 2012 1657 121.4 64
3 Collingwood 22 15 7 0 2046 1699 120.4 60
4 Hawthorn 22 15 7 0 1972 1642 120.1 60
5 Melbourne 22 14 8 0 2299 1749 131.4 56
6 Sydney 22 14 8 0 1822 1664 109.5 56
7 Greater Western Sydney 22 13 8 1 1898 1664 114.1 54
8 Geelong 22 13 9 0 2045 1554 131.6 52
9 North Melbourne 22 12 10 0 1950 1790 108.9 48
10 Port Adelaide 22 12 10 0 1780 1654 107.6 48
11 Essendon 22 12 10 0 1932 1838 105.1 48
12 Adelaide 22 12 10 0 1941 1865 104.1 48
13 Western Bulldogs 22 8 14 0 1575 2037 77.3 32
14 Fremantle 22 8 14 0 1556 2041 76.2 32
15 Brisbane Lions 22 5 17 0 1825 2049 89.1 20
16 St Kilda 22 4 17 1 1606 2182 73.6 18
17 Gold Coast 22 4 18 0 1308 2182 59.9 16
18 Carlton 22 2 20 0 1353 2282 59.3 8
Source: AFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

References

  1. ^ a b "Jobe Watson: Former Essendon skipper to retire at season's end". ABC Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b Twomey, Callum (16 August 2017). "'Pops' calls stop: Kelly retires for second time". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  3. ^ a b Schmook, Nathan (24 August 2017). "Veteran Bomber set to join the farewell crowd". AFL.com.au. Telstra. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Essendon Veteran Delisted". Triple M. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  5. ^ a b Niall, Jake (12 October 2017). "Bomber bound: Essendon and GWS have agreed to a deal regarding Devon Smith". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b Landsberger, Sam (16 October 2017). "Adam Saad joins Essendon for future second-round pick in a boost for Andy McGrath". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Jake Stringer to Essendon as Bulldogs relent to deal". The Age. Fairfax Media. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  8. ^ Cherny, Daniel (15 February 2017). "Yestin Eades parts ways with Essendon Bombers by mutual agreement". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
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