Essendon captain Andy McGrath has been sent to hospital as the injury curse shadows the Bombers for another year. After a disastrous 2025 season in the medical room, the Bombers are once again in damage control with another three injuries before half-time of their Dreamtime at the ‘G clash with Richmond on Friday night.
McGrath had blood pouring from his mouth in the rooms after suffering a suspected broken jaw during the second quarter. The skipper copped a stray but accidental elbow from Richmond forward Jonty Faull during a contest on the wing and came straight off the ground clutching at his jaw. Essendon doctors monitored the defender during the second quarter and half-time before eventually making the call to send him to hospital.
Meanwhile, Matt Guelfi knew within about a minute of coming off the ground in the first quarter that he had reinjured his troublesome hamstring. Medical staff didn’t even need to test the Bombers forward to work out he had suffered the damage, in what was his first game back from injury since Round 4, and only second for the year. Guelfi let out an audible scream on the bench, not in pain, but frustration, with the out-of-contract 28-year-old having suffered hamstring setbacks in 2023 and 2025.
Not long after Guelfi was ruled out, Essendon midfielder Sam Durham copped a knee to the head from Tigers forward Tom Lynch. Durham initially tried to brush off doctors before eventually coming to the bench where he failed a head injury assessment. He will now enter the AFL’s concussion protocols and miss at least the next 12 days.
Richmond, in the midst of an injury crisis of their own, also lost a player to concussion, with Jonty Faull going down in a brutal contest with Mason Redman. Redman was in the motion of collecting the ball and will have no case to answer, but nonetheless collided with Faull, who was soon ruled out with concussion. “For two teams that have copped some of the most brutal injury lists in the history of the game over the last two years, it simply is not stopping,” Xander McGuire said at half-time. Faull will be the 17th player on Richmond’s shambolic injury list, which has derailed their season.
