The 2024 Essendon Football Club season was the club's 128th season playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club also fielded an AFLW side that competed in the AFLW's 9th Season. Essendon also fielded reserve teams for the AFL and AFLW in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFLW. This was the club's 15th season in the VFL.
AFL
Season summary The 2024 season was Essendon's second season coached by Brad Scott. Zach Merrett continued as the sole captain for his third season in the role. The Bombers showed improvement from the previous year, remaining competitive for a finals spot for the majority of the season.
Essendon started the season strongly, spending significant time inside the top eight and looking poised for a finals appearance. However, a severe late-season slump, where they dropped crucial, winnable games against lower-ranked opponents, saw them miss out on finals action entirely (DNQ). They finished the home-and-away season in 11th position, recording 11 wins, 11 losses, and 1 draw. The disappointing finish mirrored patterns from previous seasons, intensifying scrutiny on the club's consistency.
Notable highlights of the season included Zach Merrett winning his fifth Crichton Medal, drawing level with James Hird for the third-most wins in club history. Kyle Langford was the club's leading goalkicker for the second consecutive year, finishing with 43 goals. The club also saw strong development from younger players, with Nate Caddy winning the club's Rising Star award and Sam Durham being named Most Improved.
Pre-season Essendon played a match simulation against St Kilda on 23 February 2024, at RSEA Park, which they lost 5.10 (40) to 16.10 (106). The Bombers concluded their pre-season with an official AFL Community Series game against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on 1 March 2024, losing a close contest 10.11 (71) to 11.17 (83). Essendon's first game in the home-and-away season was against Hawthorn at the MCG.
Coaching staff Brad Scott coached his second season for the Bombers after a three-year break from coaching after stepping down from as senior coach of North Melbourne in 2019. +2024 Essendon coaching staffRoleNameSenior CoachBrad ScottAssistant Coach (backline)Blake CaracellaAssistant Coach (midfield)Daniel GiansiracusaAssistant Coach (forward)Dale TappingAssistant Midfield CoachBen JacobsSpecialist CoachTravis Cloke
Playing List
Changes Arrivals Player Previous Club League via Ben McKay North Melbourne AFL Free Agency Todd Goldstein North Melbourne AFL Free Agency Jade Gresham St Kilda AFL Free Agency Xavier Duursma Port Adelaide AFL Trade Nate Caddy Northern Knights Coates Talent League AFL Draft, Pick 10 Luamon Lual Greater Western Victoria Rebels Coates Talent League AFL Draft, Pick 39 Archie Roberts Sandringham Dragons Coates Talent League AFL Draft, Pick 54 Vigo Visentini Sandringham Dragons Coates Talent League Rookie Draft, Pick 8
Departures Player New Club League via Brandon Zerk-Thatcher Port Adelaide AFL Trade Massimo D'Ambrosio Hawthorn AFL Trade Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti - - Retired Andrew Phillips - - Retired Will Snelling - - Delisted Patrick Voss Fremantle AFL Delisted Cian McBride - - Delisted Alastair Lord - - Delisted Rhett Montgomerie - - Delisted Anthony Munkara - - Delisted
+Essendon 2024 AFL Playing list and statisticsPlayer2024 AFL StatisticsGamesGoalsBehindsKicksHandballsDisposalsMarksTacklesHitoutsNic Martin3723151141823265015354Zach Merrett723141536128764899114Andrew McGrath123131121452510862Jye Caldwell6238925327052395149Sam Durham22221052352354708897Mason Redman27212433910444312735Dyson Heppell2118119518838310229Jayden Laverde152119413933312733Jade Gresham112219121581493075647Jake Kelly2920119411130511526Ben McKay3223162141303122324Darcy Parish312241461492955552Jake Stringer25234225203882918958Kyle Langford423432719396289119594Xavier Duursma281591651132789640Archie Perkins1618571651112765667Nik Cox132083127114241705011Harry Jones232118111458322810332Jordan Ridley1491144511957310Dylan Shiel99294951893431Sam Draper2161110122571794931306Nick Hind191564130441743729Peter Wright201419791671586019119Matt Guelfi3513151075801553246Ben Hobbs8122277731502535Todd Goldstein17142144991432526344Jye Menzie47143571551263821Nate Caddy301091172371094014Will Setterfield12424942911727Archie Roberts38414740872112Elijah Tsatas5711343771185Nick Bryan2453427611115103Alwyn Davey3310513822601016Sam Weideman1014592Zach Reid31112321
VFL
Season summary
Blake Caracella was appointed as the senior VFL coach of Essendon before the start of the 2024 VFL season. This was Xavier O'Neill's first season as captain of the VFL Bombers.
The Bombers finished 11th on the VFL ladder with a 9–9 record. After a difficult first half of the season, the team experienced a strong finish, winning six of their final seven games. Despite this late surge, they narrowly missed out on the wildcard finals spots. The Bombers concluded their 2024 campaign with a 38-point victory over Coburg (16.15 (111) to 11.7 (73)) at Piranha Park on 18 August 2024.
Results +Table of 2024 VFL season resultsRoundOpponentScoreMarginVenue1Brisbane Lions VFL8.7 (55) – 14.8 (92)NEC Hangar2Sandringham12.11 (83) – 13.9 (87)Trevor Barker Beach Oval3Western Bulldogs VFL12.7 (79) – 11.14 (80)Mission Whitten Oval45Southport7.11 (53) – 19.10 (124)NEC Hangar6Box Hill7.13 (55) – 17.15 (117)Box Hill City Oval7Sydney Swans VFL13.12 (90) – 15.6 (96)Tramway Oval8North Melbourne VFL10.6 (66) – 11.7 (73)Arden Street Oval9Richmond VFL13.14 (92) – 11.14 (80)MCG10Carlton VFL12.12 (84) – 17.11 (113)Ikon Park1112Gold Coast Suns VFL10.9 (69) – 18.15 (123)NEC Hangar13Collingwood VFL15.10 (100) – 13.8 (86)Windy Hill14Geelong VFL12.11 (83) – 8.11 (59)GMHBA Stadium15Port Melbourne12.7 (79) – 11.11 (77)Windy Hill16Frankston11.11 (77) – 15.11 (101)Kinetic Stadium17Northern Bullants14.18 (102) – 4.7 (31)Genis Steel Oval18Sandringham13.14 (92) – 11.16 (82)Windy Hill19Gold Coast Suns VFL15.12 (102) – 9.16 (70)People First Stadium2021Coburg16.15 (111) – 11.7 (73)Piranha Park
Ladder + 2024 VFL Ladder Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA Pct Pts 1 Werribee 18 15 3 0 1504 1067 141.0 60 2 Footscray (R) 18 14 3 1 1654 1312 126.1 58 3 Brisbane (R) 18 13 5 0 1754 1467 119.6 52 4 Geelong (R) 18 12 5 1 1537 1242 123.8 50 5 Southport 18 12 6 0 1515 1257 120.5 48 6 Box Hill (R) 18 12 6 0 1465 1278 114.6 48 7 Gold Coast (R) 18 10 6 2 1652 1385 119.3 44 8 Williamstown 18 11 7 0 1404 1363 103.0 44 9 Richmond (R) 18 10 8 0 1423 1342 106.0 40 10 Frankston 18 10 8 0 1283 1304 98.4 40 11 Essendon (R) 18 9 9 0 1518 1586 95.7 36 12 Sandringham 18 8 9 1 1461 1401 104.3 34 13 Sydney (R) 18 8 9 1 1350 1322 102.1 34 14 Greater Western Sydney (R) 18 8 10 0 1439 1582 91.0 32 15 North Melbourne (R) 18 8 10 0 1310 1490 87.9 32 16 Port Melbourne 18 6 12 0 1402 1511 92.8 24 17 Casey (R) 18 5 13 0 1358 1621 83.8 20 18 Coburg 18 5 13 0 1216 1548 78.6 20 19 Carlton (R) 18 4 14 0 1492 1657 90.0 16 20 Collingwood (R) 18 4 14 0 1252 1645 76.1 16 21 Northern Bullants 18 2 16 0 1026 1635 62.8 8
Coaching staff RoleNameVFL Senior CoachBlake CaracellaDevelopment CoachCam RobertsDevelopment CoachBrent StantonDevelopment CoachMichael Hurley
AFLW
List changes Arrivals Player Previous Club League via Courtney Murphy Greater Western Sydney AFLW Trade Grace Belloni Eastern Ranges Coates Talent League AFLW Draft, Pick 8 Holly Ridewood Northern Knights Coates Talent League AFLW Draft, Pick 12 Taya Chambers East Fremantle WAFLW AFLW Draft, Pick 30 Sophie Strong - - AFLW Draft
Departures Player New Club League via Amber Clarke St Kilda AFLW Trade Ashanti Van Loon Sydney AFLW Trade Catherine Phillips - - Retired Lily-Rose Williamson - - Delisted Kodi Jacques - - Delisted Jacqui Vogt - - Delisted
Playing List
+Essendon 2024 AFLW Playing List and StatisticsPlayerAFLW StatsGamesGoalsEmily Gough140Georgia Gee2111Daria Bannister3103Madison Prespakis4111Georgia Nanscawen5122Maddison Gay620Grace Belloni785Bonnie Toogood8101Brooke Walker942Holly Ridewood10121Brooke Sheridan1110Elizabeth Keaney1250Taya Chambers13100Ellyse Gamble14120Chloe Adams15120Matilda Dyke16121Georgia Clarke17121Sophie Strong1851Mia Van Dyke1921Stephanie Cain20120Maggie MacLachlan21110Amelia Radford22110Amy Gaylor23120Sophie Alexander24124Alexandra Morcom25120Amelie Gladman2630Sophie Van de Heuvel27120Mia Busch2870Jess Verbrugge2920Stephanie Wales30124Grace Brooker3200Courtney Murphy3310Brooke Brown36120
+Table of 2024 AFLW season resultsRoundDateResultScoreOpponentScoreGroundAttendance12 September 202477494630Kinetic StadiumA3,7785th210 September 202464404428Windy HillH3,1955th316 September543412981Wigan OvalA2,23810th424 September78504630Windy HillH2,8227th530 September36246844AIA CentreA1,4229th68 October45292719Reid OvalH2,8327th714 October85535636IKON ParkA2,8475th822 October27193523Windy HillH2,1085th928 October88563624Windy HillH3,8125th103 November37256339Great Barrier Reef ArenaA2,1317th +Table of 2024 AFLW finals resultsRoundDateResultScoreOpponentScoreGroundAttendanceElimination Final12 November53337951GMHBA StadiumA6,678
VFLW
Season summary Travis Cloke was appointed senior coach of Essendon's VFLW side for the 2024 season. El Chaston captained the Bombers VFLW side. Essendon competed in their seventh VFLW season, finishing in 6th place and reaching the finals for the fourth consecutive year, where they were eliminated by North Melbourne.
The Bombers started their seventh VFLW season with a draw against Box Hill. Essendon kicked four goals to Box Hill's three goals. The Bombers then lost their next two games against the Southern Saints and Carlton. Essendon then won their next five games from rounds four to eight.
In the last round of the season Essendon needed a win to make the finals. The Bombers defeated the Western Bulldogs in the last round to make the finals. The final score was 6.5 (41) to 4.4 (28).
In the first round of finals the Bombers defeated Box Hill by 10 points. Their 10-point win against the Hawks put them into the semi-finals against Collingwood which they lost to by four points. The Bombers' loss to Collingwood put them into the Preliminary Final against Port Melbourne. Essendon lost by five goals against the Boroughs eliminating them from the 2024 VFLW season.
Coaching staff Retired Collingwood and Western Bulldogs player Travis Cloke was appointed senior coach of the Bombers VFLW team. Cloke coached with four other coaches including former AFLW player Kirby Bentley. +2024 VFLW coaching staffRoleNameSenior CoachTravis ClokeAssistant Coach (midfield)Brett PollardAssistant Coach (defensive)Jacara EganAssistant Coach (forward)Kirby BentleyDevelopment CoachJarrad Campbell
Results
Home & Away +KeyHHome gameAAway game +Table of 2024 VFLW season resultsRoundDateResultsScoreOpponentScoreGround126 March 202443273927The NEC HangarH7th22 April25176642Trevor Barker Beach OvalA9th38 April221410868The NEC HangarH10th416 April413375535The NEC HangarH9th522 April47312315Victoria ParkA8th630 April46303321DSV StadiumA77 May2820128The NEC HangarH813 May53331915Box Hill City OvalA920 May4226Geelong4428The NEC HangarH1028 May6642128La Trobe UniversityA114 June57376945The NEC HangarH1217 June46303725Casey FieldsA1325 June31193422ETU StadiumA7th141 July65414428Windy HillHElimination Final8 July47313321Box Hill City OvalA -Semi Final15 July26183422Victoria ParkA -Preliminary Final23 July15116541ETU StadiumH -
Ladder
Awards
Best and Fairest: El Chaston 2nd Best and Fairest: Ruby Mahony 3rd Best and Fairest: Ashlea Melnikas Most Valuable Young Player: Maddison Ford Don of the Year: Christina Bernardi Best Club Person: Sarah Ford Leading Goal Kicker: Mia Rae-Clifford (14 Goals)
References
External links
of the Essendon Football Club of the Australian Football League