Essendon has announced that youngsters Ned Cahill and Lachlan Johnson have not been offered new contracts by the club, while livewire small-forward Irving Mosquito has opted out of rejoining the fold in 2022.
Mosquito, 21, had his promising 2020 campaign cruelled by an ACL injury with the ailment leaving him unable to return to the playing field this season.
After being granted the opportunity to rehabilitate the injury in his hometown of Halls Creek, Mosquito and his management have since alerted the Bombers to the fact that he would not be returning to the club next year.
With the 2018 draftee citing homesickness for his desire to remain in Western Australia, the Bombers announced that the forward's contract had been terminated with their blessing.
Speaking within an official statement released on Monday afternoon, Essendon's general manager of football Josh Mahoney thanked the speedster for his service and also shed light on the factors that lead to the end of the professional relationship.
“On behalf of everyone at Essendon, we sincerely thank Irving for his contribution to our club over the past three years,” Mahoney said.
“Since he arrived at the club at the end of 2018, we have closely supported Irving to settle into Melbourne whilst balancing and maintaining a strong connection to his community back in Halls Creek.
“After Irving sustained the ACL injury in September last year, he was open with us about his lack of motivation and desire to play at an AFL level again, and we had granted him time away from the club to return back home to Halls Creek to best support him to make an informed decision on his AFL career moving forward.
“While this was not an easy decision for Irving, he feels it will be best for him to return to Halls Creek to start the next chapter of his life, and we understand that. We thank Irving for his time in the red and black and we wish him the very best for whatever lies ahead.”
In a responding announcement, Mosquito wished to also thank the club for the opportunity to represent it on four occasions.
“It was a pretty tough decision to come to, and I had to weigh up whether I could commit to a full 12-month recovery program to get my knee right," he said.
"In the end, I realised I didn’t have the passion that was required to get back so it’s the right time to consider life away from football.
“The club has been great with their support of me and my family, I can’t thank them enough.
“I will miss my teammates and being at the club every day. I wish the boys well for next season, I’ll always love this club.”
Although Mosquito had been afforded an opportunity to stay with the club past the end of this season, both Cahill and Johnson's tenures at Tullamarine ended under differing circumstances.
The pair combined for six senior appearances between them, with Johnson, the son of triple premiership Lion Chris, unable to break through for an AFL debut.
It is yet to be seen whether either of the later duo will be offered a lifeline from a rival club.
