Sink or swim: Where will Essendon’s goals come from in injury crisis aftermath?

While Essendon hopes its injury crisis concerns are in the rearview mirror, the Bombers may still be left to rely on inexperienced assets to carry the forward line in 2026.

The 2025 season, and the forced changes that came with it due to the long list of setbacks, opened the door for a bevy of fringe Bombers to make their case for AFL action, with the forced dive into the squad's depth getting good minutes into the legs of the club's next generation.

But even at full flight, Essendon's attacking tandem has been a concern for some time, having just two players reach the 50-goal barrier in a single season since 2017.

No Bomber earned a better return than Peter Wright's 28 majors from 19 games last year, with Essendon having 15 players manage more than five goals for the season. Nate Caddy (20 goals), Archie Perkins (17), Isaac Kako (15) and Liam McMahon (12) rounded out the top five.

Working further down the list, the only other players to kick at least 10 goals in 2025 were Nic Martin, who will miss the entire 2026 season through injury, Jade Gresham and Xavier Duursma, none of whom are full-time forwards. 

In addition to Martin's absence, all of Perkins, Wright and Gresham are seen as no certainty for selection for 2026 despite sitting toward the top of the tree for goals last year. That leaves the young pair of Caddy and Kako, as well as seven-gamer McMahon, as arguably their most threatening forwards. 

Caddy looks set to spearhead Brad Scott's side in what will be his third season in the red and black, with the young star hoping to improve on his career average of 1.15 goals per game. 

Caddy, Kako and McMahon could be the three most important forwards for Scott this season, yet they combine for just 57 career games. Archer May is also in that mix, and adds just seven games to that tally after joining the Dons midway through last year alongside McMahon.

The late-season form of both McMahon and May will have pressure mounting on Wright's standing in the side, with the ex-Sun failing to kick multiple goals in 12 of his final 13 appearances last year.

The Bombers' injury crisis kept two-time leading goalkicker Kyle Langford to just nine matches, but the 29-year-old could be set for a role further up the field in 2026. Pressure forward Matt Guelfi managed just a dozen games last year due to his own injury woes; he's yet to kick more than 17 goals in a single season.

The role Langford returns to will be what shapes Essendon's front-half plans. The former swingman could be best placed on the wing, a role Scott looked to utilise fellow forward target Harrison Jones in last year. 

A spot in the forward line would alleviate the pressure on Caddy, and add to the competition between McMahon, May and Wright for a third key forward spot.

At ground level, the expectation can't be set on Kako to lead the small forwards in just his second season, but where that support arises from remains to be seen. Guelfi offers a more defensive-minded role, leaving part-time midfielders Perkins and Gresham needing to push for more than a goal per game.

Perkins hasn't managed that mark in his five seasons with the club, while Gresham hasn't done so since 2018, when he was with St Kilda. 

Beyond those two, the Bombers are again staring at inexperienced options within their small forward ranks, with five-gamer Archer Day-Wicks and rookie Hussien El Achkar the next named in the pecking order. 

Essendon's 2025 leading goalkickers

*No longer listed